Caruso was as passionate about food as he was
about music. .
Serves 4
2
tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves
garlic
2 finely
chopped onions
250 g
chicken livers, sliced in 4
250 g
mushrooms, sliced in 4
1 tin (796
ml) San Marzano tomatoes
1 tin (136
ml) tomato paste
Basil,
thyme and oregano, to taste
1 bay
leaf
1 teaspoon
sugar (to sweeten the tomatoes)
salt and
pepper
450 g
spaghetti
1 cup
freshly grated Parmesan
Heat the oil in a
thick-bottomed pot. Fry the onions and garlic for three minutes. Add the chicken
livers and the mushrooms and fry approximately five minutes until the livers are
brown. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs and sugar. Mix well and simmer
gently on low heat approximately thirty minutes.
Meanwhile cook the
pasta "al dente." Drain and place in a serving dish. Add enough sauce to cover
the spaghetti. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan.
Enrico Caruso, who
reigned supreme over the Metropolitan Opera for 18 years, was as passionate
about food as he was about music. He frequently told the story of an adventure
he had while serving in the army: "I was in the artillery and my major wanted to
know who it was that sang all the time. One blessed day, he introduced me to one
of his friends, a rich amateur musician who listened to me and taught me the
tenor parts from Cavalliera Rusticana and Carmen. Once, I didn't sing for a whole day. The major
sent for me. 'Why didn't you sing today Caruso?' he asked. 'I can't sing when
they serve me greasy soup!' The next day, my soup was perfectly seasoned, with
the fat skimmed off."
The culinary
tastes of the great tenor celebrated his Neapolitan origins. He used to say
without batting an eyelid that this food was the sweetest, the simplest and the
least expensive in the world. He was particularly proud of having enabled his
compatriots, who were emigrating to the United States at the time (and settling
in New York's Little Italy), to open numerous authentic pizzerias that continue,
nearly a century later, to charm the palates of all gourmets. Caruso thus became
the ambassador of the local specialities of his native region. Amalfi coast
macaroni, Gragnano pasta, Torre Annunziata and Torre del Greco, extra virgin
olive oil gathered in the hills of Sorrento and the now famous San Marzano
tomatoes all owe part of their reputation to him. In fact, the tenor signed
numerous advertising contracts with the companies that distributed these home
grown products.
His talents as a
chef were undeniable. He would often take over the kitchen at one or the other
of the Italian restaurants in Brooklyn and regularly invited his friends to his
sumptuous villa to treat them to his cooking savvy. The evenings would
inevitably end in applause. He gave his name to two pasta recipes: Spaghetti
alla Caruso (he apparently loved chicken liver) and Bucatini alla Caruso. The
bucatini are covered in San Marzano tomato sauce along with mild yellow or red
peppers, strong ground peppers and fried zucchini. An aperitif also bears his
name. It consists of a mixture using variable proportions of gin, dry vermouth
and green Crème de Menthe. The Grand Hotel Vesuvio in Naples, where the tenor
spent the last years of his life, named its rooftop restaurant in his honour.
[Translated by Alexandre Lebedeff]
