IAP 233: Red Sauce: A Two-Part Exploration of How Italian Food Became American with Special Guest Ian MacAllen (Part 2)

The Italian American Podcast

We’re back for the second half of our incredible conversation with Ian MacAllen, the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American, as we continue our quest to understand the evolution of “Red Sauce Italian,” - that unique cuisine born of the melding of Southern Italian tastes and American abundance.

This week, in Part 2, we’ll take the conversation even deeper to explore everything from the ingredients that we treasure to the Red Sauce standards that have gone the way of the Dodo. We’ll discover which beloved Italian American family dish originally contained cow utters, how to differentiate between pasta and macaroni, how those famed pastas REALLY got their shapes, and learn about the strange era when the Italian government tried to ban pasta!

We’re also digging into some of the heirloom products Italian Americans created, and made our own, here in America, looking at lost recipes from Red Sauce days gone by, and uncovering two long lost classics that were once amongst the most famous spaghetti dishes in America… created for America’s most famous Italian opera stars!

And, as we always do here on the Italian American Podcast, we’re asking the important questions… like how DID grated cheese and crushed red pepper become the ubiquitous Italian American table-side seasonings, and where do our cheeses come from, and why does it matter?

It’s the conclusion of one of our most popular episodes we’ve ever released, so tuck into a plate of your favorite Red Sauce specialty, and join us as we explore the unique creation that is Italian American cuisine!

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