CALLING ALL REAL ITALIANS: Settle This Controversial New Jersey Food Debate!

When you are from Jersey you have a sense of pride that other states can’t understand. We believe in certain things like loyalty, family, speaking our mind, and of course, we believe in really good food. If you’re like me, you either have some Italian running through your blood, or if your lucky, you grew up in a neighborhood where the Italian influence was strong. I have both. So here is the next great food debate after the Pork Roll vs. Taylor Ham throw down…once and for all let’s settle this…is it SAUCE or is it GRAVY?

I’m going to tell you right here and right now I have a strong stance on this. I’m part Italian myself, my Grandma Jeanne’s last name was Calabrese named after a region in Calabria (the toe of the boot).

Even more important to this debate is that I grew up around people who were 100% Italian…like broken English Italian and on Sundays they ate a very specific meal. Trust me, you don’t want to tell them they are saying it wrong either. For Sunday dinner, they were eating macaroni and gravy PERIOD.

It always made sense to me because on pizza you have sauce…it’s “pizza sauce” but that is NOT the same recipe that goes on your macaroni. Also, on Thanksgiving, you don’t say, “pass the sauce” for the brown stuff. What Sunday gravy and Thanksgiving gravy have in common is that meat is a part of that recipe. Once you put pork spare ribs in that pot to simmer with your crushed tomatoes or add sausage of any kind, now we’re talking gravy. Mmmmm...can you smell that memory too?

I’m going to ask all Nona’s to shut their eyes for a moment for this next point…even if you are in a pinch and you have to buy the jarred stuff, they sell this in my local food store.

If you need more proof, this guy wrote a whole cookbook about it, and who wants to argue with the Italian Hulk?

I’m still going to need some more feedback here to settle this once and for all. Take the poll above and email me your reasoning for the great Jersey debate and we may use your stance on the morning show! Shannon.Holly@943thepoint.com. Either way, Mangiamo!

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