Almost Italian

Rivalling Spaghetti with Meatballs, Chicken alla Cacciatora is certainly one of the defining dishes of Italian-American cuisine. Italians in the first waves of of emigration, many of whom were desperately poor, might only have heard of dishes prepared ‘hunter’s style.’

Photograph courtesy Jackie Messineo

And even if they had been fortunate enough to have actually tasted them, such dishes would more likely have featured pigeon or hare, small game ensnared or felled with a slingshot. Poverty in 19^th-century Italy, especially following the Risorgiamento, was so severe that few contadini would have been able to afford a gun, and most were without legal access to the game in forests and fields controlled by i galantuomini, the landed classes. ¹

In Italy, domestic fowl had never been widely consumed. Even in modern Italy, chicken has yet to gain favor as an everyday dish. ² So before we turn on the stove, it is worth considering the Italian origins of a dish that became a staple on the American red-sauce circuit .

We gleaned some hints as to the recipe’s evolution from food historian, Gillian Riley and her new book, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. She reminds us that Italian cuisine maintained many of the ancient medical divisions of foods into “hot” and “cold.” The divisions have nothing to do with temperature but are part of a system of classification similar to what persists in Chinese and other Asian cuisines to this day. That is, certain foods are considered “invigorating” and thus hot or warming (yang), while others are calming and cooling (yin).

Pigeon, because of its dark, rich-tasting flesh, was considered a “hot” food and thus a meat to be complemented by something cooling—which is to say, fresh and acidic. The medieval method for preparing pigeon often incorporated verjuice, the juice of unripe fruit, usually grapes. Among Italian recipes for game and other meats, it is this acidic inclusion that makes a dish ‘alla cacciatora.’

Following World War II, as Italian-American restaurants expanded their menus beyond foods remembered from “the old country,” many began to include chicken, whose firm texture and neutral flavor made it adaptable to myriad treatments. While European Italians may not have eaten much chicken, their American descendants took to it readily—for its economy and availability, and especially for its versatility. Because it could support many of the flavors previously used for veal dishes, chicken became a common stand-in for veal—a meat that, even in America, was considered a luxury.

Along with so-called variety meats, like tripe and liver, game had rarely been offered in the neighborhood restaurants. Meanwhile, the new medium of television had given Americans a furry personality as lovable as Beatrix Potter’s cotton-tails. It is no exaggeration to say that chicken made Italian restaurants safe for Bugs Bunny.

Back in the Old World, rabbit or hare alla cacciatora continued to be sautéed with garlic and fresh herbs before wine and vinegar (or citrus juice) were added to deglaze the pan and create a quick, uncomplicated sauce. Tomatoes were an American addition, yet another acidic element, and one that non-Italians immediately recognized as “Italian.” Then, too, this was the beginning of an increased use of color photography in cookbooks and print advertising, particularly in womens’ magazines. Delicious as these dishes may have been without them, tomatoes made for better photos. Not until America’s Little Italy recipes began to migrate back to Europe, did tomatoes appear in Italian alla cacciatora renditions.

Another Italian-American embellishment—mushrooms—remain absent from most Italian alla cacciatora recipes. Their inclusion may well be yet another example of the immigrants’ sense of humor. Hunters whose shots were less sure might still have salvaged their days in the woods if they were successful foragers. Even if they didn’t come home with a sack full of game, they might have found some mushrooms. (Boletus edulis, which Italians call porcini, grow wild in both Italy and North America.)

Continuing our deconstruction of alla cacciatora americana, we’ve no compelling answer as to how sweet peppers found their way into the American preparation. But we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that an enthusiastic Italian-American chef thought that green bell peppers, along with white chicken and red tomato sauce, were a fine way to pay homage to his grandparents’ homeland by evoking the colors of the Italian flag, the beloved tricolore.

Ingredients:

1 3 1/2 Lb. Chicken, cut into 8 - 10 pieces
1 Cup flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 - 4 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Lb. White mushrooms, quartered
2 Green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced into 1 in. strips
1 Medium onion, finely chopped
4 Cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 Cup dry red wine
2 Cups marinara sauce
2 - 4 Tbs. Fresh oregano, finely chopped
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
Parmesan

Preparation:

Pour the seasoned flour into a paper grocery bag. Add the chicken pieces, close the bag, and shake to coat completely.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Remove the chicken pieces from the bag, shake off the excess flour, and add the chicken pieces to the pan. Sauté until brown, about 4 – 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Return the pan to the heat. Add the mushrooms, peppers, onion, and garlic, and sauté until the onion becomes translucent, about 10 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, and add the wine. Cook for 1 – 2 minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Reduce the heat to a simmer and mix in the marinara sauce.

Return the chicken pieces to the sauté pan, spooning the sauce over them. Add the oregano. Simmer until the chicken is tender, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a platter. Cook the sauce until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Ladle the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with the parsley and serve family-style, passing the Parmesan separately at the table. Traditionally, this would be served with a side of pasta.

Serves four.

^1. Additional information on post-Risorgiamento Italy can be found in an excellent book by Hasia Diner; Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration; Harvard University Press, 2001.

^2. For further discussion of Italian chicken consumption, see Part IV of our Introduction.