All proper. That is it. That is my favourite dish on the menu. [JAZZY MUSIC] I’m going to inform you why. [UPBEAT MUSIC] I’m so glad we’re having dinner collectively. We’re at Torrisi, which is an Italian-American restaurant in Manhattan. And we’re right here as a result of eating places inform tales in regards to the locations that they exist in, the locations that they aspire to. We’re going to discover a type of tales in the present day, by the meals that Wealthy Torrisi, the chef right here, creates and serves. This can be a very thrilling restaurant. It’s an costly restaurant, nevertheless it’s a restaurant that helps inform the story of New York Metropolis in a approach that I discover thrilling. “I by no means knew that my first restaurant in New York would find yourself being on Mulberry Road. The attention-grabbing factor about Mulberry Road is, you’ll be able to simply make the case that it’s simply as a lot Chinatown as it’s Little Italy. There’s nothing, actually, extra Italian than solely cooking what’s round you.” “Hello.” Hey. “Welcome to Torrisi.” How are you? Thanks very a lot. “I’m doing nicely. Could I give you some nonetheless water, glowing water, or simply plain iced water in the present day?” What do you guys suppose? I’m going to say New York Metropolis faucet water. “You bought it.” Thanks. “And for the primary course right here, I’ve the cucumbers, New Yorkese.” Unbelievable. All proper. I’m going to dig in right here. [JAZZY MUSIC] Salty, dilly, cilantro-y. Tastes like a pickle. Doesn’t style like a pickle. It tastes like a poem a few pickle. That’s what Pete Wells mentioned, the restaurant critic right here, on the ‘Occasions.’ In his evaluation of Torrisi, he recalled that this dish is an homage to a dish that was served 15 years in the past, at Torrisi Italian Specialties, simply down the road. A special salad there, however comparable, each paying homage to the pickle shops of the Decrease East Aspect. The identical taste profile. Obtained the coriander in there. We’ve bought the dill. We’ve bought the salt. We’ve bought the acid. None of that is exactly Italian cooking. It’s not even an Italian-American cooking. It’s New York cooking. [UPBEAT MUSIC] “So, for the pasta course, I’ve the Capellini Cantonese.” Good. That’s stunning. Thanks very a lot. “Could I serve you some?” Completely. That’d be nice. “Fantastic.” [UPBEAT MUSIC] Thanks. Love a pasta pull. One of many cool issues about this dish is that the Cantonese a part of it’s Cantonese. All of it’s been velveted, which suggests it’s been coated in a mixture of egg white and corn starch and a few aromatics after which shallow fried within the wok. After which, subsequent to it, had been the capellini. Very conventional Italian preparation in olive oil and garlic. That addition of the jalapeño, which, to me, is a really American addition, nevertheless it ties the 2 collectively actually properly. I actually want you may style this, as a result of it’s scrumptious. And I’m going to show that to you by consuming some now. Let’s see. Oh, wow. The story of this dish is just like the story of New York Metropolis. On the plate, this deeply, deeply Chinese language preparation and this deeply Italian preparation, combining in New York Metropolis, is simply superb. For those who had been lazy, you’d name that fusion cooking or melting pot delicacies. However we’re not lazy. We’re going to name it a form of delicacies unto itself. “And for the subsequent pasta, I’ve the cavatelli with Jamaican beef ragu.” Superb. All proper. That is it. That is my favourite dish on the menu. I’m going to inform you why, as a result of it’s a magic trick. What occurs on this dish is — for folks like me, who grew up in New York Metropolis, it’s an instantaneous time journey again to the pizzeria on the nook, the place you may go in. And along with the slices, you may get a Jamaican beef Patty. “Jamaican beef patties had been, for us, an apparent jumping-off level as a result of they’re in so many New York Metropolis pizzerias. They’re one among these foodstuffs that comes from a completely totally different tradition that you simply gained’t discover in pizzerias wherever else. However for some motive, they bled into the New York Metropolis pizzeria tradition.” O.Ok., so we’re in an ordinary difficulty New York Metropolis slice store, just some blocks north of Torrisi, the place we began our journey. How are you doing, man? “How are you?” I’m doing nicely. “What do you bought for me?” Might I’ve a beef patty with cheese, please? “Positive.” One of many nice enduring mysteries of New York Metropolis is why there are Jamaican beef patties served in Italian-American pizzerias. It was an enterprising salesman who provided a free case to a pizzeria proprietor and mentioned, simply see how these items promote. They’re simple to warmth up within the pizza oven, and I feel clients will like them. Nicely, clients did. I used to be one among them. “I grew up consuming them, and I grew up loving them. And I assumed it will be a enjoyable, pure strategy to talk that. We make an oil, a deep crimson annatto oil. There’s a little bit turmeric in there to provide it that deep yellow shade, that shade that’s synonymous with the a beef patty. So you’ll be able to really feel that, one, the pasta is on the chewy facet, and the ragu is made with beef cheeks and all of the aromatics and loads of what you’d discover in a beef patty.” The patty itself resembles an English pasty, nevertheless it’s bought the flavors of Jamaican delicacies in it, allspice, scotch bonnet pepper. It’s fiery. It’s candy. Slightly little bit of curry in there as nicely. It’s simply sliced open. Why? So that you could add cheese to the highest, put it within the oven, and simply soften it, and create what quantities to an ambrosial consuming expertise. It’s like an ideal rhyme to the dish that we had at Torrisi, identical taste profile, completely totally different however reminiscent. And I do want we had the expertise in order that you may style this your self, as a result of it’s superb. To find the flavors of these patties on a plate, mirrored on the highest ranges of delicacies, is fairly magical. Wow. Love that. “And to complete the meal, I’ve some cookies so that you can get pleasure from.” That sounds improbable. So that you don’t get that in a pizzeria. Proper? Possibly you get an Icee on the finish. However right here, we do rather well. So we’ve been speaking about eating places as tradition, and I hope I’ve made my level clear, {that a} dish like that ragu we simply ate generally is a type of artwork. The very fact of the matter is, what we eat tells us one thing about who we’re. And on this case, it reveals us, these of us who had been born in New York — it gives us the possibility to be extremely pleased with the town from which we come. However anybody who involves this restaurant will style the flavors of America, as refracted by the eyes of — I’ll simply say it — the artist who created the dishes. I hope you loved this meal. I definitely did, and I hope you’ll come again and eat with me once more another time. [UPBEAT MUSIC]
