Frozen Italian Food Worth Buying and Eating
I have eaten in Mario Batali's restaurants perhaps a hundred times (and had at least very good meals 95 times), but I was extremely skeptical when I heard he was putting his name, complete with photo, on a line of General Mills frozen pasta dinners called Mario Batali's Regional Recipes, which will be sold initially at club stores like Sam's, BJ's, and Costco. So when we received some samples at Serious Eats world headquarters I volunteered to be the first guinea pig.
The first night, I took home the Orecchiette Pasta with Italian Sausage and Broccoli entrée. I followed the instructions to a T, putting the two hockey puck-shaped pouches of frozen tomato sauce skillet along with 3 tablespoons of water, heating them until they melted, and then adding the pasta mixture and cooking the whole thing another seven minutes.
The verdict: More than OK. On the verge of pretty damned good. It tasted like real food. The orecchiette didn't cook evenly, and I wished the pork sausage wasn't shaped like pellets, but it was a suprisingly tasty plate of pasta. The carrots and broccoli didn't get too mushy, and the tomato sauce had a nice little kick.
The next night, I took home the Gemelli Pasta and Meatballs. I followed a similar set of instructions and proudly served it to my wife. This dish blew us both away. The gemelli were properly al dente, the meatballs were tender and light, and the tomato sauce had a fresh, unprocessed taste.
Verdict: Even eating the gemelli and meatballs is no substitute for eating at one of Batali's restaurants. But at $11 for a box that serves five, it's a helluva lot cheaper. And those gemelli might just be better than anything you could eat at the Olive Garden.
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10 Comments:
Does it really serve 5 people? As a side dish or main dish? $11 is a bargain if it feeds five. A small Wolfgang Puck pizza that feeds 2 is $6
Steamy Kitchen at 12:38PM on 04/30/07
I thought the number of servings printed on anything rarely has anything to do with reality.
DaveFaris at 1:56PM on 04/30/07
I'd be curious how big those servings are supposed to be as well. As far as besting Olive Garden, since most of thier meals are frozen food prepared for you, it shouldn't be too tough.
dmorriso at 5:14PM on 04/30/07
I find Mario Batali's endorsement of the gemelli and meatballs especially sad. Here is a man who spent years in Italy learning not only culinary technique, but how essential local traditions are to an understanding of Italian food. He introduced viewers of the Food Network to dishes of Puglia, the Veneto, Liguria, Campania, Friuli, Sicily, etc., stressing the diversity and individuality of each region and its dishes. Now, it is understandable that an Italian-American company would cater to familiar dishes of a relatively ignorant general public who neither knows nor cares about the fact that the Puglese do not serve meatballs mixed with pasta. (Instead, the polpette are served as a separate dish, for example, swimming with greens in a broth.) The only time you'll find meatballs and pasta combined are in elaborate baked dishes of other regions. In any respect, Italians find the American practice of topping spaghetti with meatballs foreign and bizarre, no matter what their place of birth. There is nothing authentic about the dish Ed Levine enjoyed, though I believe he enjoyed it. I have no problem with inventive, creative cooking at Babbo; to the contrary. As for Mario Batali assuring shoppers that they're picking up an authetic Italian regional dish when they hand over their $11: macché! Vergogna!
Eliz. at 5:15PM on 04/30/07
I would say these packages comfortably serve 4, but if there are kids under 12 involved, they could certainly feed 5. As for the authenticity I would have to say that these two dishes are not authentic. But they are enjoyable and well-prepared given the limitations of frozen food, and to me that's enough. Tasting good trumps authenticity, especially when it comes to frozen food.
I would imagine that Mario would tell you the same thing, but maybe we should just ask him.
Ed Levine at 7:06PM on 04/30/07
@ eliz
"authentic"? where does it even claim to be so? these are simply prepackaged, inexpensive meals that aim to be relatively tasty compared to the alternative, nothing more.
monkeypox at 8:59PM on 04/30/07
Well, they're not inexpensive, as they cost about 100% more than it's competition. But pre-fab, high unit, warehouse-sold, one-pot dinners are about as far away from artisinal pasta making as you can get. Nevertheless, I'll be looking for them.
DaveFaris at 11:32PM on 04/30/07
I am not angry with Mario for trying to educate the palates of the rest of the country to "decent" italian foods. People! We are foodies/food snobs/epicureans, we take issue with toast for the love of God. We are a small segment of the population. The large segment eat things fo dinner that make my head spin.
Even thought you see more people are taking more care with flavors and cuisines the average american family will love this. When I go to the grocery store I see people buy a jar of pasta sauce 90% more times than I see them pick out good tomatoes to make a pasta sauce.
I understand how you feel betrayed by a great culinarian marketing to the masses. Try and see it as education.
My signature on Egullet when I post says, "If I can taste it, I can make it."
This is what I wish for everyone.
The education of palates has to start someplace. Why not with pasta?
JerzeeTomato at 8:52AM on 05/01/07
Click first link to read: "Inspired by the flavors and beauty of the region, Mario Batali has created two authentic dishes that invite you to bring a delightful serving of Puglia to your dinner table." "Inspired" and "created" might qualify the relationship between Puglese traditions and the new product of the Minnesota-based firm of General Mills which owns Progresso. "Authentic dishes" could mean that each package really does contain something you could dish out and serve. However, the company's line is promoted as "Mario Batali's Regional Recipes". Everything about the presentation of these frozen meals suggests that the American consumer will be dining upon something a farmer in Noci or a professor in Bari might put on the table. Now that we sip grandes and nibble Tuscan pannini sandwiches, companies find references to Italian regionality a good marketing ploy. General Mills has recently added French Vanilla Nut Coffee Drink Mix to its established line of International Coffees. I am sure these frozen dinners taste much better. They are definitely more authentic than the drink mixes, too.
Eliz. at 10:30AM on 05/01/07
"...might just be better than anything you could eat at the Olive Garden". Good lord, we're setting the bar kind of low, aren't we?
This does seem to me to go against everything Mario has preached, especially on Multo Mario.
Mario's clearly doing this for the money, and maybe there's nothing wrong with that, but it's still sad. If I want Italian American, I'll make it myself.
Lou at 2:22PM on 05/01/07