Tetrazzini Explained
Tetrazzini is an Italian-American dish made with diced poultry or seafood and in a butter, cream or milk and cheese sauce flavored with sherry or white wine, and combined with linguine, spaghetti, egg noodles, or other types of pasta, sometimes topped with breadcrumbs or cheese, and garnished with parsley or basil.[1] [2]
The dish is named after the Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini.[3] The origins of tetrazzini are widely disputed. Some accounts ascribe tetrazzini as a creation of Auguste Escoffier. Other sources claim tetrazzini to be invented in the early 1900s by Ernest Arbogast, the chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California, where Luisa Tetrazzini made her American debut at the Tivoli as Gilda in Rigoletto on January 11, 1905.[4] However, other sources attribute the origin to the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City.[5] [6]
In 1950s through the 1980s, upscale New York City restaurants including Mamma Leone's and Sardi's featured tetrazzini on the menu.[7] [8] [9] The Sardi's tetrazzini recipe was featured in Vincent Price's cookbook A Treasury of Great Recipes, and mentioned in the Sue Kaufman novel Diary of a Mad Housewife.[10] [11] Tetrazzini frozen dinners were popular in the 1960s, as noted by Joan Didion in The Saturday Evening Post article "The Big Rock Candy Figgy Pudding Pitfall".[12] Recipes for tetrazzini, both from-scratch and using convenience ingredients, were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and the dish was featured in an episode of Mad Men.[13] The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, a collection of vintage recipes featuring dishes featured in the run of the show. The cookbook included recipes drawn from various popular mid-century restaurants and cookbooks, including a recipe for tetrazzini originally published in Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook.[14] [15] In the 1960s, southern restaurants and Junior League cookbooks began featuring versions of tetrazzini (often referred to as chicken spaghetti throughout the south).[16] [17] [18] In the 1960s, the famed Piccadilly Cafeteria in Baton Rouge introduced chicken tetrazzini to the menu, and it remains a customer favorite decades later.[19] Foster's Market in Durham, North Carolina, introduced chicken spaghetti to their in-house dining and catering menus in the 1980s, with their version based upon the chicken spaghetti recipe featured in the Baton Rouge Junior League cookbook River Road Recipes. In the 1990s, tetrazzini and chicken spaghetti emerged as soul food classics.[20] [21]
In 21st century pop culture
Tetrazzini, specifically chicken tetrazzini, became an Internet meme after a woman on Maury accuses her friend of seducing her boyfriend by preparing his favorite meal, chicken tetrazzini.[22] [23] Clips from the episode were featured on the E! channel show, The Soup, in 2007. In 2020, Vice magazine food editor Farideh Sadeghin prepared chicken tetrazzini for their Munchies series, referencing the Maury episode as her inspiration for the dish.[24]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Turkey Tetrazzini Cook's Illustrated Recipe . 2023-02-22 . www.americastestkitchen.com . en . February 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222045530/https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/recipes/1038-turkey-tetrazzini?incode=MCSCD00L0&ref=new_search_experience_3 . live .
- Web site: 2019-03-18 . Turkey Tetrazzini . 2023-02-22 . Saveur . en . December 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207095801/https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Turkey-Tetrazzini/ . live .
- News: Amanda . Gold . Bay Area stars freshening up 5 classic dishes . The San Francisco Chronicle . May 31, 2009 . August 15, 2016 . July 10, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160710082328/http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Bay-Area-stars-freshening-up-5-classic-dishes-3296739.php . live .
- Book: Gattey, Charles Neilson . Luisa Tetrazzini: The Florentine Nightingale . Scolar Press . 1995 . 1859280102 . United Kingdom . 41–44.
- Web site: Niosi. Andrea. Chicken Tetrazzini. Foodreference. December 2004. September 6, 2012. June 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210616191902/https://www.foodreference.com/html/fchickentetrazzini.html. live.
- Book: Peters, Erica J. . San Francisco: A Food Biography . New York . Rowman & Littlefield . 2013 . 177 . 978-0759121539 . The 'restaurant on forty-second' may refer to the Knickerbocker Hotel, then located on 42nd Street and Broadway. . January 30, 2023 . February 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222045529/https://books.google.com/books?id=nQyYAAAAQBAJ&dq=tetrazzini+knickerbocker+hotel&pg=PA177 . live .
- Web site: Radio . Southern California Public . 2015-10-01 . Vincent Price's very Off-Rampy cookbook, 'A Treasury of Great Recipes,' is back! . 2023-02-22 . Southern California Public Radio . October 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211028043452/https://archive.kpcc.org/programs/offramp/2015/10/01/44663/vincent-price-s-very-off-rampy-cookbook-a-treasury/ . live .
- Web site: Mama Leone's Chicken Tetrazzini . 2023-02-22 . labellecuisine.com . May 18, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220518105215/http://labellecuisine.com/archives/mama_leones_chicken_tetrazzini.htm . live .
- Web site: Sardis – Restaurant . 2023-02-22 . en-US . February 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230213193338/https://sardis.com/ . live .
- Web site: Recipes . 2023-02-22 . Vincent Price . en . January 21, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230121150704/https://www.vincentpricelegacy.com/recipes . live .
- Web site: Sue Kaufman . 2023-02-22 . Jewish Women's Archive . en . November 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221126113054/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kaufman-sue . live .
- Web site: McGowan . Bob . says . Jr . 2018-12-04 . The Big Rock Candy Figgy Pudding Pitfall . 2023-02-22 . The Saturday Evening Post . en-US . October 25, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221025011516/https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/12/the-big-rock-candy-figgy-pudding-pitfall/ . live .
- Webley . Kayla . 2010-07-22 . Casserole Top 10 Things We Miss About the Mad Men Era . en-US . Time . 2023-02-22 . 0040-781X . May 18, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140518044028/http://entertainment.time.com/2010/07/23/top-10-things-we-miss-about-the-mad-men-era/slide/casserole/ . live .
- Web site: Bonacci . Jane . 2012-01-27 . Book Review and 5 Recipes from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook for Festive Friday! • The Heritage Cook ® . 2023-02-22 . The Heritage Cook ® . en-US . August 9, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220809075944/https://theheritagecook.com/book-review-and-5-recipes-from-the-unofficial-mad-men-cookbook-for-festive-friday/ . live .
- Web site: Rama . Padmananda . March 25, 2012 . The Mad World Of 'Mad Men' Food . February 22, 2023 . NPR . December 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211206095648/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/03/23/149225456/the-mad-world-of-mad-men-food . live .
- Web site: Chicken a la Creole Spaghetti . 2023-02-22 . Chicken a la Creole Spaghetti . December 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221201191029/https://dricksramblingcafe.blogspot.com/2015/06/chicken-la-creole-spaghetti.html . live .
- News: Sifton . Sam . 2016-09-29 . Chicken Tetrazzini, the Casserole Even Snobs Love . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-22 . 0362-4331 . February 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217112726/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/magazine/chicken-tetrazzini-the-casserole-even-snobs-love.html . live .
- Web site: Llado . Melissa . May 1, 2023 . This Tuna Tetrazzini recipe is a healthier version of a classic dish. Using fresh tuna, cheeses, and cream...the whole family will love this easy dinner recipe. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221210051429/https://www.southernliving.com/food/dish/casserole/chicken-spaghetti-casserole-family-dinner . December 10, 2022 . 2023-02-22 . Serendipity and Spice . en.
- Web site: Piccadilly Cafeteria Oral History . 2023-02-22 . oralhistory.unt.edu . en . February 22, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230222045634/https://oralhistory.unt.edu/time-period/piccadilly-cafeteria . live .
- Web site: Necole . Shaunda . 2022-01-12 . Black Folks Southern Chicken Spaghetti . 2023-02-22 . The Soul Food Pot . en-US . September 28, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220928131517/https://thesoulfoodpot.com/southern-chicken-spaghetti/ . live .
- Web site: staysnatched . 2022-10-19 . Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti + . 2023-02-22 . Stay Snatched . en-US.
- Web site: Chicken Tetrazzini . March 15, 2010 .
- Web site: Video of the week: "Chicken TetraZZINI!" .
- Web site: Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe .