Sleuthing as a culinary anthropologist: Utica Greens

Ragazzi,  you know, of course, of Annalena's fascination with food customs and food origins.   "Regionalism" fascinates her:  why are certain dishes common in one part of a state, for example, but not others?  She has written of this, for example, with respect to concord grape pie.  Annalena just does not understand why it does not have a widespread audience.  Every time she makes it , the response is along the lines of "OH MY GOD.  I've never had this before!"  Yet, mention it to someone from the Finger Lakes Region of New York, and you'll get an answer like  "yeah?  So?"   Who can figure?
Indeed, it seems our Upstate New York region has a fair number of "regionalisms" and perhaps even "micro" regionalisms.  Buffalo, for example, is home to - NOT the ubiquitous buffalo wing, but a sandwich called "beef on dweck," which Annalena personally finds revolting, so she will speak no more of it here.  Syracuse seems to be home to salt potatoes, which Annalena does enjoy, but not as much as her studly and former protege' Fred does.  Mention "salt potatoes" to folks from outside of the region and you will get a look along the lines of  "you've GOT to be kidding me."   
On the micro regionalism level, on her visits to the Syracuse area from which the Guyman hails, Annalena was introduced to what she thinks of as a culinary atrocity:  frozen carrots, cooked in tomato soup.  Hot, or cold, sweet or savory, crinkle cut or normal.  All forms are equally revolting to her.  Yet, there it is.  For those so inclined, here is a recipe, and go with God, or Buddha, or whomever:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marinated-carrots/


Ok, now back to the current state of affairs.  Last week, Annalena and the Guyman paid a visit to the wonderful Union Square Cafe'.  On the menu, as a side dish for one entree, was "Utica greens."  Annalena turned to Guy and asked "do you know what this is?"  The reply was a decided "No."  So, Annalena began investigating.

The investigation reminded her of her initial forays into the world of cassoulet.  Everybody KNOWS how to make it, except everybody makes it differently.  She found at least two dozen versions of the dish, and so much culinary lore.  "It's the test of a good restaurant.  If they can't make a good plate of Utica greens, they're not worth patronizing."  "OH, for a plate of my mom's utica greens."  And so on , and so forth.
And as Annalena notes, all of the recipes were different.  YET... they share similarities.  And the similarities probably tell us the origin of the dish.


The recipes all contain the following:

cooked escarole
a cured pork product
garlic
hot peppers, usually sottaceto  (under vinegar)
bread crumbs
grated cheese (asiago or pecorino).
olive oil

Now, who can tell Annalena the origins of this dish, based on the above?  One gets NO partial credit for answering "Italy."

South Italy will get you credit, and "probably south Central Italy" will get you full credit.  See, NO recipe called for parmesan, which is a cow's milk cheese, from the North.  Asiago and pecorino are southern cheeses.  The north of Italy does eat escarole, but usually raw, and as salad.  COOKED escarole is the province of the south.    Cured pork?  Well, yes, it is all over Italy, but in the north, you will get specific types of pork mentioned.  The hot peppers, under vinegar, and the bread crumbs are the final clue.  This is food of Annalena's origins.  And indeed, the Italian community which moved to Utica was, in fact, from south central Italy.    While the dish bears no resemblance to anything that Annalena knows of "authentic" Italian cooking, note that no one says this is an Italian dish.  It is American, it is "Utican", using Italian ingredients.  And we're going to make it.  It's wonderful.


Let's cook our escarole first.  You can get escarole in large heads , or small ones.  You'll need about two pounds of the raw stuff.  Cut the bottom part of it off, so that it falls apart into leaves, and put them into boiling salted water, for about five minutes. Drain them, and let them cool.  Indeed, do this ahead of time if you can.

When you are ready to cook the dish, turn your oven to the broil function, and grate 1/3-1/2 cup of cheese, and whatever quantity you grate, add an equal quantity of breadcrumbs to it.  Don't get fancy with fresh here, the dried stuff in the cardboard box is fine.

Chop up about six cloves of garlic.  To the pork:  apparently, prosciutto is favored, but pancetta, or sausage could go here as well.  If you use the prosciutto,  don't go for the "top of the line" stuff.  All good prosciutto is expensive, but use the "least expensive one."  You'll need four ounces, and you'll need to chop it up.  Annalena rolled her slices together, like a cigar, and cut long longitudinally.  This gave her a lot of small, cylindrical slices, which in turn gave her some texture in her finished dish.  Think about it.

Ok, now get your escarole,  now cool (better be), and squeeze as much of the liquid out as you can. Chop it roughly.    And your peppers:  how many?  How much heat do you like?  Taste the pepper before you use them.  The weight of authority seems to favor cherry peppers under vinegar, but you may use fresh hot peppers, or any variety.  Annalena had a jar of Calabrian hot peppers, and they were HOT.  She minced up three of them. 

Let's cook.  Put a slick of olive oil in a big pan, and add the garlic, and the prosciutto, (or whatever), in at the same time.  Cook over low heat, until you see the ham beginning to crisp up. Trust your nose, and remember that the meat will continue to crisp.  Essentially, when the pink color begins browning, you're ready to go on.

And going on means tossing the escarole and the peppers in with the prosciutton and garlic, and just stirring the stuff to equalize the meat throughout the greens.  Take the pan off the heat, and add about 2/3 of the cheese/breadcrumb mixture, and stir it in .  Pour everything into a glass or enamel baking dish, and shake the remaining cheese and crumbs over it.  Put the thing in the oven, and broil for 3-4 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, to make sure it doesn't burn.

Let it cool for five minutes or so, and serve it forth.  

OH DEAR WAS THIS GOOD!  Ananlena and the Guyman ate it as a side dish for Moroccan monkfish (recipe to follow, carini), but yes, she could see her Nana eating this, with bread, as a meal.  So, too, could she see putting leftovers on pasta and making a meal of that.  So, go  forth, especially Utica girl, inammorata of the aformentioned Fred the Stud.  And keep in mind, Ms. Utica, that if he needs disciplining, you can always send him Annalena's way.  She'll take care of it.