Don’t say it with flowers, say it with food at these excellent Sydney restaurants
Learn to cook like a master chef
If you've seen Goodfellas (starring Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro), you'll know Henry Hill is
a real wiseguy. Half Irish, half Italian, he learnt plenty of recipes along the way both from his Sicilian mum and his time in jail with other wise guys.
He'll tell you how to slice a clove of garlic with a razor blade to get it so transparent it melts in the pan (as shown in the film) and how to skim tomato sauce to stop heartburn (we have to come to the conclusion that this makes no difference). But there are recipes collected from his life all the way back to making pizza at Larry's (the dough recipe's in there). He talks about his life undercover and how horrified he is when he can't get good olive oil, pasta and olives and has to make do by smuggling in pecorino and charming his agent/bodyguard into supplying him with tomatoes.
Pasta, according to Henry, has to be frisky. "I like it to go right from the boiling water to my dish. It has to be alive. It has a life to itself. It's good for you. I'm sure eating pasta is what kept my mother in good health for so many years. Cooking is art. Use your imagination. It should be a pleasure to cook. An adventure, pleasure, an experience. It's like making love. You never make love the same way twice but it should end up the same each time."
While the recipes are basic and not always inspired, it's very much comfort food and the stories make it. This book's about Henry and less about the food and though you might find other other books of this oeuvre (there's a Sopranos Family cookbook) this is the real thing, tough guy.
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