Three-quarters of a pound of macaroni

Two ounces of ham fat
A little parsley
Six medium-sized tomatoes
Tablespoon of butter

Grated Parmesan cheese

"While three-quarters of a pound of macaroni are boiling in salted water prepare the following: Chop up fine two ounces of ham fat with a little parsley. Peel six medium-sized tomatoes, cut them open, remove the seeds, and any hard or unripe parts, and put them on one side. Take a frying-pan and put into it one scant tablespoon of butter and the chopped ham fat. When the grease is colored put in the sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes are cooked and begin to sputter put the macaroni into the pan

with them, mix well, add grated Parmesan cheese, and serve."

This recipe was taken from "Simple Italian Cookery" written by Antonia Isola (pen name for Mabel Earl McGinnis). It was published in the United States by Harper and Brothers in 1912. It is believed to be the first American cookbook that contains Italian recipes. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website....P.S. It is not clear in Isola's cookbook what is meant by "macaroni." Nowadays, the word generally refers to short pasta, but it seems this was not the case in the early part of the 20th century. In one of the recipes ["Macaroni with Tomato Sauce, page 9] in the section of Isola's cookbook that is entitled "Macaroni and Other Pastas" the cookbook author tells the home cook "to break the macaroni" suggesting that the word, "macaroni," refers to long pasta, very likely vermicelli, as the other long pastas such as spaghetti or fettuccine ("ribbon macaroni") are identified by name. While she also has specific recipes for "vermicelli," still she refers to this style of pasta as being "ordinary" macaroni which might indicate that "vermicelli" is a synonym for macaroni, but it's hard to say..... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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