Anyone who has a vault in their basement dedicated to pork curing and wine, is a friend of mine – and Lou Palma, The Gastro-Mechanic of Montclair, is a dear, dear, friend of mine.
Lou has lived on Summit Avenue in Montclair, with his wife, Susan, for 31 years. Summit Ave is home to a few formidable Baristaville foodies: Lou Palma, Christina O’Neill (pictured above), Alison Bermack, and Laura Schenone, to name a few. After spending time in the Palma kitchen, the term “genius” seems a fitting moniker for this untrained, yet consummate gastronome.
Lou was drafted during the Korean War and trained in Fort Bragg as a military policeman. He was then assigned to Hawaii, where the sergeant in charge of the kitchen, Conrad Hoffmeister, took him under his wing. Hoffmeister, a graduate of the Chicago Institute of Culinary Art, taught Lou the basics of preparing roasts, making desserts, and baking bread.
When Lou returned home from the service with his new culinary education in tow, he began experimenting with recipes he had learned from his mother who was born in San DiAgata, Italy. Through years of trial and error, Lou became a master of all things pork and pasta. He expanded beyond his mother’s recipes, and continues the Italian Christmas Eve tradition of “Seven Fish” (“seven fishes” for those who speak Brooklynese), although he humbly admits to preparing well over seven seafood dishes.
Lou’s approach to food is very scientific, and very mechanical. While some, myself included, will just heap dough into a ball and hope for the best, Lou measures with a digital scale – to the tenth – every time! After he showed me a few of his self-designed, custom kitchen tools, and explained how semolina is used to ease “surface tension,” it came as little surprise when I learned Lou worked for many years as a superintendent at a precision printing plant.
Want to watch Lou, Christina, and me make ravioli? And take a peak at Lou’s proscuitto? Watch the video:
Here are Lou’s ingredients:
Pasta for Ravioli:
6 cups All Purpose Flour
4 Eggs
6 oz. Water
1 Tblsp. Olive Oil
3 Tsp. Salt
Filling:
3 lbs. Ricotta Chesse
6 Eggs
Grated Cheese, don’t be bashful
1 lb. Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Italian Parsley, finely chopped, be generous
Lou and Susan Palma are more than just foodies. They are hospitable, charming, warm, welcoming, jovial, and very humble. I would like to thank the Palmas for welcoming us into their home; I consider it a personal honor to know them.
So Baristaville, have you tried to make your own ravioli? How did it go? Do you know any other extraordinary local foodies we should visit?
For goodness’ sake, get this poor woman some decent microphones. Her otherwise nicely produced spots are ruined by the crappy audio….
Cool! I never knew that this is how they were made.
Lady Gaga would love that walk-in meat closet. 🙂
“Fishes” is not “Brooklynese” it’s Biblical.
Also, ravioli is plural, no need for “raviolis” it sounds like a 3yr old
Dear Grapefruit,
I know that “ravioli” is plural and apologize for that extraneous “s.” However, I did not know there was a proper use for the word “fishes.” Thanks to your comment however,this is what I’ve learned, if you are speaking of more than one fish from the same species, then use the word “fish.” However, if you are speaking of many types of fish, use “fishes.”
If on Christmas Eve, for example, seven different preparations of cod are served, then it’s “Seven Fish.” However, if seven different types of fish . . . cod, flounder, sardines, etc., etc., are prepared, then the proper term is “fishes.”
Therefore, “fishes” is not only Biblical (and still very Brooklynese), it’s also correct.
Melody, I loved your Geraldo moment!
Dear Melody,
From wikipedia:
“The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. Today, it is a completely Italian-American feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. Some Italian American families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.
The term “Brooklynese” is used to describe a slang used by people from Brooklyn, the term 7 fishes is not Brooklynese, it is as you stated the correct way to describe the traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal.
What I object to is the term “Brooklynese” as you have used it. It is suggesting the use of incorrect english. People who use the term, Feasst of the Seven Fishes, are educated, and correct in their use of the term.
Thank you
Note to camera operator: make sure you keep Melody in that frame.
Note to Liz, I think Walleroo may be moving to under somebody else’s porch.
Very funny, but that will never happen. Melody may be hot, but Liz is DA BOMB.