‘Year In Search’ Surprises, Confounds, Amuses…

It’s not just food and dining issues, of course. The Google ‘Year in Search’ report covers just about every topic you can think of. But the food searches always seem to reveal something special about the minds of the masses…

The Family Supper Spaghetti Pomodoro from HULU TV’s summer
replacement hit, The Bear… Use only the best ingredients
and follow the proportions in the recipe exactly…

As I mentioned just a few days ago, we have entered that special time of year, when everyone and his dog is publishing year-end surveys. Polling companies and internet search services seem natural places to start. And where better on the internet than the king of searches, Google?

The overall Big 10 Food Searches

Here’s the list. Please hold your questions until the end…

Yes, there are several dishes there you’ve probably never heard of before now. Me too. Let’s take them one by one…

New to me, and noteworthy

Sugo

Sounds exotic at first blush. And it kind of is. The internet gets to a definition of Sugo in a round-about way, by telling us what it’s not. What it IS, it turns out, is Italian Red Gravy:

“Sugo, meaning ‘sauce’ in Italian, is a traditional tomato sauce. Contrary to popular belief it is not tomato passata, which is a concentrated, sieved tomato puree.” Neither is it a direct equivalent to Ragu or any other better-known Italian Tomato anointments, according to delicious.com.au. “Instead, sugo is made from ripe tomatoes cooked with extra virgin olive oil, onions and garlic, and seasoned. It features heavily as the base of many classic Italian dishes, like penne arrabiata and all’amatriciana.”

I can understand an explosion of interest in something like Sugo – once the word goes viral.

Cincinnati Chili

A new one on me – until this morning: “Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs (‘coneys’),” Wikipedia explains. “Both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. Its name evokes comparison to chili con carne, but the two are dissimilar in consistency, flavor, and serving method; Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Greek pasta sauces and spiced-meat hot dog topping sauces seen in other parts of the United States.”

Marry Me Chicken

Some women (mainly dewy-eyed girls) out there are undoubtedly asking, “Does it work?” That’s not the point. The name is supposed to convey a dreamy metaphorical picture of how it tastes and makes you feel. It’s a one-pot Chicken Breast simmer folks some say no one can resist.

“Marry Me Chicken is a quick and easy chicken breast recipe with herbs, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and heavy cream,” themodernproper.com tells us. “Legend has it, a few group of magazine food editors were testing this dish, when one enthused they would literally marry it, if they could… It was THAT delicious!” From there, Marry Me Chicken went viral, and many hundreds – if not thousands – of variations have emerged.

I like to think it was one of those recipes that those who reviewed it exclaimed: “Try it tonight! Your stomach will love you for the rest of your life!”

Grinder Sandwich

This is just a personal indulgence for me. Until now. I’ve often wondered what a ‘Grinder’ Sandwich is. But I haven’t had the time or motivation. And when I finally do get the time, what motivation I had has evaporated. But, since people were asking Google in mega-droves this past year…

“Looking at New England’s southern shores, it’s clear that Connecticut and Rhode Island say ‘grinder‘ more than anything else,” newengland.com relates. “The origin of grinder is not well known, though it’s said that the name initially came from the tough Italian bread used to make the sandwich, which you would have to ‘grind’ your teeth through.”

“According to the data, grinder is a term that’s also found quite often throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and western and central Massachusetts. Elsewhere, folks might use “grinder” to distinguish a hot sub from a cold one — the former being the grinder and the latter the sub — though this distinction seems to have largely disappeared over the years.”

However, the top-of-the-pile search returns coming in these days for ‘grinder’ point overwhelmingly to something new: called the Tik Tok Viral Grinder Italian Salad Sandwich, which has a distinctive basic recipe that includes a top layer of Creamy Slaw. Call me a boring old poop, but I still prefer the original-style ‘sub’.

The Bear Spaghetti

The reference is to a recipe for a simple, savoury Spaghetti dish often served as the ‘Family Supper’ at the eponymous fictional restaurant in the new HULU TV series that premiered this past June. Family supper is a traditional heavy, settling meal served by the house to its restaurant employees before the evening service to ensure the kids don’t run out of steam if the going gets rough (i.e.- if the resto gets ‘slammed’).

The spaghetti recipe from the TV series is a classic Pomodoro-sauced bowl, and you couldn’t ask for an easier meal to make. Just use the very best ingredients you can get and follow the proportions carefully.

Feeling contentedly stuffed…

That ought to keep you feeling contentedly stuffed for a while!

Muse on that…

~ Maggie J.