The first time I recall hearing about gabagool was on the episode of "The Office" when Michael Scott orders it at a restaurant while interacting with a guy he thinks is in the Mafia. (SPOILER--the man is actually just an insurance salesman.) I was vaguely aware that Michael clearly got this word from "The Sopranos," or "Goodfellas," or some other Mob-related program or movie, but it wasn't until a subsequent viewing of "The Sopranos" that I definitely heard the term again. Anyway, I looked for gabagool at the local grocery stores without success. But when I did a little googling, and found out that it was another word for "capicola," I was able to find some without much difficulty. Specifically, I tried some ham capicola from the Black Bear brand, which I think is one of the Shop-Rite store brands.
So what is gabagool/capicola? It's a type of cured meat. Some describe it as being a cross between prosciutto and sausage. More exactly, "capicola" is a good description, since it reveals where the cut of meat comes from on the pig's body. "Capo" is "head" in Italian, and "colla" means "shoulder." (Or at least one article I read said this. When I tried out some online Italian to English translation dictionaries sometimes they didn't agree with this.) And this cut of meat comes from the area between the neck and the 4th or 5th ribs (on the shoulder). There seems to be some variation about the production method, but the following one seems to be the most common. The meat is cured for a bit (maybe around 10 days), and then placed in a brine which contains garlic, wine, and spices, and then this whole thing is encased in salt. After being refrigerated, it's rinsed, and then re-seasoned, typically using red or black pepper, fennel, coriander, paprika, and anise. Then this is put back into natural pork casings (perhaps intestinal lining?) and dry cured for 4-6 months. Reportedly it was first made in the area around the Northern Italian city of Piacenza, but since it's now made throughout all of Italy, the French island of Corsica, Switzerland, Argentina, and other areas with significant populations of Italians, such as New York and New Jersey in the U.S. Capicola/gabagool has a relatively high fat content, meaning it's a bit juicier, creamier, and has less gristle than some other cured meats. Nutritionally the meat has high amounts of protein, iron, and Vitamin B-12, but on the negative side it's also very high in sodium, and of course, fat.
As for the alternate name, Dan Nosowitz did a deep dive about this in an article for Atlas Obscura titled, "How Capicola Became Gabagool: The Italian New Jersey Accent, Explained." Long story short, Italian American immigrants, as was their practice, tended to drop the final vowel, and garbled the "c's" into "g's." And the "p" became a "b." And the final "o" sound was drawn out and emphasized. And I for one think this bastardized version is better--I definitely think it's more fun to say "gabagool" than "capicola." Probably because it sounds so ridiculous and nonsensical. But, for the record, this cured meat has a few more alternate names, as some refer to it as "coppa" or "cotta." Which aren't very entertaining, either. I'll stick with gabagool, thank you.
Black Bear ham capicola/gabagool: This was sliced into disc shapes (around 4 inches/10 cm. in diameter) and had a pinkish-brown color, with some whitish streaks (which are the fat) and a reddish-brown rind. The taste was a lot like ham, only better. The spiciness was quite nice, and it was noticeably juicier than most cured meats. I had some plain, and then as part of a sandwich with ranch dressing on it. I came away impressed. If you like cured meats, I think you'll find this is one of the stronger ones. Although given its relatively high sodium and fat content, it's probably better as an occasional treat, rather than a daily staple. Finally, readers are no doubt getting tired of hearing me rave about anise-flavored drinks. It didn't escape my attention that I enjoyed a meat that also uses anise as a flavoring. (And I checked the label on the meat I ate--anise was one of the spices mentioned in the ingredient list.) Also, even if you don't want to eat it, you can still have a good time just saying "gabagool" over and over again. Try it!
No comments:
Post a Comment