I’m accustomed to unsolved food mysteries. Cycles of confusion and research are so ingrained into my process that it is hard to write without them. The mystery IS the story, and so there is no story to “John Masetta – A Recipe from Hollywood.”
I imagine that Helen Virginia Halpine (née Bullard), got the recipe on a visit to Los Angeles when her husband, Captain Charles Greham Halpine, was stationed at the Naval base in Coronado around 1935.
The recipe name intrigued me, although the dish is simple – pork, tomatoes, cheese, noodles, onions, garlic. (“whew,” wrote Mrs. Halpine next to the called-for two cloves).
the Halpines on findagrave.com
I started my research with a wild goose chase.
Continue reading ““John Masetta – A Recipe from Hollywood”, Mrs. Charles G. Halpine”