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.
A friend once told me that her mother mixes red wine and coca cola and calls it a “Mojo” – a misheard derivative of the cocktail’s Basque name, “kalimotxo.” At first I thought that “John Masetta” might be a case of something similar. I even thought that despite the Italian-sounding name, it could have a different origin entirely. Some versions of German Geschnetzeltes, for instance, is similar to this recipe for meat served with noodles. Perhaps John Masetta is just a sound someone heard for a version of some German dish, I thought.
A 1919 advertisement for the Logan Delicatessen in Dayton Ohio asked prospective customers: “Do you like hot tamales or chile con carne, or John Mazetta”? “If so, we have it,” the ad declared without further explanation, suggesting that the dish was at least somewhat commonly known.
A Pennsylvania newspaper mentioned “John Mazetta” as a recipe contest winner in 1937, and claimed that the “dinner dish is an old favorite among German Cooks.”
In 1941, a newspaper ad in Illinois attributed John Mazetta to a “chef at a famous New York Hotel.” According to that ad “the contents of the concoction [are] beef, veal, noodles, celery, tomato soup, green peppers, onions, mushrooms” and “bitey cheese.” That sounds pretty different from Mrs. Halpine’s John Masetta.
You can see why confusion is the norm in food history.
A 1989 article about casseroles in the LA Times mentioned “Johnny Mousetti,” stating that the dish’s origins were a mystery.
the Marzetti Restaurant, pictured on the Marzetti company webpage
As it turns out, the recipe in my cookbook for “John Masetta – A Recipe from Hollywood” is just a version of “Johnny Marzetti,” a midwestern casserole originating at Marzetti’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. You may be familiar with the line of nationally-available salad dressings named for the restaurant.
I found similar recipes in other Maryland cookbooks under different names: “Johhny Mazetti,” just “Marzetti,” the hilarious “Whozit,” and the somewhat less hilarious “Ground Beef Casserole.”
These recipes, with variations on cheese and meats, raise the question of what truly constitutes the authentic Johnny Marzetti. Most recipes call for ground meat. Inclusions like celery, mushrooms and green peppers are common. Different recipes call for different cheeses. The LA Times article claimed the casserole contains corn.
True to most community-sourced recipes of the 1950s, Mrs. Halpine’s recipe was simple. Luckily, it’s hard to go wrong with this type of thing. A little extra garlic and a little extra seasoning on the plate made this a nice dinner, even if it didn’t give me a good story to tell.
Recipe:
- 2 Lb pork, steaks or boiled (if latter boil and simmer until tender)
- 10 or 12 large onions, sliced [I only had red onions and I only used 2 or 3! – k]
- 2 cloves garlic (whew’)
- salt
- 1 large or 2 small packages inch wide noodles
- 1 2 1/2 can solid pack tomato
- 1 Lb American cheese
Dice pork into cubes and fry in hot skillet until golden brown. Add onions and fry until all are brown. Boil noodles while pork is sizzling and put tomatoes through colander. When noodles are done and drained add them to tomatoes and combine with pork and onions. Add chopped garlic, salt, and part of grated cheese. Put all in large baking dish, cover with grated cheese and bake until brown. It is better if cooked the day before and reheated. Serve with green salad, French bread, dry wine and coffee.
Recipe from “Evening Capital’s ‘Chow Down’ Cook Book,” 1954, Capital-Gazette Press
