19 ‘Sopranos’-Inspired Italian Recipes That Carmela Would Love (2024)

FAQs

What was Tony Soprano's favorite food? ›

When discussing mob activities, Tony Soprano would often enjoy a “gabagool,” aka capicola, and peppers sandwich at Satriale's. There were Sunday dinners with a full-course spread and then there was Artie Buco's restaurant.

Baked Ziti: As Made Famous by The Sopranos. A specialty of the Campania region, and particularly well-loved in buzzing Naples, ziti are long dried pasta tubes that are traditionally broken into shorter pieces just before they're cooked. The result is a shape that's a little smaller than rigatoni.

They served Zuppa Maritata (wedding soup), made by combining meat and vegetables, every Thanksgiving. Originating in Naples, this meatball and "shcarole" (escarole) soup was served after the antipasti course but before the baked manicotti and "the bird." Meat factored heavily into the Sopranos diet.

Manigot. For manicotti, which are large ridged pasta tubes that are stuffed, usually with ricotta. The finished dish is also called manicotti. Mutzadell or just mutz. Mozzarella.

Whether you call it capicola or gabagool, you should definitely add this tasty cured meat to your next charcuterie board or layer it on a sandwich, while definitely channeling your favorite Soprano's character and saying "Gahbahhool?! Over here!”

In The Sopranos, red meat plays a crucial role in the psychological trauma of Tony Soprano, so words like "gabagool" and "super-sod" (soppressata) carry a bit of narrative heft throughout the series.

The feast depicted in the episode and named as the Feast of St. Elzéar is based on the annual Feast of St. Gerard, organized every October around the church of St. Lucy's in the Seventh Avenue of Newark, a historical neighborhood of Italian-Americans, which used to be known as the First Ward.

In one episode, Tony famously declares his love for Italian cold cuts, such as prosciutto and soppressata, and he is shown eating these meats on several occasions throughout the series.

Gandolfini was a big fan of CAO Cigars, and he's gone on record saying Tony Soprano also enjoyed smokes from the company founded in 1968 from a family garage in Nashville, Tennessee. Soprano was seen smoking the CAO Maduro L'Anniversaire Robusto in the Sopranos spinoff feature film, The Many Saints Of Newark (2021).

We don't just see Tony overeating in the show so that he has something to do in the scene; it's strategically woven throughout the show to demonstrate his constant need for satisfaction. He can't find it emotionally, so he gorges on food to find some joy in his torturous life.

Why do they say Marone in Sopranos? ›

Marone! This is another exclamation that you will hear frequently in The Sopranos and in context, it means "damn it!" Just as with the above examples of slang from the show, this too is actually a corrupted version of a standard Italian word.

Buona fortuna – (Italian)– good luck. Cagherone – (Southern Italian dialect) – dilect form of chiacchierone meaning big mouth, big talker, blow hard, babbler. Calzone – (Southern Italian dialect) – a type of filled bread/pizza dough.

The episode's title is a play on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart." Moozadell is rough Italian-American slang for mozzarella cheese (from the Southern pronunciation muzzarell') but can also be used as a derogatory name for an Italian man, according to Michael Imperioli.

Capicola (also called Coppa, Cotto, or Gabagool) is made from the prized cut of the neck and shoulder. It is cured for ten days, after which it is then coated in black pepper, fennel seed, coriander, and anise, and slow-roasted to produce a tender shoulder ham.

In 1927 Ruffino memorialized that distinction by releasing their first vintage of Riserva Ducale. The Riserva Ducale Oro, or gold label Chianti, followed in 1947 and later became the favorite wine of Tony Soprano—who ultimately made the Duke of Aosta pale in significance.

Tony Soprano was last seen eating onion rings and listening to “Don't Stop Believin'” while sitting in a red restaurant booth. TV sets across the world abruptly cut to black, and fans of “The Sopranos” have since debated the mafia boss's fate.