The Wise Guy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes From My Life as a Goodfella to Cookin

by Henry Hill

Now, in his inimitable style, Henry Hill tells some spicy stories of his life in the Mob and shows you how to whip up his favorite dishes, Sicilian style—even when you’re cooking on the run. Learn delicious recipes that make even the toughest tough guy beg for more…Henry Hill was a born wiseguy. At the pizzeria where he worked as a kid, he learned to substitute pork for veal in cutlets—which came in handy later when the bankroll was low. At thirteen, he got his first percentage from a local deli—that lost business when he started supplying the neighborhood wiseguys with his own heroes. And what great heroes they were.Once he entered Witness Protection, though, Hill found himself in places where prosciutto was impossible to get and gravy was something you put on mashed potatoes. So he learned to fake it when necessary (for example, Romano with white pepper took the place of real pecorino-siciliano cheese), and wherever he found himself, Hill managed to keep good Italian food on the table. He still brings this flair for improvisation to his cooking. No recipe is set in stone. And substitutions are listed in case you need them for these recipes and many Mom’s Antipasto Sunday Gravy (Meat Sauce) Cheater’s Chicken Stock Striped Bass for Paulie Fat Larry’s Pizza Dough Henry’s Kickback Antipasti Hero Sicilian Easter Bread with Colored Eggs Clams Casino Osso Buco Oven Penitentiary Sauce with Sausage Michael’s Favorite Ziti with Meat Sauce

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Or maybe 5 stars? I just woke up from a nap so am blurry-brained. I grew up going to this restaurant in NYC's Little Italy called Lunas. It wasn't fancy or elaborate, no sprinkled herbs or fruit on the side of the plate for effect, what it was was if you had a friend with an Italian Grandma from the Old Country who invited you into her kitchen, sat you down, threw whatever was bubbly in her pot or stove on a plate and plonked it down in front of you, conducting with her spoon Eat! Eat! Coincidentally enough, my husband also grew up in the NY area and HIS family also went to Lunas. Lunas was just down home pure plain fantastic Italian cooking. When we lived in Soho, we would often walk down to Lunas. And pick up some canolis to eat at home. Lunas is one of the places I've missed very much since moving to Seattle 22 years ago.

Quite a few of the recipes in this book have caused Richard and I to look at each other and say, This is like Lunas!

I've cooked lots of Italian before, but learned some subtle finishing touches. For instance, a. before you drain your pasta, take some of the water and throw it in the sauce - the starch will make the sauce attach itself to the pasta when you, b. mix the pasta and sauce all together before serving on plates. This is what restaurants do.

There's tips like this that I never thought of. And altho I am very competent about making up my own recipes when I need a fast dinner, Henry's style is an inspiration (after all he's on the run!) and I've picked up on some tips. Garlic, basil, and parsley (NOT oregano!) is the root of Sicilian Italian.

Also, Henry's descriptions of the places he's been and the foods he finds in different parts of the country are entertaining. Yep, I actually READ this cookbook! You remember Henry, right? The Ray Liotta character from GoodFellas. In the witness protection program. Remember when he and Paulie were in prison slicing the garlic with a razor? So yeah, Henry takes his food very seriously. Fortunately, no razor required.

[Jeff Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fair or unfair, I read Henry Hill’s “The Wise Guy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes from My Life as a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run” (2002) somewhat as a companion piece to “The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco.” (2002).

In doing so, my conclusion is that the Goodfellas Cookbook is both more and less than the Sopranos Cookbook. It’s less in that the Sopranos Cookbook was chocked with glossy photos from the show and had multiple pieces from multiple writers. The Goodfellas Cookbook, obversely, has no photos and is printed on cheap paper. It’s flashy vs. no flash.

However, GC is more than SC in that the latter is a promotional novelty with some run-o-the-mill Italian recipes thrown in to justify the title, while GC has dozens of authentic Italian recipes from the author, a real person. What’s more, the breadth of recipes is impressive. It’s not only Italian but a couple Jewish dishes, and even U.S. Southern cooking.

The recipes appear between anecdotes of Hill’s life, from his upbringing in Brooklyn to his time as a mobster and later rat. “Goodfellas” fans will probably be most interested by Hill’s life after the events of the movie, when the Feds moved he and his family around the U.S. multiple times.

I would say that these anecdotes feature a good balance of humor and pathos, but the thing is: they really don’t. It’s both amusing and troubling that Hill’s representation of events (obviously assisted by a ghostwriter) has this jovial, ain’t-I-a-stinker? tone. Other books have explored how karmically dire both Hill’s crimes and character were—including one by his own children. Hence, there’s just something untoward in GC’s aww-shucks approach to his life.

If you can get past that misgiving, though, GC does have a certain charm to it. Some of the recipes sound fantastic, and I look forward to screwing them up ;-)

[Melissa Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than recipes

I was lured by the name and looking for authentic recipes...what I found was a treasure chest of stories, advice, techniques...from a guy who had access to the best ingredients...and then was in the middle of nowhere....loved the Goodfellas story so this was like part two....it's a collection of vintage food and folklore that I'm thrilled to have found.

[Lucinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories and everyday Italian recipes

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own an autographed copy from Henry before he kicked the bucket. Cool cookbook with a lot of heart and enthusiasm.

[Electric · Rating 5 out of 5]

These recipes are to -die- for (har)

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry Hill, who the book and movie Goodfellas was based on, is a good amateur cook and swore that if he lived through the witness protection program that he would write a cookbook. And he did. The Italian recipes are solid and unique in that he wrote them with an eye towards compensating for a lack of ingredients -- for instance, what to use in place of prosciutto if you are stuck in a safe house in, say, rural Nebraska. As an added attraction, the recipes are interspersed with anecdotes of his life as a gangster and on the run; instead of presenting how to make a good ragu, he will lead in with a story of fat Tony who taught this to him, the scams they were running when he learned the recipe, and ultimately what happened to the scam and possibly even Tony.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book because as much as it makes me uncomfortable, I enjoy the movie Goodfellas and decided to find out more about Henry Hill. I'm also part Italian, so the idea of his writing a cookbook intrigued me. The recipes are good ones, but what got me was his narrative, which is interspersed thorough the cookbook. This guy is absolutely crazy - a real nut with no humility or regret, no remorse whatsoever. Incredible!

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

His recipes look really awesome, and I love the stories interwoven within the recipes. However, what is with this ghost writer? Did she just clean up his dirty Bronx mafia syntax, or did she write half of the book?

[Mike Da Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one because not only did it show you how to create a feast for Sunday dinner, but how to make a great meal even if all you have is a hot plate. The stories in between receipes was also a nice touch, but maybe living in Jersey makes me biased.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just bought this book from Amazon. Love the stories and can't wait to try the recipes. I may have to watch Goodfellas this afternoon as I finished reading Henry Hill stories :)