“Cooking with kids is about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.” -Guy Fieri

This week’s recipe is… Bell Pepper Meatball Subs!

This week we have something very different–in a good way! Made from ground beef, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, parmesan, egg, garlic cloves, salt, red pepper, olive oil, and bell peppers, we have a meatball sub that is healthy, filling, and delicious (with some spice!).

Along with the ingredients in the meatball sub, the Bell Pepper Meatball Sub is made with a delicious marinara. The marinara includes olive oil, garlic, yellow onion, carrots, Roma tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and pepper. Now that we know what our Bell Pepper Meatball Subs are made of, let’s dive into the history of the meatball sub!

HISTORY OF THE MEATBALL SUB!

The submarine sandwich! This is a classic and common food with many different combinations. The submarine sandwich has many different names. Some of those names include, sub, hoagie, hero, po’boy, or grinder (There’s a story behind that one!).

Sub sandwiches can be made with a large assortment of different ingredients. Typically it is made with a variety of condiments, cheeses, vegetables, and meats. One of the characteristics of a sub sandwich is that it is usually on a length of bread or roll which is split lengthwise, and then filled with its ingredients.

Let’s talk a little bit about the name “hero” for the meatball sub. The hero is a name that was believed to first be used in New York in 1937 to describe a sandwich with an Italian flavor. To this day the word “hero” is used to describe most sandwiches in New York. In fact, our recipe today might even be called a Bell Pepper Meatball Hero in New York!

HISTORY OF THE GRINDER

Since we know that a “grinder” is another name for a sub sandwich, let’s talk a little bit more about the history of this name! This name is more common in New England, however, the origin of the name has many posibilities. One idea is that the name came from an Italian-American word for a dock worker, which among the dock workers the food was a staple. Another idea was that since the sandwich was made with tough-to-chew bread, and required a lot of chewing or grinding, that’s how the name came about. However, the name is especially important for our recipe this week because in many places in the world the term “grinder” usually refers to a hot submarine sandwich while a cold submarine sandwich is typically called a sub.

TRIVIA

Question: Where in the world is the name “wedge” used to describe a sub sandwich?

Answer: More than one place! The two most common are Connecticut and New York.

Question: What in the world is a Spukie?

Answer: A Spukie is a unique name for a submarine sandwich that comes from the city of Boston and is derived from the Italian word spucadella, which means “long roll”. Supucadella is not actually found in any Italian dictionaries, which may suggest that it could possibly be a slang word or a regional dialect, or perhaps a Boston Italian-American invention. You can find Spukies being sold in some bakeries in Boston’s North End neighborhoods!

Junior Chef Stars – The Premiere Cooking School for Kids and Teens

We hope you enjoyed this week’s recipe! Keep your year rolling by giving your child the gift of a February or March Cooking Class!

To see a list of our upcoming classes, click here!