Ringing in the New Year with a Drum

One of my favorite foodie movies is “Big Night” - a tale of two Italian immigrant brothers who make New Jersey not only their home, but also the home of their family owned and operated Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, their eatery isn’t fairing well. So, in hopes of revitalizing their business, the siblings plan a dining extravaganza for Jazz great Louie Prima.

Knowing this is their last chance to turn things around the boys are totally consumed with preparing a “Big Night” feast that Mr. Prima and company will never forget. While many satisfying courses were carefully orchestrated the night of this music legend’s supposed visit, the crescendo of the evening centered around the serving of a dish called “Timpano” – a complicated, but delicious baked pasta creation.

After viewing this movie back in the late 1990’s, one of my closest friends, Karen Calabrese, was inspired to host a dinner party where “Timpano” would be the main attraction. Only a true food fanatic can appreciate the effort that goes into preparing such a meal – a labor of love one would only take on for those dear to heart.

Timpano is Italian for “drum”, which is the shape this magnificent meal takes on when it is done baking. The steps to create this lavish dish are numerous: roll and bake 40+ meatballs, boil and slice eggs, chop chunks of salami, produce a savory tomato sauce, cook the pasta, cube a generous portion of mozzarella and bread and fry the drum itself – which in this instance is thinly sliced eggplant cut horizontally (other’s use pasta sheets to create the drum like shell that houses all these wonderful ingredients). Assembling this dish is almost as time consuming as cooking all of the various elements that go into the dish.

As funny as this may sound, we’ll be ringing in the New Year with a drum as Karen rolls up her sleeves and camps out in her kitchen this Friday to prepare this memorable meal that has mystical effects on the taste buds. Once the elaborate Timpano is carried into the dining room on a special oversized cake pedestal, mouths drop open knowing the most outrageous flavors will be unleash upon consumption. The only thing better than the aroma and spectacular taste this meal holds is the friends that will surround the table with me as we celebrate the coming of 2011. Wishing each of you a very Happy New Year!