104 FEBRUARY 2020
BACKSTORY
Scorsese’s
Secret Sauce
“In prison, dinner was
always a big thing. We had
a pasta course, and then
we had a meat or a fish.”
—RAY LIOTTA AS HENRY HILL IN GOODFELLAS
Scorsese, who is Italian-
American himself,
brought his own family
into the film by casting
his parents. His father,
Charles, played Vinnie
(based on the real-world
gangster Thomas Agro).
His mother, Catherine,
p l aye d To m my D eV i to’s
mom (Tommy was played
by Joe Pesci).
Catherine Scorsese
had another big role in
Goodfellas: cooking all of
the food that appeared
on-screen, including the
meat sauce from the
prison dinner scene. The
recipe later appeared in
a cookbook Catherine
wrote, Italianamerican:
The Scorsese Family
Cookbook.
In real life, shaving garlic like the goodfellas isn’t nec-
essarily the best practice. Once ultrathin slices hit a
pan of scorching oil, they’ll likely brown quickly, with a
tendency to burn. Thicker slices will sauté more slowly,
infusing the oil with pungent, garlicky flavor.
NEARLY ALL OF MARTIN SCORSESE’S FILMS use food
to help tell the story, whether the central narrative
is about gangsters (Jimmy Hoffa’s love of ice cream
in The Irishman), boxers (Jake LaMotta’s rage over
overcooked steak in Raging Bull), or taxi drivers
(Travis Bickle’s obsession with junk food). As award
season reaches its peak with the Oscars on Febru-
ary 9, it’s only fitting to look back at another Scors-
ese masterpiece famous for its food moments:
Goodfellas, which turns 30 this year. One of the
film’s most memorable scenes takes place in a pri-
vate prison cell, where the mobsters cook an Italian-
American feast. They have the essentials (steak,
scotch) plus some extras (lobster, wine), and pasta
is always a given. The red sauce that accompanies
their spaghetti with meatballs is made with paper-
thin slices of garlic that Paulie Cicero, played by
Paul Sorvino, cuts using a razor blade. It’s a sauce
with real staying power, still mesmerizing three
decades later. —NINA FRIEND
SCORSESE FILM FOOD BY THE NUMBERS
ALL IN THE FAMILY
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS
3
butchers trained
Daniel Day-
Lewis for his
role as Bill the Butcher
in Gangs of New York
5
garlic cloves
in one batch
of Catherine
Scorsese’s red sauce
featured in Goodfellas
4
ice cream sun-
daes eaten by
Jimmy Hoffa
(played by Al Pacino)
in The Irishman
19
ice cream cones
eaten (over 19
takes) by Laura
Dern, age 7, for a scene in Alice
Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
illustration by KELSEY DAKE
