Most-Requested Recipes

    It must have been only days after Food Talk first went on the radio that someone called and asked me if I had the recipe for Horn and Hardart's Macaroni and Cheese, a dish that resonates with New York history and nostalgia. I did. And I knew as soon as "Yes" came out of my mouth that I would spend the rest of my career supplying people with this recipe. It is now ensconced in my latest book Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food.

    Who would have thought, however, that there'd be so much interest in Nesselrode Pie. Then again, it's another New York specialty you can't get anymore -- pastry filled with a high mound of Bavarian cream flavored with candied fruits and topped with chocolate shavings. The recipe here is an old one, calling for an ingredient that no longer exists, Nesselro filling. A revised and improved version is in Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food.

    In fact, examining the following top 10 requests, I must say they have a decidedly New York flavor:

    Chicken Francese and Chicken Scarpariello are Italian-American dishes that were probably created in New York (maybe Brooklyn). You might say Jewish-Style Pot-Roasted Brisket is really a New York specialty, too. Penne alla Vodka is a modern Italian recipe that continues to be popular in New York's Italian restaurants. And rice pudding is, if not exactly a New York specialty, a dish that is particularly popular in the diners and coffee shops of the Northeast. I also have a new creamy rice pudding recipe in Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food.