Mafia spaghetti sauce team sends alleged boss Michael Mancuso to jail
Bonanno Mafia boss Michael "Mickey Nose" Mancuso will allegedly eat prison food after a wiretapped conversation about spaghetti sauce helped him get into the soup.
It wasn't the type of conversation that got New York Mafia into trouble, but the people he was talking to.
Mancuso was released from prison in 2019 after serving a 14-year sentence for organizing the murder of Mafia associate Randolph Pizzolo. As part of his probation, "Nose" was banned from contact with other convicted criminals. This includes everyday conversations with them about cooking.
Are you making gravy today or are you making gravy? ” According to federal court documents, Mancuso asked suspected Colombo soldier Michael Uwino on Oct. 24, 2020.
"No, I do it in the morning ... because we don't eat early," replied Uvino, who was convicted of racketeering in July. "What time will we eat tomorrow?"
Mancuso responded, "I don't care, five o'clock or what?"
Nose out of joint
That wasn't the only conversation Mancuso brought to the cafeteria. According to prosecutors, "Nose" also used his girlfriend's Long Island optical store, Real Eyes Optical, to meet other smart people. He also encountered suspected thugs at a local restaurant, they added.
Federal prosecutors said that on October 7, 2020, Mancuso, together with Uvino, Colombo captain Vincent Ricardo, criminal David Del Franco, and Gambino associate Vito Cortecia Noe visited the El Monte restaurant in El Salvador with criminal Joseph Russo.
In 2013, Mancuso was named the official patriarch of the Bonanno family. At the time, he was in prison for the 2004 murder of Pizzolo. Pizzolo was a member of the family known for his recklessness and alcoholism. Mancuso arranged the attack on the orders of then-chief Vincent Basciano.
In 1984, Mancuso was convicted of manslaughter for shooting his wife and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Mafia Recipe Book
Mancuso wasn't the only Mafia member to dabble in culinary matters. In the movie Goodfellas, the prison dinner was always the "big deal", with pasta first and then "meat or fish", even though Pooh was known to use too many onions.
"Goodfellas" is based on the book "Wiseguy: The Life of a Mafia Family" by Lucchese's colleague and informant Henry Hill. The character Pauly invented a technique for slicing garlic with a razor blade, a technique based on the real Lucchese capo Paul Vario.
There is also a common spaghetti and meatballs recipe from The Godfather.
Al Capone was reportedly very picky about what he ate and was known for making amazing pasta with walnut sauce. His recipes are widely circulated on the Internet.
However, not everyone is keen on the Mafia's connection to Italian cuisine. In 2016, Italian farmers' group Coldiretti sued foreign food manufacturers for using mafia monikers to sell their Italian-style products. These include a range of sauces from British brand Chilli Mafia, a Napa Valley wine called The Godfather and Saucemaffioso, a Belgian pasta sauce.
Coldiretti's Sara Paraluppi described such products as a "double insult" to Italy.
“Global manufacturers promote foreign products in the name of Italy by associating them with the worst aspects of Italy, organized crime,” she complained.
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Source: www.casino.org
