Most memorable firehouse meal ?
- Thread starter Capttomo
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As Signal73 said, "Too many to mention." When it came to the infamous "half-a-chicken" per man you knew that there were no "chefs" working that tour.
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Let’s just say the most memorable wasn’t made to taste delicious it was made more to send a message after hotdogs all week .It appeared delicious a beautiful lasagna but to everyone’s dismay once they cut into it….. filled with hotdogs! Everyone was laughing, well almost everyone!
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Linguine and home made/house made white clam sauce (clams were caught that day out on Long Island).
Most memorable as Jim said pasta and clam sauce. Unfortunately less than half an hour later we had a snotty oil burner fire in a large apartment. Clam sauce did not stay very long. Otherwise, favorite was Friday night shrimp scampi cooked by E 248 chef Freddie Reich.
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Geez, I hope that was on a fresh loaf of rye bread at least with mustard.
I had many great Mexican food meals working at E410/T410/M410 Fairfax County but my most memorable meal was a Brooklyn Coney Island feast on a night tour with my father when I was still in school. A seafood feast at E318/L166 was in the works for a few weeks, I don't know what the celebration was for, but it was going to be a big deal. The wonderful aromas of garlic and sauces were floating across Neptune Avenue when we arrived for our feast and the mouth-watering smells did not disappoint the long-awaited anticipation.
Right on time, the "meal's ready" signal was announced and everyone hustled into the kitchen. As soon as we sat down, the Voice Alarm blared out "Is the chief in quarters?" Almost immediately, the Voice Alarm tone sounded "Attention 43 Battalion - you are special called...." I cannot remember a more disappointed look on my father's face - he loved his firehouse meals - as he hustled to the chief's rig for a run to Flatbush. We were the only available chief for an all-hands fire in a Flatbush drug store. It was a busy night in Brooklyn.
About 3 or 4 runs later, about 3 or 4 hours later, we had our Coney Island feast - hot dogs at Nathans.
Another memory - always leaving the cook back in quarters to finish cooking the meal when runs came in.
Right on time, the "meal's ready" signal was announced and everyone hustled into the kitchen. As soon as we sat down, the Voice Alarm blared out "Is the chief in quarters?" Almost immediately, the Voice Alarm tone sounded "Attention 43 Battalion - you are special called...." I cannot remember a more disappointed look on my father's face - he loved his firehouse meals - as he hustled to the chief's rig for a run to Flatbush. We were the only available chief for an all-hands fire in a Flatbush drug store. It was a busy night in Brooklyn.
About 3 or 4 runs later, about 3 or 4 hours later, we had our Coney Island feast - hot dogs at Nathans.
Another memory - always leaving the cook back in quarters to finish cooking the meal when runs came in.
One of our members from PFD has made many memorable firehouse meals:
Providence Firefighter Dan Rinaldi Shows Off Cooking Chops in Rhode Island PBS’s Search for “The Great American Recipe”
The show premieres Thursday, July 7 at 9 p.m. on Rhode Island PBS.
June 20, 2022Kaitlyn Murray
Starting July 7 through August 25, ten talented home cooks will grace our screens and compete in Rhode Island PBS’s search for “the Great American Recipe.” Amongst those chosen to share their signature dishes with the world is Rhode Island’s very own Dan Rinaldi. We caught up with the Providence firefighter by day and meal maker by night ahead of the premiere to learn a little more about his Italian cooking roots, his time on the show and his favorite Rhode Island eats.
Congrats on representing Rhode Island in the show! Did you grow up here?
I’m from Providence; I grew up in the city and now I live just one street over the city line in Cranston. So, I’m pretty much still in Providence. I grew up in a three decker right across the street from my grandmother’s three-decker. It was nice because my aunt was on the first floor, my uncle was around the corner and my other uncle lived three houses down in another three-decker. We grew up in three-decker-ville. There was always somebody from the family around. I could never screw up as a kid, obviously, because there were a million eyes watching me.How did you get into cooking?
I grew up cooking with my grandmother, mom, aunts, pretty much everybody in my family.The first thing I got my hands on, physically, was probably pasta. My aunts and everybody would come over on a Saturday and they would just make pastas. They would give me a piece when I was five or six years old just to keep me quiet, like ‘yea, you’re going to help us make the pasta for tomorrow.’ I’m sure it was tossed in the garbage after, because God only knows where my hands had been. But that’s pretty much my first recollection of hands-on cooking: making fresh pasta.
What other types of things did you and your family make?
My grandmother stuck right in her wheelhouse of making all the old school traditional Italian stuff. My mother also made all of that, but she would cook a steak every now and then, too. You would never see a steak at my grandmother’s.Did you ever consider becoming a chef or going into the restaurant business?
I did go to Johnson and Wales on a field trip in high school during either junior or senior year and thought, ‘Oh, it might be kind of cool to go here.’ But then I took the fire department test when I was seventeen and next thing you know, I’m on the fire department. All that [Johnson and Wales consideration] went by the wayside and I was totally committed to the fire department at that point. But I still cooked at home.Do you cook for the firehouse?
We take turns cooking at the firehouse because it’s so busy. You could never be the sole cook. So, you’ll have your week to cook. I usually make a meat sauce for the house — that’s a pretty consistent one. The recipe is passed down from my grandmother. You know how Sunday gravy is—it’s kind of like chili in Texas. Every firehouse is cooking it on any given day, and everyone has their own version of it.What are some of your other go-to recipes and traditions from your grandmother?
During the wintertime, I’ll make her pasta e fagioli or a lentil soup. We actually couldn’t eat too much of the heavier pastas in her house because when my grandfather was in WWII, he was run over by a half-track. If it wasn’t for the rainy season in the South Pacific at that time, he would have been dead. He got squashed down into the mud, but he did end up losing 2/3 of his stomach and as a result he couldn’t eat heavy cheeses and things like that. So, I never had lasagnas and things of that nature for the most part growing up. My mother would make them sometimes, but not my grandmother. She would also do sausage and rabe sandwiches and that’s become a classic for us. In fact, I just made that yesterday because I had picked all the rabe from my garden. Talk about farm to table — just twenty feet! Oh, and then, of course, some sort of seafood on Fridays, regardless of whether it’s Lent or not.
Providence Firefighter Dan Rinaldi Shows Off Cooking Chops in Rhode Island PBS’s Search for “The Great American Recipe” - Rhode Island Monthly
Starting July 7 through August 25, ten talented home cooks will grace our screens and compete in Rhode Island PBS’s search for “the Great American
www.rimonthly.com
Note - Dan is a decorated member of PFD's Special Hazards 1 heavy rescue company.
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The Kings of Neptune
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As the EMS Conditions car one evening, I took the trays and the pots of food from the kitchen and delivered them to where a certain company was relocated. Can't say where, when or who because my mind is suddenly a blank. lol. Maybe "Smokeeater405" remembers.
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I was fortunate enough to have worked with some of the best Firehouse cooks in the job. I started in RedHook and had many memorable meals prepared by Tony Catapano E202. I ended my career on the ‘Highway’ with Danny Prince and Keith Young
But any meal in any house was always and hopefully is still a good meal. Stories, good times and food how can it be bad. Even the ruined meal because of an I’ll timed fire was always an adventure and another story.
Quick story, one night the senior man and Chauffeur had the meal and after he started cooking we had a run and as luck would have it, it turned into a first due job. After we knocked down the fire etc. we couldn’t find him! The Lieutenant was getting really worried when he walking down the street. After all the screaming ha told us he found a phone, before I cell phones ha, He called the firehouse and gave instructions to the relocator to save the meal. Now that’s dedication to the meal.
But any meal in any house was always and hopefully is still a good meal. Stories, good times and food how can it be bad. Even the ruined meal because of an I’ll timed fire was always an adventure and another story.
Quick story, one night the senior man and Chauffeur had the meal and after he started cooking we had a run and as luck would have it, it turned into a first due job. After we knocked down the fire etc. we couldn’t find him! The Lieutenant was getting really worried when he walking down the street. After all the screaming ha told us he found a phone, before I cell phones ha, He called the firehouse and gave instructions to the relocator to save the meal. Now that’s dedication to the meal.
This isn’t necessarily a meal story, but back before the TL crew cab was totally enclosed you would really freeze on those winter runs. The guy’s would make a big pot of soup in the morning and it would simmer on the stove all day. And when you came back from a run instead of a cup of old coffee you’d have a nice cup of soup.
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Thanksgiving and Christmas