The play, by the author of the critically acclaimed film Moonstruck, is part tall tale and part a slice of New York Americana, Italian style.
He is perhaps best known for his roles as Don Zaluchi in The Godfather, Raymond Capomaggi in Moonstruck and Joseph Magliocco in Crazy Joe (film).
Goldstein also wrote the screenplay and "saw it in a way like Moonstruck or Crossing Delancey.
The dish can be seen being prepared onscreen by actor Guy Kibbee in the 1935 Warner Bros. film, Mary Jane's Pa, by Olympia Dukakis in the film Moonstruck, and by both Hugo Weaving and Stephen Fry in the film V for Vendetta (2005), where the character played by Natalie Portman discusses it.