Pork roll or Taylor ham. Sub or hoagie. Sprinkles or jimmies. These are the food fights we love to have, because everyone has a opinion. And everyone is sure their opinion is the right one. But here in New Jersey, another debate simmers with no end in sight: sauce versus gravy. Italian-Americans will defend – with gusto – their position, citing grandmothers in Naples, great-grandmothers in Sicily and recipes that survived the trip from the Old Country.

Then, there are questions to be asked: Is there meat in the pot? Was it cooked on a Sunday? In my house, it's gravy. All the time. Meat or no meat, it doesn't matter. And to further stir the pot, we serve it over macaronis, not pasta.