The setting for my novel, 'An Enlightening Quiche,' takes place in the fictitious town of Beauchemins in northern Rhode Island. Should you acquire a copy of the novel when it’s road ready, you’ll encounter Augusta and Gabe chowing down on dynamites at the Castle Luncheonette in Chapter 17.

Meanwhile:

Make no beef about it, particularly popular in northern Rhode Island, “dynamites” are a spicy concoction of tomato sauce, fried hamburger, peppers, onions, and crushed red pepper ready to blast on a “torpedo” roll.

Rhode fill to warm your belly at tailgate parties, after shoveling snow, or tanking up in front of the television set, you’ll score a touchdown by intercepting a torpedo filled with meat packing heat.

Dynamites, Northern Rhode Island’s stiff version of the Sloppy Joe, are your basic homemade bomb in a stockpot, best consumed after one or two days of refrigeration for the spiciness to detonate on the aforementioned torpedo. Local journalist and former editor of 'The Woonsocket Call,' Denise Perrault, researched the origin of the “dynamite.” She traced its whereabouts to Woonsocket, and credits its impact to Rosie Thibeault.

Ms. Thibeault purportedly made dynamites at Hamlet Lunch which opened for biz from 1922 through 1925. This “poor man’s recipe” taught at the stove from one generation to the next has been pieced together in the aftermath of many gastronomical explosions, the pride of French-Canadian immigrants. Rosie’s descendants use the same cast iron pan she did as years of seasoning have added historic flavor.

Though Rosie baked her own rolls, torpedos from Calise & Sons Bakery (celebrating over 100 years of excellence), 2 Quality Dr., Lincoln, are the preferred alternative. Calise’s torpedos can also be purchased at many of our local supermarkets.

Score a touchdown for the home team by rallying to round up these ingredients to concoct “Rosie Thibeault’s French-Canadian Dynamite”:

3 pounds freshly ground beef

1 large green pepper (diced, no seeds)

2 medium onions (diced)

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes (diced)

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup water

2-3 small cans tomato paste or your own sauce from fresh tomatoes

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

You’re now ready to rumble by sautéing the diced peppers, onions, and tomatoes in butter until soft. Add water, cooking a minute or two until the veggies are blended. Toss your ground hamburger into the same pot and cook until evenly browned and most of the water dissipates. After using a ladle to spoon off much of the grease from the meat, add tomato paste or homemade sauce—enough to coat the meat, and seasonings.

Voila! Now the day or two waiting game for flavor absorption takes place behind the closed doors of your fridge.

Restless Rhode Island natives and road warriors traversing our northern parts who choose to pass up a skirmish in the kitchen, or cannot wait for a ticking time bomb to explode, may forage at fairs, festivals, or dynamite cook-offs. All told, there are countless detonators who know how to ignite a fuse with their own firebrand recipe for dynamites, most agreeing on “wait time” for flavor enhancement and turning up the heat.

One may get a northern Rhody fill of dynamites served at these Woonsocket eateries: Castle Luncheonette (420 Social St.), Heritage Coffee Shoppe and Restaurant (66 Main St.), Main Street 2000 Restaurant (114 Main St.), and Moonlight House of Weiners (32 Rathbun St.)

Dynamites, Northern Rhode Island’s stiff Sloppy Joe, messy in their own right, are a hearty and heartburn tribute on torpedo to the French-Canadians who flavored Rhode Island history in so many ways. Should you be inclined to assemble Rosie’s recipe in a stockpot, just remember that all good things come to those who wait.