Preserving Our Italian Heritage

From Cosa Bolle in Pentola:
Winding down, about 10 years ago the Grand Lodge of Florida, Order Sons of Italy in America, and the Sons of Italy Florida Foundation decided to set up a trust fund to provide scholarships and make other charitable contributions. If one is to do this sort of thing one has to have money coming in, and to this end they decided to put out a cookbook. As its title suggests, it's not quite the standard Italian cookbook -- rather, they gathered old recipes and family favorites, "a few on note paper, just jotted down [, and] some in yellowed envelopes written by a family member long departed." They gathered about 500, all told, some of which were rather approximate, calling for a half an eggshell of one ingredient or a wineglass of another, and others that are more precise, and then set about testing the recipes to be sure they worked.

The result is a fascinating collection that spans the peninsula, with everything from the piadina romagnola (a thin flat bread cooked on a griddle that's standard Romagnan fare) to stockfish Messina style (dried cod served with a very authentic Sicilian sauce that includes tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins, capers and black olives) to a Panettone Farcito (stuffed with a creamy mascarpone mixture) that will be quite nice come Christmas. There is a preponderance of southern dishes, which is to be expected since most of the Italian immigrants who settled in North America came from the south, and there is a preponderance of, well, home cooking. Simple hearty fare, rather than the elegant things one can get in a restaurant, and this is very positive, because a great many home cooks refuse to write anything down or share their secrets, and this is how recipes get lost. Here, instead, we have a collection.

A couple of examples:

Marino's Italian Barbecue
(Beef and Sausage)

5 lbs [2.4 k] Sweet Italian sausage (remove casing)

3 lbs [1.4 k] round steak, chopped

2 1/2 lbs [1.2 k] Hot Italian sausage (remove casing)

6 large green peppers

8 fresh plum tomatoes (cut in quarters)

2 extra large Bermuda onions (sliced)

Garlic powder

Salt/pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano

Combine the ingredients in a very large fry pan. I use a 17" [42 cm] camping fry pan. Season generously with garlic powder, salt, pepper and oregano. Cook over hot coals. Stir and mix often to prevent sticking. Let all the juices cook out and evaporate. According to the fire, it should take approximately 1 hour. Spoon the barbecue mixture onto rolls and enjoy. All the vegetables will dissolve and you will have a mixture of cooked chopped meats. Quantity for large group of 25 for lunch, snack or first course.

Old family recipe for large family gatherings. We always looked forward to the summer months and our family barbecues.

Origin: DeJon, Salerno
Recipe by Gladys Marino, of the Sunrise-Tamarac Lodge #2542

Biscotti con Pignoli

2 lbs [900 g] almond paste

1 1/2 cups [150 g] confectioners sugar

8 egg whites (room temperature)

1 lb [450 g] pignoli (pine) nuts

1 1/2 cups [300 g] sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together the almond paste, sugars and honey into a smooth batter. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually mix into the batter, along with the vanilla. Spread the pignoli in a dish. Drop the batter by teaspoonful into the nuts, then place onto a lightly greased cookie sheet at 1-inch [2.5 cm] intervals. Bake in a preheated 350 F [175 C] oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Remove carefully from baking sheet with a spatula while still warm. Makes about 4 dozen.

Recipe from
Rose Malzone
Fort Lauderdale Lodge #2263
Josephene Bonfiglio
Sgt. F. M. Bonanno Lodge #2549
Rose Van Saake
Sgt. F. M. Bonanno Lodge #2549

My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that the recipes don't have much in the way of background -- sometimes an origin, or which family member they come from, but not much in the way of history, and some of the dishes do have quite a bit of history behind them. On the other hand, the people who jotted down the recipes likely assumed that those reading them would know the history. The important thing is that we have them jotted down. Highly recommended, especially for those who wish that their elder relatives had written things down while they still could, and those who would like to reproduce the dishes they enjoy in the homes of secretive Italian friends.

Practical things:
"Preserving Our Italian Heritage" is published in hardcover with a ring binder rather than a spine, and buff colored pages with brown ink -- nicely produced, aesthetically pleasing self publishing. It's 220 pages, including the index, and has more than 500 recipes.

The ISBN number is 096293030X, and they say copies may be obtained at a cost of $14.95 plus $3 for postage and handling, from

Sons of Italy Florida Foundation
87 NE 44 Street #5
Fort Lauderdale FL 33334

Looks Good! I'd like to see the Order Form.