Not My Mother's Kitchen: Rediscovering Italian-American Cooking Through Stories and Recipes

by Rob Chirico

Overview

Mo Rocca, host of "My Grandmother's Ravioli" says: "When life gives you lemons, make limoncello! Not My Mother's Kitchen is a funny, loving, and oh so useful manual on food, family and survival when your mom is a terrible cook."

Serving up a tale that is part memoir and part cookbook, acclaimed foodie Rob Chirico shares his culinary journey after growing up with an Italian-American mother who was hopeless in the kitchen.

Rob Chirico learned to cook as a defense against his mother’s awful meals. After discover-ing that there was more to real food than canned ravioli and frozen vegetables, he decided to try his hand in the kitchen. His memoir offers recipes, cooking techniques, and tips he has cultivated over decades. He blends his expert experience with an engaging and humorous narrative on growing up with suspect meals.

"I was howling with laughter and shedding tears of nostalgia at the sensitive portraits of family and culture of the times."
     — Linda Pelaccio, Culinary Historian and host of "A Taste of the Past"

"... no mere cookbook. It is a personal story that lovingly and humorously describes the author's culinary coming of age. It is a family's history and it also is American cultural history..."
     — Michael Stern, author of Roadfood, Chili Nation, American Gourmet

“A heartwarming story of growing up in an Italian-American household where there was no dearth of love, but not much in the way of good food. Thrown in for good measure are plenty of recipes, cook’s tips, and historical anecdotes. It’s a keeper.”
      —Julia della Croce, writer, journalist, and cookbook author
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623545017
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Rob Chirico is a freelance writer, former art history professor at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, and artist whose work has appeared in the food journal Gastronomica. He flipped burgers in college and won the Sutter Home Build a Better Burger Contest in 1991. Previous works include Field Guide to Cocktails (Quirk Books) and Damn!: A Cultural History of Swearing in Modern America (Pitchstone Press). Rob lives in western Massachusetts.

Read an Excerpt

My mother was an assassin.
            This is a bold confession for a son to make, but it’s true. My mother was an assassin—in the kitchen that is. Now please don’t take this amiss. Outside of the kitchen she was one of the kindest, sweetest, and gentlest of people you could ever meet. As the writer Bill Bryson noted about his own mother, “When she dies she will go straight to heaven, but no one is going to say, ‘Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Can you fix us something to eat?’” I credit my love of books to my parents. Then there was music. Our home was filled with music—Broadway, jazz, Sinatra (of course), and even some opera. After all, we were Italian. But that was outside the kitchen. In front of the stove or at the microwave, my mother was the culinary equivalent of John Wilkes Booth. It has been alleged that Booth killed our country when he shot President Lincoln. My mother did the same to Italy. Martin Scorsese said, “If your mother cooks Italian food, why should you go to a restaurant?” Clearly, my mother never cooked for him.
            Growing up, my conception of Italian food didn’t differ much from that shared by most Americans. It was the food you were served in Italian restaurants: antipasto with olives and provolone, spaghetti and meatballs, veal Parmigiano, and lasagne with plenty of oozing mozzarella cheese. And yet, even before I ever stepped foot into a ristorante in Italy, the very word “restaurant” made me think of Italian food. That word evoked in me the pleasurable sensation I felt as I opened the doors and breathed in the aromas issuing from the restaurant kitchen. My sense of smell was so acute that my father once said that I had a “20-20 sniffer.” Mind you, this was not a compliment, as his remark was in reference to my clipping a clothespin to my nose to block out the odor of our Friday fish cakes. At the time, though, the more pleasant aromas beckoned me to eat, not to cook.
            So how does a boy go from growing up in a home where real food and a devotion to cooking were nonexistent to becoming someone who devotes considerable time every day to ruminating over the preparation and execution of every dish? I sometimes look back and wonder if my passion for good food was born out of self-defense: a defense against malformed, nearly cremated hamburgers; frozen and canned vegetables overcooked to the point that you could practically use a straw to ingest them; and, of course, so-called Italian food that was about as authentic as UFOs and Elvis sightings. But Cacio e Pepe (page 133) and Raw Summer Puttanesca (page 149) were a long way off.
            Self-defense or not, even as a picky little kid—who hadn’t the faintest idea that he would one day be editing cookbooks, become the winner in a national cooking competition, or spend nearly a decade working in a restaurant— I must have had an inkling that there was more to Italian cuisine than dumping Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and Meatballs into a pot. When I did begin to realize that there was more, I wanted to cook. It should have been simple. So many people did it. What I discovered over time was that there was much, much more to it than I had imagined. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that all I wanted to do was go into the kitchen and cook. Why did that prove so very difficult?
            Back in the early 1960s, our neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, was a mix of Italian, Polish, Irish, and Greek families. On any given summer Saturday afternoon you could hear Sinatra, polkas, the Clancy Brothers, and bouzouki music streaming from different houses. By evening time, the aromas of home cooking began to fill the air. Mrs. Giorsos baked incredible butter cookies—which made up for the stench that filled the neighborhood when she was making her own lye soap. Mr. Berezowski had a special cache of horseradish that could singe your eyebrows if you just sniffed it. I loved it, and have since grown back a full pair of eyebrows.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

A Note on the Recipes (Or "Broiler Alert") 29

Ingredients 33

Sauces and Stock 55

Spicy Raw Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil 57

Long-Simmered Summer Tomato Sauce 59

April Tomato Sauce 60

Morel Mushroom Sauce with Pancetta 61

Gorgonzola Sauce 64

Basic Stock 65

"Sandwiches again!" 69

Soups, Salads, Sides, and So Forth 71

Minestrone With Pesto 73

Cardoon Soup With Garlic Croutons 77

Bread and Cheese Soup (Zappa Di Fontina) 80

You Say Tomato, I Say Thank You! 83

Panzanella 84

Caesar Salad My Way 84

Hearts of Romaine Lettuce with Honey and Truffle Oil Dressing and Prosciutto di Parma 87

Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Parmigiano 88

Sautéed Tuscan Kale with Toasted Pine Nuts 90

Grilled Sausage and Pepper and Penne Salad 92

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes 94

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Lamb Ragù 95

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts 96

Caponatina 97

Ciambotta With Fried Capers 99

Slow-Roasted Party Olives 101

Grilled Provolone 103

Frico from Friuli-Venezia Giulia 104

Fried Zucchini Slices 105

Frittata with Grape Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and Prosciutto 107

Frittata Di Scammaro 109

Muffuletta 110

Spring Risotto with Gorgonzola, Ramps, and Cherry Tomatoes 113

Grilled Polenta with Fontina, Asparagus, and Tomato Sauce 115

Stuffed and Rolled Peppers, Lipari Style 118

A Word About Potatoes 121

Tipsy Tuscan Roasted Potatoes 122

Sicilian-Style Rosemary Potatoes with Black Olives and Cherry Tomatoes 123

Twice-Cooked Green Beans and Potatoes with Tomato Sauce 124

Pears Stuffed With Gorgonzola 125

Past 127

Cacio e pepe 133

Spaghetti Con Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino 134

Tagliatelle with Lamb Ragù 136

Bucatini all'Aamatriciana 138

Spaghetti alla Carbonara 140

Rotini with 'Nauja and Cherry Tomatoes 142

Pappardelle With Spicy Sausage Sauce 144

Pasta with Mortadella Sauce 146

A Thoroughly Unorthodox Puttanesca 147

Raw Summer Puttanesca 149

Pasta with Greens and Roasted Rosemary Potatoes 150

Linguine with Broccolini in Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce 152

Penne with Pepper-Infused Vodka 154

A Lighter, Feisty "Alfredo" 156

Calamari with Mushrooms 158

Paccheri with Ricotta and Tomatoes 160

Baked Penne with Mushrooms 161

Homemade Pasta Dough 164

Timpano 165

Mostly Meat 169

Okay, So These Are Not Italian Burgers 171

Mostly Meat (Continued) 175

Meatballs 176

Florentine Grilled Steak (Bistecca alla Fiorentina) 179

Sliced Steak, Tomato, Arugula, and Parmigiano (Tagliata alla Fiorentina) 181

Definitely Not My Mom's Steak Pizzaiola 183

Meatloaf with Wild Mushrooms 185

Pan-Roasted Veal Chops with Sage 187

Veal Cutlets with Truffles alla Bolognese 189

Ossobuco Milanese 191

Baked Lamb with Fingerlings and Grape Tomatoes 193

Grilled Pork Chops (Braciole di Maiale) 195

Rousted Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes with Balsamic Vinegar 196

Fricassee of Chicken 198

Pizza 201

Pizza Dough 205

My Basic Pizza Sauce 207

Basic Pizza Margherita 208

Libations 211

Bellini 214

Americano 215

Negroni 216

Some Final Thoughts 217

Appendix 1 The Italian Cookbooks in My Life 221

Appendix 2 Kitchen Items You Should Not Be Without and Kitchen Items I Cannot Live Without 224

Mail-Order and Online Sources 229

Acknowledgments 231

Index 233

Editorial Reviews

07/04/2016
Chirico (Field Guide to Cocktails) delivers a title that is equal portions humorous memoir and cookbook, and totally entertaining. Comically referring to his mother as an assassin in the kitchen and to his quest to conquer the cuisine of his heritage as a measure of self-preservation, he shares his trials and tribulations from starting as a picky eater in a home where cooking didn’t exist to becoming a passionate cook and food professional. His love of Italian food was ignited during a trip to Italy, where he discovered how the locals truly ate. Recipes include long-simmered summer tomato sauce; spring risotto with gorgonzola, ramps, and cherry tomatoes; and cacio e pepe. Along with these Italian favorites, there are some atypical recipes such as baked stuffed tomatoes and lamb ragù. Chirico also provides historical and informative details on ingredients and recipe lineage. Approachable recipes and fun facts make this an entertaining read. Illustrations. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Award-winning chef Chirico’s (Field Guide to Cocktails) humorous culinary memoir recounts his love of Italian food that developed as a reprisal against his mother’s dreadful cooking. Growing up in an affectionate Italian family, Chirico’s home life was filled with laughter and music, but his dinners often consisted of canned and frozen foods and perhaps some cold cuts from the local deli. His grandmother, however, was an accomplished cook, and as the author accompanied her to their local markets, he developed both an admiration for good cooking as well as the ability to discern the excellent vs. average characteristics of ingredients. Chirico shares more than 70 recipes, including soups, salads, pastas, meat dishes, and pizza. Each recipe is prefaced with an introduction that includes a family anecdote or compelling facts about a particular item. Most of the recipes are uncomplicated and include easy-to-find ingredients (for the occasional rare product, a mail-order source list is included). Appendixes feature the author’s favorite kitchen utensils as well as cookbooks he deems influential. Filled with nostalgic stories, delicious recipes, and a wealth of facts and tidbits about Italian food, this will appeal to readers who enjoy chef biographies.
- Library Journal

Chirico (Field Guide to Cocktails) delivers a title that is equal portions humorous memoir and cookbook, and totally entertaining. Comically referring to his mother as an assassin in the kitchen and to his quest to conquer the cuisine of his heritage as a measure of self-preservation, he shares his trials and tribulations from starting as a picky eater in a home where cooking didn’t exist to becoming a passionate cook and food professional. His love of Italian food was ignited during a trip to Italy, where he discovered how the locals truly ate. Recipes include long-simmered summer tomato sauce; spring risotto with gorgonzola, ramps, and cherry tomatoes; and cacio e pepe. Along with these Italian favorites, there are some atypical recipes such as baked stuffed tomatoes and lamb ragù. Chirico also provides historical and informative details on ingredients and recipe lineage. Approachable recipes and fun facts make this an entertaining read.
- Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher