Dear reader,
Welcome! I’m Frank. I’m an international lawyer by day, but when I get home at night, there’s nothing I like better to do than cook. I’ve always loved to cook, ever since I was barely tall enough to peer over the top of a stove. Cooking is the best way I know to unwind from a stressful day’s work. And sharing the dishes I make is a profound way to connect with friends and loved ones.
Where did this passion for cooking and eating come from? Like so many Italian-Americans I learned the importance of good food at those leisurely Sunday dinners at my grandmother’s house, the kind that would start with nibbles just after noontime and last well into the evening.
Memorie di Angelina—which means ‘Memoires of Angelina’—is my tribute to the home cooking of my nonna Angelina, a native of a small hilltop town in the Campania region of Italy called Apice. She came to America in the 1920s along with millions of other southern Italian immigrants and settled in the Arthur Avenue neighborhood in the Bronx, which was (and is) a true ‘little Italy’. She was poor and, like most women of her class and time, only semi-literate. She never did learn to speak proper English. She married my grandfather Lorenzo, who made a modest salary as a projectionist at a local movie theater and, to help pay expenses, she sewed button holes for lady’s dresses at 5 cents a pop. She was the humblest person I have ever known.
She also cooked the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten.
Sunday dinner
I was born and raised in the US, but have spent most of my adult life abroad. After some years in Paris and Vienna, I finally wound up living in Rome, where I spent ten more memorable years. I spent my time in Italy soaking up the food culture and enjoying cooking and eating as never before. After some years in the historical center of town, we moved out to a beautiful area off the via Ardeatina just south of town, an area that is still rural, among vineyards and pastures, the Alban hills looming in the distance. I grew my own fruits and vegetables, and even kept chickens for the eggs. Our wine came from the vineyards down the road, the cheese from the sheep that grazed in the fields outside our house, the olive oil from a local frantoio (press). And, of course, I traveled extensively, eating and asking everywhere I went about the local cuisine. I came back to the US in 2005 for work reasons, and now lead a fairly ordinary suburban life—except that, if I dare say so myself, in our house we eat very, very well…
I started Memorie di Angelina in June 2009 as a way of keeping this rich culinary heritage alive and sharing it with my friends and family. But from those modest beginnings, and despite the fact that writing about your grandmother’s cooking has become the ultimate blogging cliché, the site has grown in popularity and is now one of the better known Italian food blogs on the web.I like to think it’s because Memorie di Angelina offers up something that many other blogs do not—a real focus on technique and the actual experience of cooking, presented in a way that strives to both educate and entertain. After reading one of my recipes, I want you to feel confident that you can make it, too. That makes the posts on the site a lot longer than on most blogs—I regularly violate the ‘rule of thumb’ that blog posts shouldn’t exceed 250 words by several orders of magnitude—but I think you’ll find it’s worth your extra time.
In fact, I hope you’ll think of this website as something more than just a blog, as an online resource. Over the course of the years, I’ve have built up a collection of about 350 recipes at last count. You’ll find Angelina’s specialities here, of course, plus many of the classic dishes I got to know during my years in Italy. I put special emphasis on the regional cuisines of Rome and Naples, which I know best, but I do set out on the occasional jaunt into points north or further south. You’ll also find articles with essential background and techniques for making authentic Italian food, in-depth information on the Italian Pantry and food culture, and tips and tricks, like how to choose the best canned tomatoes. To get the most out of this content, check out my page on How to Use This Site.
There is much here to explore and the database just keeps growing. The universe of Italian cooking is truly immense, so I look forward to keep this going for quite some time!
Angelina and me
While I like to feature an Italian-American dish every Columbus Day, as well as the occasional American or other ‘foreign’ dish, the focus here is on showing you how to make authentic, traditional Italian home cookery, the kind of Italian food you will find in countless homes in Italy itself.
What you won’t find here are rants about my personal problems. Nor will you find advertisements, promotions, give-aways, contest entries or any other kind of competitive or commercial activity. This blog is a pure labor of love.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I do writing it. And if you have any questions, comments or recipe requests, or just want to say hello, feel free to drop me a line. And if you like what you see, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Networked Blogs!
Frank
Related articles
- On Authenticity (memoriediangelina.com)
- Il ragù della domenica (Sunday Sauce)
- The Italian Pantry
- Memorie di Angelina in the news (December 23, 2012)
- Memorie di Angelina in the news (November 28, 2009)
- Papas Arrugadas (with a short third anniversary message)
- Happy [Second] Birthday, Memorie di Angelina!
- Happy [First] Birthday, Memorie di Angelina!
I spotted the pic of you and your nonna on PInterest and it caught my eye because I thought it was a photo of my great aunt, Angie (Angelina!), so I had to pop over to see if we’re related?! Turns out it’s just a coincidence that they look so much alike, but I’m excited to have found your blog and I look forward to checking out all of your recipes!
have you considered adding recipe microdata to your code? I’ll make your recipes show up in google recipe search and allow people to add your recipes automatically to their recipes collections, like at forkchop.com
I’ve been meaning to look into that for a while now, but just haven’t had the time. Know of a good tutorial out there?
Thanks for passing on the link to your website! You are what I aspire to become!
Fantastic site!
You’re too kind, Lisa! Thanks for stopping by. :=)
Hi Frank! Thank you for sharing your website link with me! It’s fantastic! It’s what I aspire to becoming! I’ll definitely be following your blog! Great work!
Hello Frank, I’m Ada from sicilianicreativiincucina. This is really a beautiful blog, clearly read your pride of being Italian and the recipes are really amazing, heart-warming memories. It ‘s a pleasure to meet you, I follow you …
Hello, Ada! And welcome to our blog! Thanks for the kind words. Looking forward to hearing from you…
Frank, you are most welcome. I can imagine how growing your own veggies in the soil there could be practically a religious experience! My brother, Tony, the lawyer, used to have the most fabulous garden when he first got married to my sis in law, Debbie. How a Brooklyn boy from the streets produced the wonderful bounty , I will never know. Sadly, he has not done so in years and I miss going through the tomato vines. Now the recipe you sent is not the one—no tuna in the one I had the other day but I would give this a try. Best to you and good health, Doris.
Hello Frank!
What an awesome website and blog! I saw your recipe for the cardoons and emailed to my friend , Tom, in Iowa. He and his wife transplanted there several years ago after retirement from the Post Office. He grows them so I thought I would send the recipe to him. Also, I grew up the same way, big dinners at my Aunt’s home in Brooklyn NY. I make all things Italian but lately, just found a delicious white bean salad in a restaurant we just tried the other night. If you have one you would like to share please do so—we loved it. I know it comes from Tuscan region but auntie never made this for us. By the way, my brother is a lawyer too. I will be back for more recipes for sure—best to you and yours. Doris
Thanks for the kind words, Doris!
Your friend Tom is lucky to be able to grow his own produce. Did some of that in Italy and the difference in taste is incredible.
As for the cannellini salad, perhaps it was this one?
http://memoriediangelina.com/2009/06/28/fagioli-e-tonno
I just came across your blog and I immediately bookmarked it. I haven’t made through all the recipes yet, but I’ll definitely be spending some time here. Great blog!
That’s great, Bill! Thanks for the kind words and welcome!
By the way, your acqua pazza looks real yummy.
Bellissimo blog. Non so come sono arrivata, ma eccomi qui!
Grazie, J! Sei la benvenuta su questo mio umile blog… !