COOKBOOK INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
When I first started to think about writing a cookbook it was around 1990. I had a half dozen hen scratch
recipes tucked away in a file folder and then the whole idea seemed to just disappear. Preceding this
fantasy was when I would entertain some close friends once by cooking a meal. Having been in the
restaurant in the later 1970s, I was the most likely candidate. Every Monday night I would have 1-3
couples over and cook them dinner. It was nothing elaborate, just a nice dinner with some wine. As time
went on they started requesting different dishes and decided to all chip-in for what ever the meal
costs; which was a good idea and it gave me a little room to experiment also. This went on for several
years then started to diminish as my travel schedule increased; that is when I dabbled into the recipe
thing.
After 15 years of traveling in the electronics business it was time for a break. I took most of the summer
and fall of in 1992 to regroup (as I told everyone) but I just wanted the time off living on my boat. Well
reality set and I had to find a job so I bought myself one, a restaurant. What a novel foolish idea that
was. Then it dawned on me, my mother’s words “some day God is going to punish for being a bad boy”. I
couldn’t have been that bad because I have been in and out of the restaurant business since then.
Fortunately today, it just for enjoyment and that’s cooking for the guys every Saturday at the wine club.
The writing of this book actually started over a year ago with the compiling of my recipes; it was a fun
thing to put something together for the club. I figured a nice pamphlet type book with our recipes; that
sounds easy enough. Right now I have to interject just to give you a time frame; today is January, 27
2006 at 5:00 AM. By the time this thing gets published it could be 6 months to a year from now. So I’m
moving right along with this little cookbook for the club, at my leisure, and some Smart-alick New York
Producer comes along and throws a wrench into the gears.
From the grape buying in September to the bottling around Memorial Day which encompasses our 2005-
2006 wine season, the club is being filmed as a proposal for a cable network program. At this point we
don’t know whether it will or will not even become a reality. However, if you are reading this book, it has
come and gone. Send a quarter for the pay phone and your phone number and we’ll call if there is going
to be a rerun.
As you can see with all that was going on the little pamphlet book is just not going to cut the ice.
My God the work; I had no idea how much time and research was required to put something like this
together. And, all the other things that go with it; what do you write, the pictures, the recipes, will it be
interesting, informative and educational at the same time. There are thousands of cookbooks out there;
what can we do to make them buy another one? “Make it different”.
I must admit that many of the recipes in this publication take a little more work than what the Suzy
Homemaker (or Bobby Homemaker) is used to. So boys and girls, if you’re not ready to roll up your
sleeves and dig in, stick to the TV dinners. I say that jokingly but they are a little more in depth and may
take a little time to prepare but it will be well worth it. When you’re done it will be as good as it gets; that
you can take to the bank. Almost every recipe has a little history or background to with it that makes
good reading and is entertaining. We tried to put a package together that is both informative and useful
including some trivia. Did you know that King Ramses II was buried in his tomb with black peppercorns
up his nose and that the horseshoe crab is edible and is the only living prehistoric creature on the
planet? Look how many people you can confuse.
Most of the recipes are geared toward old country cooking that goes back generations. Some are made
today just like they were made in the old country hundreds of years ago. Having said that, the book also
includes many American and American-Italian dishes. And the only reason they are even in this book is
that we happen to like them ourselves. There is also a fairly extensive seafood section and a good
handful of game recipes for you outdoors Davy Crocket types.
As many of the immigrants started their new lives in America they kind of divorced themselves from
many of the foods they ate in their homelands that reminded them of their poverty past. Fortunately
today the present generations are vitalizing their interest in old traditions just as we do at the club. As
John F. Kennedy once said, “We are a nation of immigrants”. Most Italian Americans retain many of the
values and heritage of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Italians and the Italian Americans
consider la famiglia to be of the utmost importance, the basis of life, values and above all loyalty. Not
that other cultures don’t do the same but I can only speak from my own experience. That is why much of
the writings in this book reflects historically on the cooking’s of our ancestors and the gastronomic
changes that we see today; and many for the good.
Somewhere between 1870 and 1924, twelve million Italians left Italy to find a new and better life.
Almost half of them came to America seeking this life that would distant them the poverty in southern
Italy. In 1924 the US immigration laws changed and led to major cut back on all immigration. As of today
there are over twenty million Americans of Italian descent. Other countries that also got this flux of
migration were Canada, South America and even Australia. During my very first trip to Melbourne I was
put up in a hotel near the office I was visiting. The hotel looked like it belonged in the French Quarter in
New Orleans. As I walked to the office the next day I saw many Italian shops and restaurants with the
Italian flags hanging out front. At first I thought I was in a little Italian section but I later found out that
the second language in the school system in Melbourne was Italian; after Italian it was Greek.
Contrary to much popular belief, Italy was the foundation of European cookery. Dating as far back to
even before the Roman Empire Italy's achievements in creative cooking ideas existed long before that
of France. My father would always say “the Romans taught them how to cook”. I can’t take anything away
from French cuisine because it is world renowned and rightly so. It has taken on its own characteristic
style and did grow to some degree from Italian influence. As one can point out the French style of
cooking relates more to the northern part of Italy than it does to the southern peninsular.
From the 13th to 17th centuries the Medici family was the most powerful, most wealthy and influential
Florentine family in Italy. The family also was also very instrumental and initiatively involved with the
spearheading of the Italian renaissance; thus helping promote culture, education, democracy and
cuisine much of which came from their own funding. Catherine de Medici, of this famed Tuscan Medici
family may have been the first to introduce much of the Italian cuisine to France. She married Henry II in
the mid 1500ths and took to France several of her Italian chefs along with various spices and food
groups thus initiating much of the revamping of the French eating habits and cuisine; maybe pop was
right.
History usually associates the Etruscans with Italy who were originally called the Rasenna and originally
came from Asia Minor which is now Turkey. Many of the vegetables of the Eastern Mediterranean were
brought to Italy during their 8th century BC migration and eventually reaching Rome. History also tells
us that the Romans cultured the same vegetables during the first century BC. Many of the popular
foods, vegetables, salad greens and wines were used by the Romans much the same way as in present-
day Italy. As time went on through the centuries and the Italian cuisine started to stabilize with its feet
planted firmly to the ground there has been little further influence by other cultures with respect to
food over the past several hundred years.
Guys, we really did our homework on this one and I hope it is as enjoyable to you as it was doing the
research. And don’t complain to us if you get a little chuckle out of it also. Thank you for spending the
money and I’ll give your regards to the boys in the band.
When I first started to think about writing a cookbook it was around 1990. I had a half dozen hen scratch
recipes tucked away in a file folder and then the whole idea seemed to just disappear. Preceding this
fantasy was when I would entertain some close friends once by cooking a meal. Having been in the
restaurant in the later 1970s, I was the most likely candidate. Every Monday night I would have 1-3
couples over and cook them dinner. It was nothing elaborate, just a nice dinner with some wine. As time
went on they started requesting different dishes and decided to all chip-in for what ever the meal
costs; which was a good idea and it gave me a little room to experiment also. This went on for several
years then started to diminish as my travel schedule increased; that is when I dabbled into the recipe
thing.
After 15 years of traveling in the electronics business it was time for a break. I took most of the summer
and fall of in 1992 to regroup (as I told everyone) but I just wanted the time off living on my boat. Well
reality set and I had to find a job so I bought myself one, a restaurant. What a novel foolish idea that
was. Then it dawned on me, my mother’s words “some day God is going to punish for being a bad boy”. I
couldn’t have been that bad because I have been in and out of the restaurant business since then.
Fortunately today, it just for enjoyment and that’s cooking for the guys every Saturday at the wine club.
The writing of this book actually started over a year ago with the compiling of my recipes; it was a fun
thing to put something together for the club. I figured a nice pamphlet type book with our recipes; that
sounds easy enough. Right now I have to interject just to give you a time frame; today is January, 27
2006 at 5:00 AM. By the time this thing gets published it could be 6 months to a year from now. So I’m
moving right along with this little cookbook for the club, at my leisure, and some Smart-alick New York
Producer comes along and throws a wrench into the gears.
From the grape buying in September to the bottling around Memorial Day which encompasses our 2005-
2006 wine season, the club is being filmed as a proposal for a cable network program. At this point we
don’t know whether it will or will not even become a reality. However, if you are reading this book, it has
come and gone. Send a quarter for the pay phone and your phone number and we’ll call if there is going
to be a rerun.
As you can see with all that was going on the little pamphlet book is just not going to cut the ice.
My God the work; I had no idea how much time and research was required to put something like this
together. And, all the other things that go with it; what do you write, the pictures, the recipes, will it be
interesting, informative and educational at the same time. There are thousands of cookbooks out there;
what can we do to make them buy another one? “Make it different”.
I must admit that many of the recipes in this publication take a little more work than what the Suzy
Homemaker (or Bobby Homemaker) is used to. So boys and girls, if you’re not ready to roll up your
sleeves and dig in, stick to the TV dinners. I say that jokingly but they are a little more in depth and may
take a little time to prepare but it will be well worth it. When you’re done it will be as good as it gets; that
you can take to the bank. Almost every recipe has a little history or background to with it that makes
good reading and is entertaining. We tried to put a package together that is both informative and useful
including some trivia. Did you know that King Ramses II was buried in his tomb with black peppercorns
up his nose and that the horseshoe crab is edible and is the only living prehistoric creature on the
planet? Look how many people you can confuse.
Most of the recipes are geared toward old country cooking that goes back generations. Some are made
today just like they were made in the old country hundreds of years ago. Having said that, the book also
includes many American and American-Italian dishes. And the only reason they are even in this book is
that we happen to like them ourselves. There is also a fairly extensive seafood section and a good
handful of game recipes for you outdoors Davy Crocket types.
As many of the immigrants started their new lives in America they kind of divorced themselves from
many of the foods they ate in their homelands that reminded them of their poverty past. Fortunately
today the present generations are vitalizing their interest in old traditions just as we do at the club. As
John F. Kennedy once said, “We are a nation of immigrants”. Most Italian Americans retain many of the
values and heritage of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Italians and the Italian Americans
consider la famiglia to be of the utmost importance, the basis of life, values and above all loyalty. Not
that other cultures don’t do the same but I can only speak from my own experience. That is why much of
the writings in this book reflects historically on the cooking’s of our ancestors and the gastronomic
changes that we see today; and many for the good.
Somewhere between 1870 and 1924, twelve million Italians left Italy to find a new and better life.
Almost half of them came to America seeking this life that would distant them the poverty in southern
Italy. In 1924 the US immigration laws changed and led to major cut back on all immigration. As of today
there are over twenty million Americans of Italian descent. Other countries that also got this flux of
migration were Canada, South America and even Australia. During my very first trip to Melbourne I was
put up in a hotel near the office I was visiting. The hotel looked like it belonged in the French Quarter in
New Orleans. As I walked to the office the next day I saw many Italian shops and restaurants with the
Italian flags hanging out front. At first I thought I was in a little Italian section but I later found out that
the second language in the school system in Melbourne was Italian; after Italian it was Greek.
Contrary to much popular belief, Italy was the foundation of European cookery. Dating as far back to
even before the Roman Empire Italy's achievements in creative cooking ideas existed long before that
of France. My father would always say “the Romans taught them how to cook”. I can’t take anything away
from French cuisine because it is world renowned and rightly so. It has taken on its own characteristic
style and did grow to some degree from Italian influence. As one can point out the French style of
cooking relates more to the northern part of Italy than it does to the southern peninsular.
From the 13th to 17th centuries the Medici family was the most powerful, most wealthy and influential
Florentine family in Italy. The family also was also very instrumental and initiatively involved with the
spearheading of the Italian renaissance; thus helping promote culture, education, democracy and
cuisine much of which came from their own funding. Catherine de Medici, of this famed Tuscan Medici
family may have been the first to introduce much of the Italian cuisine to France. She married Henry II in
the mid 1500ths and took to France several of her Italian chefs along with various spices and food
groups thus initiating much of the revamping of the French eating habits and cuisine; maybe pop was
right.
History usually associates the Etruscans with Italy who were originally called the Rasenna and originally
came from Asia Minor which is now Turkey. Many of the vegetables of the Eastern Mediterranean were
brought to Italy during their 8th century BC migration and eventually reaching Rome. History also tells
us that the Romans cultured the same vegetables during the first century BC. Many of the popular
foods, vegetables, salad greens and wines were used by the Romans much the same way as in present-
day Italy. As time went on through the centuries and the Italian cuisine started to stabilize with its feet
planted firmly to the ground there has been little further influence by other cultures with respect to
food over the past several hundred years.
Guys, we really did our homework on this one and I hope it is as enjoyable to you as it was doing the
research. And don’t complain to us if you get a little chuckle out of it also. Thank you for spending the
money and I’ll give your regards to the boys in the band.
We hope you enjoy your journey through time and some historic gastronomic ingenuity by offering you
the opportunity of tasting foods from centuries past as well as years of family traditions of home style
cooking. Many of the recipes enclosed come right from the roots of Italy and have been brought to you
through the courtesy of Ellis Island Immigration Center e la famiglia. In addition we have also included
some of the most up-to-date nuovo selections for the yuppie crowd as well as the standards for the Suzy
Homemakers. For those of you that are a little more adventurous there are selections that are quite
extensive in preparation that would excite the most discriminating connoisseurs palate.
As for the vino, we tried to give you some basic knowledge that you can use in everyday consumption.
There are so many wine books out there that are by far much more extensive than what you are offered
in this publication. The intent is to give you enough information to wet your palate, no pun intended, and
put you on your way to really start enjoying some of Mother Nature’s blood of the earth. There is also
plenty of information so if you get brave enough to try and tackle the task of making your own vino, you’ll
do just fine.
Buona Appetito, VINCENZO
the opportunity of tasting foods from centuries past as well as years of family traditions of home style
cooking. Many of the recipes enclosed come right from the roots of Italy and have been brought to you
through the courtesy of Ellis Island Immigration Center e la famiglia. In addition we have also included
some of the most up-to-date nuovo selections for the yuppie crowd as well as the standards for the Suzy
Homemakers. For those of you that are a little more adventurous there are selections that are quite
extensive in preparation that would excite the most discriminating connoisseurs palate.
As for the vino, we tried to give you some basic knowledge that you can use in everyday consumption.
There are so many wine books out there that are by far much more extensive than what you are offered
in this publication. The intent is to give you enough information to wet your palate, no pun intended, and
put you on your way to really start enjoying some of Mother Nature’s blood of the earth. There is also
plenty of information so if you get brave enough to try and tackle the task of making your own vino, you’ll
do just fine.
Buona Appetito, VINCENZO