Focaccia is one of the world's oldest flatbreads with roots in ancient Greece and with the Etruscans, even before the Roman Empire reared its head. The Romans called it panis focacius (bread of the hearth) in Latin. In its basic form, it is a leavened bread, very similar to pizza but without all that cheese.  There have been versions of focaccia all through the Mediterranean coastline in Europe and northern Africa. In ancient Roman days, it looked like a very simple, flat round of pull-apart bread. It was a meal to be carried by shepherds and fishermen and meant to be eaten later.  In regions of neighboring France it's called fougasse. In Argentina and Brazil--both with large Italian immigrant populations--its name is fugazza and they can be either topped with stringy cheese or even double-crusted and stuffed.

The common modern form of focaccia is dimpled with fingertips to make little wells that can hold savory items like olives, cherry tomatoes, peppers, red onion, sliced potatoes, garlic or even sweet things like figs, pear slices, blueberries, walnuts, dates, honey, anise seeds, bulbing fennel (finnocchio), orange zest or grapes. The top is usually brushed or drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary, sea salt, pepper or other spices. Of course, you can sprinkle a bit of cheese (usually grated), but go to far and you've crossed the line between focaccia and pizza. The variations are endless.

In Italy, most pasticceria (pastry shops), panetteria (bread bakery) and even bars will have slices of focaccia often sliced and priced by weight. (Note: A "bar" in Italy is a family friendly place to get cappuccino and pastry in the morning and panini for lunch.)

Focaccia is usually baked in 1" deep, dark steel pans. The texture is usually bready and for that reason a high protein "strong" flour (bread flour here in the U.S.) is used. The thickness also has the benefit of being used to make panini, slicing through the middle and stuffing with provolone, mozzarella, prosciutto or thing slices of salami.

Ingredients
Yeast mixture:
1-3/4 cups warm water (110-115F)
1-1/5 tablespoons fast acting yeast
1 tablespoon honey

For the dough:
1 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
2-3 cups King Arthur bread flour (plus extra bench flour)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil for the pan

Toppings:
Extra virgin olive oil (for brushing)
Cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup grated cheese (using 1/4 holes/box grater), provolone, asiago, or caciocavallo
(cheese is optional)
Dried thyme, rosemary, oregano, fresh ground pepper, sea salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 435F with a pizza stone or steel on the center shelf.

1. Liberally oil a dark half sheet pan with the olive oil and set aside.
2. Place the water in a small bowl and whisk in the yeast and honey until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 15 minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, place 1 cup of all-purpose flour, sugar and salt, then mix until blended for a few seconds.
4. Once the yeast is foamy, pour it into the mixing bowl and turn the speed to a low setting.
5. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides as you are adding flour.
6. Little by little, add 1/3 cup of bread flour, each time waiting until it blends into the dough mass. Keep adding flour, a bit at a time until it begins to come together in a wet, loose mass.
7. Turn up the mixer speed to medium high and let the dough mass slap against the sides of the bowl until you see strands of gluten sticking to the sides. You might need to occasionally dust a little bit (tablespoon) of flour into the mass, as you work, but don't add too much. You do NOT want a dry dough ball.
8. Once you see strands have developed and your mass is no longer wet but still sticky, slow the mixer's speed down, then dust with a small amount of flour just to help turning it out onto the work surface. Use the spatula to help release it from the dough hook and bowl.
9. Prepare a medium sized bowl by liberally coating it with olive oil. Flour the work surface.
10. Turn out the dough mass onto your floured surface. Flour your hands.
11. Dust the top of the dough with a little bit of flour, then start kneading, folding the close end over the rear edge, while pushing it with your palm in a downwards, rolling motion. Turn the dough--1/4 turn, then repeat for 2-3 minutes.
12. With your cupped hands, form the dough into a round ball.
13. Place the ball into the oiled bowl and turn over to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.
14. Once the dough has risen, without punching it down, roll it out onto the center of your baking pan. The dough should feel very fluffy with a coating of oil.
15. Using the fingertips of both hands, starting in the center, gently press and slide the dough out to fill to the edges of the pan. The dough might be stretchy and slide on your oiled pan, so you will need to let it rest for 5 minutes before you can nudge it to fill the corners of your pan.
16. After five minutes, adjust your dough so it fills the pan to both the edges and corners. Set aside in a warm place to rise in the pan for about 30 minutes before topping.
17. Prepare any toppings: cutting cherry tomatoes in half, grating cheese, mixing spices together, etc.
18. Next, press cherry tomato halves into the dough about 1-1/2" to 2" apart. Placing the tomatoes before the dough rises in the dough will help embed them as the dough rises.
19. Once the dough has puffed up to about 1" thick, first drizzle and then brush very lightly the whole surface with extra virgin olive oil. Be delicate. If you brush too firmly, you might deflate the risen dough. If any large bubbles show up, you can pop them gently with a pointy skewer. 
20. Sprinkle your spices and salt evenly across the top of the focaccia. Pay attention to the tomatoes--they will taste better with a sprinkle or salt and dried oregano.
21. Bake in the 435F oven for about 15 minutes, or until both bottom and top are lightly browned (check underneath with a metal spatula). The sides should separate from the pan.
22. Slice into 3"x5" strips or 5" rectangular pieces and serve hot, or let cool and serve at room temperature.
23. Keep in a Tupperware in the fridge or wrap in foil (stored at room temp) for eating within 3 days.

You can reheat in a microwave by wrapping with a damp paper towel, then heating for 30 seconds (time depends on the power of your unit). To kick it up a notch, try a fresh drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (we really recommend unfiltered) or an aged balsamic. For a quick lunch, top with a draping of prosciutto. You can also slice focaccia in half and use to make a panino (sandwich) filled with thin sliced colt cuts and cheese or even cooked ingredients like grilled eggplant, tomatoes and mozzarella or roasted vegetables.

Now that you know the basics of making focaccia, consider getting creative, as these examples illustrate. Look for color contrasts, textures and interesting shapes with your choice of toppings. Consider unusual things like asparagus, cauliflower, beets, basil, cilantro, kale, mushrooms, berries, capers, chives, colored course sea salt, and various seeds. Depending on your ingredients, you might have to partially bake your focaccia first with ingredients that can cook during the entire bake time and need to be pressed into the dough. For other things that might burn, like seeds or tender leaves like basil, position on top during later stages of baking.

Be creative and make a masterpiece for a special occasion, or simply make simple focaccia for every day snacks and meals...

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi

Some people called my Dad acting "silly" as a negative, but not me. Anything silly, I love. Something offbeat, oddball, out of the norm, and I'm automatically drawn to it. The time Dad wore vampire teeth at a fancy wedding's cocktail hour was wonderful. My discovery of this interesting pizza is also wonderful: pizza scima ("silly pizza") from the cucina povera traditions of Abruzzo. It's authentic and offbeat.

Why is it called "silly"? To understand the name, we have to get into the evolution of the Abruzzese dialect word "scima". This is an unleavened bread, and the Italian word azzimo (masculine) or azzima (feminine) in Italian means unleavened, referring to any bread that's made without yeast. In dialect the word is ascime. Southern Italians tend to shorten words, in this case the word was simplified to scima (SHEE-ma). Scema in Italian can mean either stupid or silly, perhaps in this case referring to someone silly enough to make bread without leavening...

The history of this pizza evolved from the 13th century Jews who settled in Abruzzo and made unleavened bread. Traditionally it is baked directly on an open wood fired hearth, common in many country homes even today. After coming up to temperature, the wood coals are cleared to the sides and the dough round is placed directly on the brick base. Next, the dough is covered with a 5" tall dark steel coppo (like a large pot cover) and coal embers are placed on top. This baking method is similar to the Colonial American method of baking bread in a cast iron Dutch oven in an open fireplace.

The baking method below tries to mimic the open hearth by baking on a pre-heated pizza stone (to cook the bottom) with a dark pan placed over the top of the pizza (to create a moist, but hot baking environment). You might even try to make this pizza using a baking cloche.

Common in the southern towns of Casoli, Roccascalegna, Altino, Lanciano and San Vito Chietino, this pizza is characterized by the addition of extra virgin olive oil and wine. Each year there is even a pizza scima sagra (food festival) in Casoli.

Ingredients

• 4 cups (or 16 ounces) Italian 00 or All-Purpose flour
• 2/3 cup Extra Virgin olive oil (EVO), preferably unfiltered.
• 2/3 cups of an Abruzzo white wine (i.e., Trebbiano d'Abruzzo or Pecorino)
• 2/3 cups Water (if needed to adjust texture of the dough)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup EVO for coating

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven with either a baking stone on the center rack, or as an alternate, a large, round, dark pan. (The stone or pan must be hot before you place your pizza dough on top for baking). You can also make this pizza on a baking steel, but since a steel heats up faster than a ceramic stone, you will need to check the underside halfway through to make sure it doesn't burn.
2. Sift the flour onto your work surface into a large mound.
3. Create a well in the center of the flour to hold the liquid ingredients.
4. Slowly pour the the wine and extra virgin olive oil into the well, then work the flour into the liquid, pulling flour from the outside.
5. The resulting dough should be shaggy at first, but soft enough to knead. If it looks dry, add a little bit of water. After kneading on the board for a minute or so, it should become soft and pliable enough to form into a ball. It should not be too dry or too sticky.
6. Rest the dough for 30 minutes under a kitchen towel.
7. On a floured surface or, better yet, onto a wooden pizza peel coated with corn meal, use a rolling pin and roll out the dough ball into a circular disk about 3/4" thick.
8. Using either a single edge razor blade, a baker's lame or a very sharp knife, score a diamond pattern into the top of your dough round. Make each diamond shape about 1" to 1-1/2" wide. (If your round is on your work surface, transfer carefully to a pizza peel for transferring to the oven). An alternate method is to use a pizza/pasta wheel to make the pattern. Essentially, these cuts make this a type of pull-apart bread for mopping up sauces or topping, like bruschetta.
9. Using a pastry brush or your bare hands, brush and coat the top of your round with the EVO.
10. If you wish to add a bit more flavor to this authentic version, you can sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse sea salt, rosemary or fennel seeds.
    
11. Slide your dough round either directly onto your baking stone or into your pre-heated pan then cover with a deep baking pan that is deep enough to leave an air space above the pizza.
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown.

(NOTE: An alternative method is to bake this pizza in a liberally oiled, dark, cool pan, and then cover with another larger pan.)

I'm not a gullible man. Even as a boy, I wasn't one to believe everything I was told. I always asked questions... "Why? Where? When? How?" I read lots of books, including my entire encyclopedia set and my Atlas. I loved science and the arts. I used both sides of my brain. But as a 12-year-old watching the old Jack Parr show in 1963, I tended to to go by the old adage, "Seeing is believing"--especially if you see it on TV!

Big mistake!

What I saw was a very legitimate sounding short documentary film with a very scholarly, British voice talking about the spaghetti harvest in Switzerland, and mentioning the "tremendous scale of the Italian's... (harvest)" and the "vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley". From that point on, until I was in my early twenties, I actually believed there was some sort of special tree or bush in Italy that produced some sort of spaghetti... fruit, pod or otherwise. It wasn't until I saw Jack Parr himself talking about the hoax on the Tonight Show in the early 1970s that I learned the embarrassing truth--a "truth" that I would argue about with my non-Italian friends growing up... "Real Italian spaghetti grows on trees!", I would insist.

Parr claimed they didn't get a single call about the segment and most people bought it hook, line and sinker. OK, so maybe I was a bit gullible. But it was a very convincing documentary film, produced originally as a serious film for, of all things, a British news show... and besides, I was only 12!

On April 1, 1957, on April Fool's Day (Pesce d'Aprile in Italian), the BBC television show Panorama aired the short "documentary" about the "spaghetti harvest" in Ticino, Switzerland, on the border of the Italian Alps. The film shows spaghetti trees ripe with long strands of spaghetti and a farming family harvesting by hand, putting the spaghetti into baskets and then carefully laying them out to dry in the "warm Alpine sun." 

Some viewers bought it entirely and called BBC to find out where they could buy some of the "real spaghetti". Many British gardeners wanted to know how to buy a spaghetti bush for their own garden. Others were very angry that a joke was portrayed as a serious subject on a real news program.

Still others--like me--just tucked this into their knowledge banks, unquestioningly and carried it as a "truth" through at least part of their lives, being even more convinced every time they heard the expression "fresh pasta"... of course, that must be referring to the real stuff fresh picked from the trees! What did I know. After all, neither my Mother or Grandmother made fresh spaghetti, because spaghetti trees probably didn't grow in our climate. All I ever saw growing up was dried, boxed spaghetti--you know, the fake stuff.

Well, I've had a lot more culinary education since being misled by that little April Fool's prank when I was young and impressionable: my Mom and Dad taught with every loving dish they put in front of me; Grandma taught me her authenticity; having home and studio in Manhattan for so many years where varied cuisines are around every corner also taught me; In my 30s, I finally learned how to cook from Julia Child, Craig Clairborne, Marcella Hazan, Mary Ann Esposito and Pierre Franey. I now make fresh pasta with my son, Lucas from time to time. And during our Voyage throughout Italy, I never saw a single strand of spaghetti on a bush, tree or vine. Ever. (OK, so I did look, just to be sure.)

However, I have since learned that there are actually spaghetti alternatives that grow from Madre Terra. I even grew 2 foot long "snake" beans a few years ago that came pretty close.  Here are a few veggie spaghetti alternatives...

If you want to make your own, fresh "veggie spaghetti" at home, pick up a Premium Vegetable Spiralizer from Amazon or the attachment we use for our stand mixer, the Kitchenaid Spiralizer Attachment. It's a lot easier than picking the spaghetti from the trees, collecting in baskets and spreading them out in the sun to dry...

(Damn you, Jack Parr and your dry sense of humor!)

--Jerry Finzi

Continued from Part 2...

Finzi: The first time our family visited Molfetta (where my father was born) we didn’t have time to meet the relatives that still live there (although we've gotten to know each other since on Facebook). What advice would you give to someone with a desire to approach long-lost relatives in Italy, especially if there is a desire to collect the heritage of recipes from their famiglia?
 
Mary Ann:  Call or email them; send photos; plan a meeting with them; bring old family photos if you have them.
 
Finzi: When you first met your Italian relatives, what impressed you most?

Mary Ann: Their genuine hospitality and love of connection with you. My cousins were especially welcoming.
 
Finzi: I lived in France for a while and tried my best to be a decent French cook, but after experiencing the simplicity of regional Italian cooking on our voyage throughout Italy, I immediately was drawn back my Italian roots. It’s amazing to think that in centuries past, the food eaten by the Italian upper classes was in the French style. Why do you think the Cucina Povera rose to the top of Italian cuisine, with its fairly simple ingredients and basic techniques?

Mary Ann:  Because that is the true Italian cooking. It was only the upper class Italians who employed chefs called monzu. These were Italians trained in France and what they cooked was truly French and not Italian.
 
Finzi: When my parents got married, according to my mother, she “wanted an American household”, so she didn’t teach her five children Italian. I’ve read that you took lessons on how to speak Italian. Did your mother have this same attitude to “Americanize” your family in this or any other ways?
 
Mary Ann:  No, my mother spoke Neapolitan dialect because my Nonna Galasso--her mother--lived with us. My mother would never serve an American style TV dinner and neither would I.
 
Finzi: I’ve never heard you talk about having a second home in Italy. If you do, can you tell us a little about it? And if not, of all the beautiful regions and towns in Italy, where would you love to live, and can you describe your Casa dei Sogni, or Dream Home for us?
 
Mary Ann:  I go to Italy every year but do not have a home there; if I did, it would be in Siracusa because I love this baroque town; my second choice would be Torino.

Finzi: Your culinary life was influenced by two Nonne, but not everyone has an Italian grandmother to help educate them on how to prepare Italian dishes. In a way, you have become that Nonna for the millions of us who have watched you cook for nearly 30 years. Can you tell us something about your Mary Ann Esposito Foundation and your desire to pass along your passion and techniques to future Italian chefs?
 
Mary Ann: Thanks for asking! The foundation provides scholarships for students in culinary degree programs in universities offering the study of Italian regional foods and is also establishing a legacy library online to record for posterity, regional recipes that otherwise would be lost to time for future generations. All donations in any amount are most appreciated. Your Grand Voyage Italy readers can go to www.ciaoitalia.com and click on “foundation” to learn more and to make a donation.
 
Finzi: I want to really thank you for taking the time for this wonderful chat, Mary Ann. We'll be looking forward to seeing your new episodes on PBS... my TIVO is fired up to record every episode!

One last thought... For us to envision il pranzo perfetto per Maestra Esposito, what are your all-time favorite dinner courses in La Cucina Esposito?
 
Mary Ann:

• Aperitivo:                   Prosecco
• Antipasto:                  Grilled Vegetables, crostini
• Primo:                         Cacio e Pepe
• Secondo:                    Branzino al  Limone
• Contorno:                   Broccoli Rape
• Insalata:                     Fennel and Orange
• Formaggi e frutta:     Parmigiano Reggiano, Figs, Melon
• Dolce:                         Gelato
• Digestivo con caffè, Non lo bevo

 

Finzi: When I was a boy, my Dad taught me all about saving seeds and the benefits of Home Grown Tomatoes, and now my 15 year old son grows them with me. Our favorites are Eva Purple Ball, Jersey Devil and Giant Belgium. Which are your top three favorite heirloom tomato varieties, and why you like each.

Guy: Costoluto Genovese for fresh eating and preserving, intensely flavorful, deep red flesh); San Marzano are the only ones that match to those in Campania for sauce; Redorta for eating fresh, making sauces, canning or drying. It's better than San Marzano for growing in colder climates.

 
Finzi: For some reason, I’ve always had less than good results with Costoluto in our garden and Redorta is one we haven’t grown. I’ll try some next season.
 
I’m in Zone 6a in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (April 15, last frost) and still I wish the growing season was a bit longer than it is. What are the problems growing vegetables in your short, Zone 5b growing season in New Hampshire?

Guy:  We get a late start after May 31 because of such a short growing season.
 
Finzi: What do you consider the essential vegetables for an Italian gardener to grow, and for beginners, which do you think are the easiest?  
 
Guy:  Lettuce, zucchini and radishes are easiest and the hardest are melons and artichokes.
 
Finzi: Were you always a gardener or did your garden develop as Ciao Italia became a more prominent part of your lives as a couple, and what compels you to grow your own vegetables?

Guy: I have been gardening since Medical School. We are believers in farm to table food without pesticides. For good health we maintain a Mediterranean diet.

Finzi: We are also pretty much organic in our garden, but can always do better with a heathier diet. At least we make pretty much everything from scratch. I just wish we had a good fish monger near us.
 
My wife Lisa would love to grow huge bushes of rosemary like we saw in Italy. For me, pomegranates and olives. But of course, we can’t in our Pennsylvania climate.  What don’t (or can’t) you grow in the garden that you wish you could, or would like to grow, and why?

Guy:  Radicchio di Treviso and Bulbing Fennel (finocchi). Both are delicious for salads or cooking.

Finzi: I’ve watched videos on how complicated it is to grow Radicchio di Treviso. Definitely not for the home gardener!

What single vegetable or other crop has May Ann wanted you to grow that you haven’t yet, and why haven’t you grown it?

Guy: Piennolo  del Vesuvio tomatoes. It's just not hot enough here in New England and we have the wrong type of soil. .
 
Finzi: I love the idea of growing these but even if I could, I doubt if they would last through the winter, hanging in large bunches, the way they do in Campania.

If you could only grow one, solitary crop, which would you grow?

Guy:  Lettuce! Virtually every day we eat large salads every day.
 
Finzi: That’s one crop I wish was possible to grow all season long. I’ve grown a variety of types, but some years, the rabbits and chipmunks get the best of them.

What are the most difficult things to grow in your garden?

Guy:  Melons and sometimes tomatoes. Melons need a lot of heat and a long growing season. Some types of tomatoes we love can be prone to disease.
 
Finzi: I’ve also had some experience with melons, but they require a lot of attention and even watering--difficult to keep up with in drier seasons.

Is it difficult to be the husband of such a famous chef, or do you consider yourself a partner in Mary Ann’s efforts—and how involved are you in the production of the show?
 
Guy:  Mary Ann is first and foremost my wife. I am involved with Ciao Italia as the head gardener and wine consultant. The Mary Ann you see on TV is the exact same person in real life. I am a lucky man!
 
Finzi: You certainly are.

Mary Ann and Guy, I want to thank you both for being so generous with your time. I’m certain our readers are going to gain a lot of wisdom from the depth and span of your knowledge, experience and passion about Italian cuisine.

Alla prossima e mille grazie!

--Jerry Finzi

Continued from Part 1...

Finzi: Of course, we’ve read your new book, Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy. You've given us all some more great recipes and stories with an enormous degree of detail. Another winner, for sure. Brava, Maestra!
 
Speaking from an Italian-American perspective, what are the main differences between Italian cuisine and the dishes Italian-Americans served here? And regardless of their lack of authenticity, which Italian-American dishes do you really love?
 
Mary Ann:  Regional dishes are based on local ingredients, fresh ingredients and simple preparation. Italian-American food is often based on many canned foods like beans and prepared tomato sauces and inferior, imitation cheese. Of course I love spaghetti and meatballs and chicken “parm” like anyone else.

Finzi: I grow our own string beans and especially love those yard-long heirloom beans that can plate like a green spaghetti, but I'll have to take your advice and start growing my own beans. We do make our own sauces from scratch, but most of the year used high quality canned tomatoes. In summer we do make fresh tomato sauce, which is wonderful.

Chicken “parm” is a favorite in our house, too. We love the way my wife makes it (casserole style with rigatoni) but I also make a lighter version more like a standalone corso secondo.  

All of us have our favorite cookbooks. We have a collection of yours (of course), but also from Julia Child, Nick Malgieri, Marcella Hazan and Pierre Franey. Which cookbooks couldn’t you live without? Also, what are some historic cookbooks you would recommend for people wanting to explore the history of Italian cuisine?
 
Mary Ann:  Ada Boni’s, Italian Cooking; Waverly Root, The Food of Italy; John Keahy,  Seeking Sicily; Carol Field, The Italian Baker; Pellegrino Artusi, The Science in the Kitchen and The Art of Eating Well

Finzi: We actually have one on your list--Carol Field’s Italian Baker is amazing and includes a fantastic recipe for focaccia.
 
What regions—or towns—have you never visited or cooked in when traveling through Italy? Which are on your bucket list, and why?
 
Mary Ann: I have never cooked in Friuli or Calabria and I would love to cook in Abruzzo because the food is very high quality, and I love the way they use almonds in cooking. Although I love the confetti (candy coated almonds), there is so much more to do with them.

Finzi: We agree totally. We love the flavor of almonds in all manner of pastries. But to be honest, I personally never went for confetti almonds—I was always worried about breaking a tooth!

The waves of Italian Diaspora during the 19th and 20th centuries brought Italian migration to several countries around the world, merging Italian cuisine with that of their host countries. Have you ever thought of exploring the evolution of this mash-up of culinary cultures? (Examples: Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Tunisia).  
 
Mary Ann: It is a great idea and I have thought of it. It's on our bucket list!
 
Finzi: I’ll be looking forward to see what you come up with. By the way, in researching my own surname’s roots, I have discovered that there are nearly as many Finzi in Brazil as in Italy! I’m in touch with many of them via Facebook—perhaps I’ll ask them for some fusion Italian-Brazilian family recipes!
 
Are there any other countries you like to visit and cuisines you enjoy cooking? A fusion, perhaps?
 
Mary Ann:  I just love Ireland and their food is fantastic. I also enjoy cooking Chinese food.

Finzi: This past Saint Patrick’s Day, I made my annual shepherd’s pie and my wife Lisa made her Irish Soda bread. Although my wife Lisa makes fantastic Chinese food, she hasn’t picked up her wok in a while. (Hint, hint.) There is such a wealth of ethic food in the world and so many influences in the regional foods of Italy!
 
You’ve cooked with many famous chefs over the years, but we also appreciate when you cook along with home cooks here and in Italy (I still remember the episode with your Mom). Have you thought of doing a series of shows where you feature these home cooks’ recipes?

Mary Ann:  We have featured many home cooks and you will see them on our new season coming this spring. I learn a lot from them.

Finzi: My mother was a pretty good Italian cook and my Dad worked as a grocer and deli man his whole life. Because of this, my favorite heirlooms from them is Mom’s scolapasta, her large pasta pot, her ravioli pin, Dad’s meat slicer and even his retractable crayon marker he used to mark prices on cold cuts. Which kitchen heirlooms do you treasure?
 
Mary Ann:  My nonna Saporito’s  2 ft long, thin rolling pin, her cleaver, chitarra, my mother’s scribbled notebooks on Italian foods, her apron and old cannoli forms made out of bamboo.
 
Finzi: Bamboo cannoli forms? I love the idea. Easy to make if you have a neighbor with overgrown patch of bamboo.

Beside heirloom kitchen tools, my Mom left me her techniques of making “Sunday gravy”, gnocchi (click for RECIPE) with a fork and her Italian style Pot Roast (click for RECIPE). Dad taught me how to make giant deli meatballs (click for RECIPE) Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas ham and all about home grown heirloom tomatoes. What are the most important technique your family's cooks passed along to you?

Mary Ann: Use your hands! They are your best tools.
 
Finzi: According to my son, my pizzas and other dishes are so good that he’d like to see me open a pizzeria or restaurant, but I simply enjoy cooking for my family and friends. With both of your grandmothers cooking for professional reasons, did you ever consider “going pro” and perhaps opening your own restaurant? If “no”, why not? Personally, I would really enjoy dining in your Trattoria Ciao Italia!
 
Mary Ann: No, because I think of my show, Ciao Italia! as my restaurant. Opening a restaurant means a commitment to be there and I cannot do both at the same time.
 
Finzi: Last summer, we vacationed in Cape Ann, Massachusetts and seemed to discover Italian influences just about everywhere. When we visited the North End of Boston we considered it to be a better Little Italy than Manhattan’s Little Italy, the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue or Philly’s Italian Market district.  Which “Little Italys” have you visited and what are the best features of each?
 
Mary Ann:  I've been to most: Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, New Orleans.  Philadelphia has retained more authenticity; the rest are fading examples.

Long before my mother passed, I would visit her and Dad in their suburban New Jersey home and we would watch Mary Ann Esposito's show, Ciao Italia on their local PBS station. While I learned Mary Ann's recipe and techniques on TV, my mother passed on her own recipes and hands-on lessons in her humble New Jersey kitchen, in the same way her mother had taught her.

Mom taught me to make soups first, then stews, then how to make more complex things like light, fluffy gnocchi (I still remember how quickly her arthritic fingers tossed those gnocchi from the ends of a fork). While Mom taught me our own ricette di famiglia Finzi, Mary Ann helped me perfect techniques to help me become a pretty decent, all-around Italian home cook. She also helped me understand that Italian cuisine isn't just one thing... there are many cuisines to be explored in Italy.

I wanted to have a conversation with Mary Ann in honor of my Mother, since both of these wonderful Italian women have been a strong influence in my own life in my own Cucina.  My Mother would be proud to know that I shared a few words with one of our Italian heroines.

Mary Ann is the author of 13 books on the art of regional Italian cooking. She has taught millions of fans how to cook authentic, regional, healthy and delicious dishes on her PBS show Ciao Italia, currently in production for its 29th season of episodes! Mary Ann has over 30,000 followers on Facebook and over 1,400 recipes on her Ciao Italia website. She has also made over 40 tours of Italy, 18 of which were organized as cooking classes attended by loyal home cooks.  

Mary Ann was gracious in affording me some of her precious time, her schedule made even busier with the recent launch of her new book Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy, as well as her preparing for the 2020 broadcast of her new season of shows on PBS (check your local PBS listings).

So, pour yourself an espresso, sit back and enjoy our conversation. As a bonus, I also discussed gardening with her husband, Dr. Guy Esposito, the official Ciao Italia gardener.

--Jerry Finzi

Finzi: You’ve been on PBS continuously for 29 years… certainly an achievement for any TV cooking show. Can you explain your commitment to PBS and if you’ve ever been approached to do a show on a commercial cooking network? If you were offered a show, why didn’t you take the offer?

Mary Ann:  I wanted to have a personal connection with my audience without interruption or distraction and I wanted it to be my show in my words without someone else telling me how to do it. It would have been so much easier to go to go the commercial route but I had higher goals.
 
Finzi: I see your point, Mary Ann. They might have re-packaged what you were bringing to the table (excuse the pun) and your menus might have been someone else’s choices, perhaps by committee. We’re happy you followed your own path.

Certainly for my family, some of our favorite episodes have included location segments filmed in Italy. Does your new season include any Italian segments? And throughout the history of your voyages, where were your favorite places to explore—and cook?
 
Mary Ann:  Location shoots require a huge effort and lots of money but when our budget allows, we are in Italy. This year for our new season, we will be filming in Tuscany in the fall. All the regions are my favorite, but I am partial to Sicily and Campania.

Finzi: I agree with you on this. There's something so warm and welcoming in the South--a much slower pace. For me, I felt most at home when visiting Puglia where my father was born. The people's welcoming smiles reminded me of him.

Some of my other favorite Ciao Italia episodes had you baking with the amazing pastry chef, Nick Malgieri. We love Nick because he was kind enough years ago to help me find the recipe for “pas-ah-chut”, as my Molfettese father called them (pasticiotti). What are your favorite pastries to make?
 
Mary Ann:  Of course I love to make cannoli, fruit tarts, lots of different biscotti.
 
Finzi: My thing is making the Crostata di Frutta in our cucina, but my wife is the go-to gal for all sorts of cookies, cakes and pies. Happily, this year she is exploring the world of the twice-baked dolci—biscotti.

I've always loved pizza and even worked at our local pizzeria for a while when I was a teen, and for nearly 20 years and I've become a fairly decent pizzaiolo at home. I’ve made Neapolitan, Chicago and Detroit deep dish, “grandma’s”, sfincione, focaccia, thin crust, etc. I think I’ve saved every one of your pizza episodes on my DVR. Which is your favorite pizza and what do you think makes it so special?

Mary Ann:  I would have to say Margherita is my favorite but I love making all kinds. The important thing is to use as close to original ingredients as possible like Caputo flour for the dough, real mozzarella di Bufala and fresh basil.

Finzi: Happily, home gardens, farmers markets and the Farm to Table movement are growing in popularity. Living in the country, we often have to travel to Philadelphia or New York to get precious ingredients like mozzarella di Bufala, but we do grow our own veggies and lots of basil!
 
For me, baking pastry is very specific and precise, which is perhaps why my wife does that in our house. What are your thoughts on “cooking to the recipe” versus cooking the way nonne do, by taste, look and feel?

Mary Ann:  I’m with you; I never cook with recipes even though I write books with precise recipes for readers based on my testing them. I think the best cooks are those who improvise.
 
Finzi: In my case, improvisation can make it a little difficult when I want to share one of my recipes with our GVI readers. I have to convert a pinch, a dollop, a handful, a splash or to describe how a dough should look and feel.
 
What I’ve always loved about your cooking is the historic and anthropological perspective you bring into the Italian kitchen. You teach that “Italian food” doesn’t really exist, but it’s really about the 20 different regional cuisines of Italy. What would you like to see as an effort to change the American view of “Italian food” as only being pizza, chicken “parm” or spaghetti and meatballs?  
 
Mary Ann:  Watch my show!  Read things about regional cooking; in my just released new book CIAO ITALIA (My LIFELONG FOOD ADVENTURES IN ITALY) you will find a treasure trove of regional recipes with stories that support their origin.

One of the cucina povera (poor kitchen) Christmas traditions in Italy is Polenta alla Spianatora (polenta on the board), a rustic meal of polenta served as a dinner during the cold nights between la Vigilia (Christmas Eve) and Capodanno (New Year's Day). What makes this meal so unusual is the manner in which it is served. In the old days, hot polenta was poured and spread out directly on the family's wooden table. A slow-cooked sugo (thick, meaty tomato sauce), peas and possibly sausages or pieces of braised pork were arranged in concentric circles. The bits of meat were a real treat for children in the poor, farming communities. Young and old alike were given forks and everyone would make their own trails in the hot mess of deliciousness, each staking out their own section. But as I've been told, in some homes there were rules: you weren't allowed to eat the meat until you ate a path to the center, with some slow eating children not having such luck!

This manner of eating is a celebration of nature from the 15th century when corn was introduced to Italy from the New World. This dish is a celebration of the recent harvest... the circular shape of the polenta represented the sun, and it's corn having come from Mother Earth herself. All the ingredients topping this sun would have also been nurtured by the sun during the growing season: lentils, chickpeas, pork, chicken.

This is an ancient meal that also celebrates life--and family. So everyone was at the table digging in. This is a big meal... with a large amount of polenta traditionally prepared in a copper pot resembling a modern wok.

Nowadays, people tend to use a Spianatora (or spianatoia)--a modern day wooden cutting or pastry board--to pour the polenta onto. There are even some restaurants in southern/central Italy that will service this during the holiday season.

To make this warming meal for your famiglia, first you need to make a Sugo. Here's a link to my own family's Sugo Recipe.

For the Polenta

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 cups yellow imported Italian polenta

1. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. After the broth is boiling, add 2 teaspoons of salt.
3. Slowly whisk in the polenta little by little.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the polenta is tender still very loose and creamy, but stir constantly. This should take about 20 minutes until it thickens. Once it is thickened, remove from the heat.
5. Prepare a large clean wooden cutting board by rubbing with some Extra Virgin Olive oil, a dusting of course corn meal and a sprinkling of course sea salt.
6. Pour the polenta directly onto a the board and spread into a large circle. Don't use a stone or marble countertop or your polenta will cool off way too fast.
7. Top the entire surface of the polenta with the tomato sauce from your sugo, and then arrange the various meats in the center into concentric circles... perhaps meatballs in the center, sausages around them, and bits of other cooked pork surrounding the rest. One circle can contain peas, lentils (for good fortune in the New Year) or even cooked chickpeas or beans.

Top this beautiful, hot mess with Parmigiano Reggiano  or Romano and invite your amici and famiglia to start scraping.

Buon appetito, Buon Natale and Felice Anno Nuovo!

--Jerry Finzi