Evans Michele - La cucina siciliana della casa = Sicilian home cooking: family recipes from Gangivecchio

A LSO BY W ANDA AND G IOVANNA T ORNABENE
WITH M ICHELE E VANS

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio:

Recipes from Gangivecchios Sicilian Kitchen

T HIS I S A B ORZOI B OOK P UBLISHED BY A LFRED A. K NOPF

Copyright 2001 by Giovanne Tornabene and Gilda Di Paola Tornabene All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.

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Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

LCCN2001012345

ISBN9780375403996

Ebook ISBN9781524733070

v4.1

a

Ai nostri antenati, che ci hanno donato Gangivecchio per la serena felicit della gente che qui ha vissuto, e per tutti coloro, che, anche per un solo giorno ci vivranno.

(To our ancestors, who left us Gangivecchio, for the happy peace of the people who have lived here, and for all those who, even for one day, will live here.)

RingraziamentiFra Noi

(AcknowledgmentsBetween Us)

As we complete our second cookbook, our thoughts are filled with many happy memories of another amazing adventure. We think of the countless hours spent fra noi (between us), mother and daughter, recounting stories of our lives, discussing food and testing and writing recipes, while running our restaurant at Gangivecchio. But a cookbook, like any production, is the result of an enormous collaboration. So, between the two, we want to acknowledge all the players in this work. We cannot forget the enthusiasm of many family members and friends who were eager to share their recipes with us. These recipes, added to ours, are the backbone of this book.

We think first of Paolo, our son and brother, our sparkling competitor in the kitchen, but always so generous with his own ideas, especially pasta sauces, and really, help of every kind.

If we have wonderful fish and seafood recipes, we owe many of them to Mariuccia Schiavone and Sofia LoCoco. From their own tables the taste of the Mediterranean Sea will be transported to tables in America.

The secret of the real amatriciana pasta sauce was revealed to us by Tiziana Carapezza, born in Amatrice, where this great dish originated.

A friend of forty years, Kery Mollica, hand wrote and sent her best soup and focaccia recipes to us.

A warm thanks to Angela De Santis for her couscous lesson and delicious recipes.

From the deep well of our memories we thank Granny Giovanna and Granny Elena. They are ever with us in the form of their recipes filling page after page of an old exercise book, so very precious to us.

If the recipes are the backbone of this book, absolutely vital was the collaboration again with Michele Evans, our multitalented, inexhaustible co-author. And through her eyes, she has captured our food and the world of Gangivecchio in photographs throughout this book. She is our English-speaking alter ego. In Michele, we have found a daughter and a sister for life.

We must thank Tully Plesser, Micheles husband, who, along with her, has always made their home our home. Tully and Michele also created an American family for us of friends like Margot Bachman and Ken and Binky Auletta. These dear people have also opened their homes to us many times.

But neither of our books would ever have been written without Peter Gethers, our brilliant editor. It was he who discovered us hidden in this remote part of the world. He arrived with Norton, his handsome little cat, and his lovely companion, Janis Donnaud. The three of them gave us the tremendous gift of trust and friendship.

We thank Esther Newberg, Micheles literary agent, for recommending her to Peter Gethers as the perfect co-author for us. Esther was absolutely right.

Peters assistant editor, Shauna Toh, who recently visited Gangivecchio, has done excellent work editing our manuscript, especially the recipes.

At Knopf, we are grateful to the talented men and women whose splendid individual work was so vital to the creation of this book: Amy Stackhouse and Kevin Bourke for copyediting; Anthea Lingeman for the interior design; Susan Carroll for the design of the cover; and Tracy Cabanis and Avery Fluck for production.

Special thanks to Christopher Hirsheimer, who took the cover photograph of us in our home kitchen at Gangivecchio.

Here at Gangivecchio, we must mention our important collaborators. First, Peppe Bevacqua, with us for over thirty years in the kitchen, restaurant, and garden; and also our dependable and loyal workers, Mario Cavoli and Giovanni Salerno.

Our gratitude to Renata Pucci for her English translation of the poem, Momenti 1965.

In our quiet times at home, as we wrote we had the tender, loving glances and comforting company of our beloved little dogs, Silla and Ciccio, and cats, Perlina and Billy.

We must thank Alfonso Cucchiara and Alfio Noto, Director and President of our bank, and they know why!

Finally, we want to thank Gangivecchio, because we are honored to live in such a beautiful and peaceful place. We end our acknowledgments in the spiritual company of all those who collaborated on this book, and, in many, many ways contributed to our lives. Grazie.

December 15, 2000
Gangivecchio, Sicily

Storia Cronologica di Gangivecchio e La Famiglia Tornabene

(Chronological History of Gangivecchio and the Tornabene Family)

1299 The King of Aragon, Frederick II, during battles with his brother in Sicily, James, destroys the village of Engium (Gangis name after Roman domination), located in the Madonie Mountains in north-central Sicily. The only surviving building is the chapel of the Church of St. Mary of the Annunciation.

1363 Benedictine monks obtain permission to build a priory around the Church of St. Mary of the Annunciation, which becomes known as Gangivecchio (Old Gangi). Count Ventimiglia, master of the Madonie, donates approximately sixteen hundred acres of adjacent land to the order.

1366 The priory is completed, and the monks begin their activities: teaching their students reading, writing, miniature drawing, and new farming methods.

1413 The priory is elevated to the high rank of abbey.

1577 A Sicilian artist, Pietro Billio, completes painting frescoes on the vaulted ceilings of the abbeys refectory dining room.

1653 After a black plague, the surviving monks leave lAbbazia de Gangivecchio, moving to Castelbuono, thirty kilometers from Gangivecchio. Only one member of the order remains as guardian and revenue collector. After his death, the abbey is completely abandoned and crumbles to ruin.

1770 Francesco Bongiorno, a wealthy local squire from Gangi, obtains a perpetual lease from the church and begins restoration of the dilapidated former abbey, converting it into a summer residence.

1786 The Bongiorno family buys Gangivecchio from the church. They restore the building, adding neoclassical structures.

1788 King Ferdinand IV designates the estate a barony. A two-headed eagle becomes Gangivecchios imperial coat of arms in honor of the Bourbon kings Austrian wife, Maria Carolina.