Nuccia Ardagna - Going Against the Grain: Italian Style! : A Gluten-Free Life Guide and Recipe Book for Staying Healthy and Eating Amazingly!

Disclaimer

The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The publisher and author are not responsible for any specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change

Copyright 2014 Nuccia Ardagna

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-49922-243-2

Dedication

We dedicate this book with love to our incredible son, Gianluca. We hope he remains in the course of eating well and enjoying all the yumminess our heritage has to offer. We love you, son, and we want you to live forever! Soon

I have come a long way since my diagnosis with celiac disease and my journey is truly unforgettable.

I was blessed to be surrounded by inspirational individuals and to them I owe heartfelt thanks. Some through their support, some through their love, some through their knowledge and some through all of the above, each with their own special gift has contributed to make this book my dream a reality.

I want to thank my loving and supportive husband and son for being patient with me while working hard on my computer. To my incredible son, Gianluca, I owe an extra special thanks as it was he who came up with the idea to share our traditional, delicious family recipes with the world.

My mom and dad, Anna and Antonio, who knew nothing of this disease but were happy to learn with me and be supportive. My sister and brother, Marianna and Stefano, for taking the time to learn and make delicious gluten-free recipes on my account so that our traditional Sunday lunches were both safe and delicious for me. The tradition continues! I love you all.

How can I forget my close friends? Geoff and Lisa Wong, and Christine Hall-Acampora. You guys helped me get through my diagnosis by being loving and supportive, and taught me much about gluten. Your friendship is truly real.

Laura Piccolo. I just had to include you. Ive known you a long time but just met you (we know how that makes sense) and Im so glad I did. We have so much in common and your successes and hard work have been nothing short of inspirational for me. Thanks!

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Peter Green, Director, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University for honoring me with his valuable contribution by providing the foreword.

A special thank-you as well to both Cynthia Beckman, Director of Development, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and Suzanne Simpson, RD, Nutritionist, Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University for their patience and guidance and above all, enthusiastic encouragement and useful critique of my work. Your advice and assistance are certainly appreciated. Thank you!

Grateful thanks as well to Dr. Michael Bensoussan, Gastroenterologist, who finally put a name to my suffering and pain and led me to the road to recovery. It certainly was a rocky start, but a great friendship developed. We both learned a lot along the way!

I would also like to thank Alicia Dunams. Without your help and that of your excellent team, this book would not have been possible.

Again, Gianluca, my love, thank you so much for being the idea and inspiration behind this book. I love you mommy.

Last, but certainly not least, Jehovah, your strength through all of my difficult and painful times has been a rock. I could not have gotten through any of it without your love. Your love is truly a precious gift.

Nuccia Ardagna loves to travel to the place of her roots: SICILIA! Being Sicilian, she grew up with mamma , nonna and all her zie learning all the tricks of the trade and creating DELICIOUS Italian food from scratch. When diagnosed with celiac disease she was forced to learn new habits and, now, after trial and error and experimenting, wants to share her exquisite culinary creations with you. She IS a true Italian to the core.

Nuccia Ardagna is also a successful Corporate Sales Professional selling solutions to Fortune 500 companies. Her resume includes careers most of us only dream of, including flight attendant, professional model and a news anchor for Tele-Italia. She is a devout wife, mother, friend and her passion for life, living well and delicious food is evident by the passion she shares in her book.

Lorsque jai rencontr Nuccia pour la premire fois, javais en face de moi lincarnation mme de ce que je rencontre trop souvent en tant que mdecin : la souffrance. Je voyais l quelquun dont la vie quotidienne avait ce point chang, que lexistence mme tait devenue pnible. Quelquun dont la condition sociale et professionnelle navait que trop souffert depuis des mois de son tat de malade. Quelquun qui ne voulait plus rire, sortir ou profiter de sa vie, puisquelle tait rduite limage que la socit qui nous entoure lui renvoyait : elle tait malade. Mais elle ne savait pas de o ? De quoi ? Et surtout pourquoi?

Cest donc initialement quelquun de tendu et deallezmalheureux que javais en face de moi. Et le jour du diagnostic, cest moi et personne dautre qui fut le messager de mauvaise augure, celui qui a eu limpossible mission de mettre nom sur la souffrance qui rongeait Nuccia : la maladie cliaque. La plus courante atteinte gntique digestive de nos socits modernes.

Un peu linstar des messagers de mauvaises nouvelles dans la Grce antique, cest au dbut moi qui fut crucifi sur lautel du gluten. Mais un mdecin sert cela aussi; cristalliser les angoisses de ses patients, prendre soin du corps mais aussi des mes. Et quelle belle me!

Car je dois bien avouer que quelques mois plus tard, ma stupfaction fut totale quand je revis Nuccia. Je pense avoir dcouvert ce jour-l qui elle tait vraiment : une femme belle, radieuse, joviale et nergique, croquant dans la vie comme on croque dans un gteau gluten free !

Mais surtout jai dcouvert un modle de patient. Une femme pugnace, dont lannonce de la maladie a dcupl lnergie de vie. Une femme qui a dcid de vivre avec son handicap et de faire profiter la communaut de ses enqutes, de ses trouvailles et de ses astuces. Un formidable lan de philanthropie est n de ce cocktail dtonnant pour aboutir a lcriture du livre que vous avez entre les mains ; voil donc que Nuccia veut partager avec vous sa joie de vivre et sest mis en tte de partager ses dlicieuses recettes de cuisine italienne, ce que normalement une vraie Mamma ne fait jamais ! Mais pour elle ce qui est important, cest de partager, pour que votre vie sans gluten soit avant tout une vie de joie et de soleil dans vos assiettes. How lucky you are!

Cest bien videmment un honneur pour moi que de saluer ici lnergie de vie et le courage dune femme formidable, qui a su transformer un accident de la vie en un feu dartifice (gustatif). Bravo vous Nuccia, je pense que vous tes un exemple et que vous gagnez tre connue.

Et surtout, bon apptit tous et toutes (car il parait quen plus, elle est une excellente cuisinire).