momma's kitchen
giuseppe, the italian pilgrim
by Camille Di Loreto

Being an Italian American means having great Italian American traditions. These rich traditions are so strong sometimes I am not even fully aware of their impact in my life. For example, growing up we celebrated Thanksgiving in a very special fashion. Your could say that we had the typical Thanksgiving food items, however, the traditional meal was expanded to accomodate numerous Italian food items. In addition to the menu expansion, our home would also expand to receive numerous relatives.

Our holiday meal consisted of the usual roast turkey, potatoes and broccoli usually served with garlic and olive oil. In addition to these items were some very Italian favorites such as an antipasto, a lite turkey soup, a pasta dish consisting of ravioli or lasagna, some roasted artichokes, insalata and of course, the desserts. Preparation took days and the meal seemed to be endless.

As a child, I did not realize how different our Thanksgivings' were compared to other children in the neighborhood. On the surface it seemed like we were all celebrating the holiday in the same fashion but what took place in our home was quite different. Typically, most of the kids in the neighborhood celebrated with their grandparents. They ate turkey, potatoes and apple pie. The entire feast took place in about three hours. Our relatives started to arrive the Wednesday just before and stayed until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Our meal seemed to last an eternity. Everyone helped in the preparation of the meal. Even the men were involved. Their job was to prepare a make-shift table to accommodate the additional family members. This was no small task since the size of the family could double or even triple in size.

As a child I wondered how all this food preparation got tied into this holiday. My father offered this reason for all the fuss. It is a kind of American history lesson with an Italian twist. We celebrated Thanksgiving in this manner because of a little Italian man named Giuseppe.

The Italian Pilgrim

He offered the captain with these solutions to his.. uhm.. little problem.

Giuseppe wanted to come to America. There was only one problem... He had no way of getting here so he decided to somehow hide himself on board of one of the great pilgrim ships making the voyage. Even though Guiseppe was a diminutive gentleman he definitely had great aspirations. So off he went aboard the ship. Within days during the voyage the new world he was discovered. He offered the captain with these solutions to his.. uhm.. little problem. He would either swim back to shore or help the cook. Of course, during his offer he also hinted about his fantastic culinary skills. The Captain allowed him to remain on board with the stipulation that he prepare all his Captain's meals.

Giuseppe worked diligently with the ships cook to provide the captain and his crew with their everyday meals. As one can imagine, these meals were not terribly exciting but were much better than the usual ship meals prepared by the cook. Giuseppe added his Italian flare and made the day to day meals interesting. Once the ship landed in the new world however Giuseppe believed it was time to show his thankfulness. He really wanted to have a great feast where everyone was invited to celebrate together.

Giuseppe added his Italian flare and made the day to day meals interesting.

The cook suggested preparing Hardtack etc. Giuseppe having had enough of hardtack protested. He thought that in order to celebrate this momentous occasion a more suitable feast was needed. His menus suggestions ran along the lines of antipasto, cannelloni, braised radicchio, braccioli, insalata and for dessert espresso and lots of sweets. Now the regular chef thought Giuseppe was a bit wacky since he never heard of most of these items and even if he did know of them the chance of finding all of them here in the new world were slim to none.

From the onset, Giusseppe encountered obstacles in trying to locate certain Italian ingredients. Certainly, there was not a place in this new world that sold items such as anise flavoring, artichokes, ravioli or canolis. However this witty Italian pilgrim persevered and accomplished the task of this grand feast.

On the day of this auspicious occasion, the feast was presented to all that arrived. Everyone marveled at the fantastic cuisine and glorious presentation done by Giuseppe. The feast was a great success. So that was how it came to be that Italians in America celebrated Thanksgiving just a little different then some of their neighbors. In any event that is how my family acquired the tradition of celebrating in the manner in which we did. It was all because of an Italian stow-away named Giuseppe.

In case you were wondering... my father's name was Giuseppe. I can only assume he was somehow related to this amazing little fellow! If you have some Italian thanksgiving memories to share, I would love to hear from you.

Here are some favorites for a more Italian Thanksgiving:

Braised Radicchio with Bacon
4 oz or about 8 very thin slices of bacon
1 2/3 lb. Radicchio
4 small onions
2 cloves garlic minced
5 tbs. Olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper

Clean the radicchio by removing outer leaves Quarter and core each head. Rinse and allow water to drain Cut slices of bacon an cut onions, in eighths. In a large frying pan, cook bacon and onions. Add minced garlic. Add the drained radicchio to the pan and braise for 5 minutes while turning the quartered pieces twice. Season with salt and pepper add 2 tbs olive oil. Serve hot with meat.

Easy Foccacia Bread
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal, for sprinkling
1 small onion peeled and ends cut flat
1 large garlic clove peeled
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Using Frozen bread dough, follow directions for letting dough rise. Once the dough has risen knead dough and flatten to size desired. Brush on olive oil Sprinkle the remaining ingredients on the dough. Bake according to pizza dough directions.

Pumpkin Cassarole
14 oz pumpkin puree fresh or canned may be used.
3/4 cup ground almonds
1 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 6 eggs
2 oz or 4 tbls softened butter
salt and white pepper

Combine 6 tbls of ground almonds and about 2 tbls. butter into the pumpkin puree. Beat Eggs and mix them with 2/3 Parmesan cheese. Gradually add the pumkin mixture and combine all the ingredients. Grease a large baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Pour the pumpkin-egg mixture into the dish, sprinkle with the remaining ground almonds and Parmesan cheese. Dot top with remaining butter. Bake in the preheated oven until it has set- about 30 minutes. Fresh Pumpkin Fries
appx 14 oz peeled fresh pumpkin 3-4 eggs beaten 1/4 cup milk 1 1/2 cup italian bread crumb mixture 3/4 cup locatelli romano cheese (grated) olive oil Salt and pepper Peel ripe outer layer of skin from fresh pumpkin In medium sauce pan, place peeled pumpkin meat with 3-4 tablespoon water. Cover and simmer til pumpkin meat is tender. Remove from heat and drain water. Combine italian bread crumbs , salt and pepper to taste and cheese. Set aside on large sheet of foil paper. Beat the eggs and milk in large enough bowl. Salt and pepper. Coat cooked pumpkin with egg wash- then coat again with bread mixture till fully coated. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet. When oil is fully heated. Gently place pieces of coated pumpkin in oil. Cook on all sides til golden brown. Serve warm.

Sesame Cookies
4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
4 eggs
1/4 c. orange juice or grated skin of 1 orange
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Sesame seeds

Sift dry ingredients together. Add shortening and mix well. Add juice, eggs and vanilla and mix together. Turn on floured board. Knead a few minutes. Slice pieces of dough and roll into strips, cut each strip about 2 inches in size. Roll each piece in sesame seeds into slices that have been dampened with a little water. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 18 minutes or until lightly browned.