Rediscovering Italian-America

A journey home to my ancestral village of Vastogirardi, Italy.

Join Marion Mazzarella as she talks about growing up Italian American in Canton, Ohio, teaching and becoming the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America lodge #505’s first female President.

Amy Cenci grew up in Atlanta, Georgia to an Italian American Father and Croatian/Slovenia Mother. Little did she know that she would find herself living as an Italian aka Italian American with dual citizenship in Rome, Italy. She tells her story of challenges she has faced growing up Italian American in the south and her journey gaining dual citizenship to living and working in Rome.

The purity and simplicity of food emanates through Ale Gambini’s work as an Italian food ambassador, chef, cookbook author, YouTube channel creator and so much more. Have a listen to her as she describes her work of promoting the Italian cuisine on the west coast.

Michele Di Pietro is a New York chef, food influencer, food blogger and recent cookbook author of Soupified. Enjoy a great flavor in the first episode of season 2. Grazie Mile

This is dedicated to my Uncle Marc

"For us to go to Italy and to penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery"- D.H. Lawrence
The uniqueness of sitting around a table as an Italian American child and watching how the operatic style of Italian life play out before you pulls at my heart strings. I have had the unique opportunity to meet some amazing people in my life. It is even more unique of an Italian American girl from north east Ohio to get to interview someone just as interesting. I have played with writing a book many times however, being a doctor of pharmacy was a far greater calling. Having this as a passion and sharing what it means to be Italian-American with my listeners is far more fulfilling. Have a listen everyone. Message me if you want any websites for Andrew's articles or recipes he may have shared on this episode.

Grazie Mille.
Dottoressa Emma

How do you want to be remembered when you are gone? What kind of legacy will you leave behind? Gloria Talarico is the epitome of what love means and to be loved by so many for the their hard work and dedication to the community. The legacy that her father left: work hard, learn and be the best student you can be and don't forget family has been the ethos of her very being. I can't even put into words what this lady means to me. Her hug is the hug of so many women that came before me. Her love is the love of my ancestors. Her example is the example of her father. I just wish I had more time to talk to her for this episode. I thank her and love her so much more....
This episode is dedicated to the memory of Gloria's father Archangelo Marchione, Gloria's father!
“When you lose someone, they take a bigger place in your heart, not a smaller one. Every day it grows, because you don't stop loving them. You wish you could talk to them. You need their advice. But life doesn't always give us what we need, and it's difficult.”
― Adriana Trigiani, The Shoemaker's Wife

Aaron Caruso is a classically trained singer of the Neapolitan language. Trained at Case Western University and earning his bachelors from the University of Michigan, Aaron's passion for expressing operetta style music in Neapolitan exudes through his music. He has played to a sold out crowd at Carnegie Hall and has played around the country. Listen as he gets back to his roots of the Stark County Italian American festival giving him one of his first breaks in the business.

Anna Sama is joined by her best friend Frances Pileggi to tell their shared story of leaving Sant’Andrea, Italy come to New York and later to Canton, Ohio.

Anna Sama sat down today to tell me about her story of coming to America. She hails from Sant'Andrea Dell'Apostolo. It is said that the town dates back to the 10th century, between 981 and 110. This was an era when the Greco-Byzantine population from the nearby Fiume Assi moved to the territory around Sant’Andrea to escape the repeated Saracen raids. At that time Sant’Andrea belonged to the Badolato farmstead. After 1044, the village was under Norman rule, as was the rest of Calabria, when it acquired a new status thanks to the Carthusian charterhouse, Grancia della Certosa di San Bruno, which became the centre of public life. A ‘Grancia’ is a building that forms part of a charterhouse, used for the preservation and provision of agricultural produce, which was to sustain of the monks of the order. In 1193, the Pope believed that the Carthusian monks were no longer living by their original moral values, but were guided by political and economic interests. For this reason, he handed it over to the Cistercian hermitage, Serra San Bruno ai Cistercensi, along with the ‘grancia’. It was under Cistercian ownership until 1513, when Pope Leone X of Medici reassigned the charterhouse to the Carthusians. They were to finally lose its profits to Joachim Murat, Marshal and Admiral to Napoleon, in 1808, when the San Bruno Charterhouse was abolished. Have a listen

Ohio has never been thought to have much Italian heritage. However, the

Cleveland, Ohio – Cugine in Cucina released their first cookbook, “Don’t Cut the Basil: Five Generations of Authentic Italian Recipes” in December 2020. During their digital launch weekend on Amazon, Cugine in Cucina’s cookbook went #1 Best Seller in four countries (the United States, Italy, Canada, and the United Kingdom) for a total of 34 Best Seller categories and earned twelve #1 placements. Cugine in Cucina is made up of three cousins (Angela Siciliano, Corrina Siciliano, and Mary Kovach, Ph.D.) with Sicilian roots from Ohio, who share stories and photographs behind each of their Italian family recipes.
The three cousins reunited when Mary’s grandmother passed, and they started sharing food and recipes on a regular basis. With a desire not to lose what their grandmothers and mothers taught them over the years, they documented what they learned in the kitchen. This book shares more than just 25+ authentic Italian family recipes and mouthwatering pictures from traditional Italian sauce, to sides and appetizers, to desserts; it also captures their Italian spirit passed down from generations, as described in the stories behind each of the recipes.

Hi everyone, this is just a quick hello to introduce this podcast. I hope to one day make it really official and actually interview people. However, this pandemic will force me to focus more historically on Italian Americans in North East Ohio. Send me ideas or recipes to share with everyone.