Nonnas (2025)

One of my kids and I watch movies together when my spouse is on call or out of town. We watch things that are not clear winners, and also things that might not hit the spot for him--in this case I think he would have been ok with this (we watched Kung Fu Panda 4 this way, and that was a clear win-win. We found it modestly entrertaining and he would not have agreed I predict). This is inspired by the life of Jody Scaravella, who moved into the attic bedroom of his childhood home to care for his mother. When she died he was bereft, set afloat and asea, not knowing quite what to do next. In the midst of his grief, and maybe not thinking as clearly as would be ideal, he opened Enoteca Maria on Staten Island in 2007. Still thriving two decades later, the restaurant became famous for the grandmothers or nonnas in the kitchen. Each of them cooking dishes from different Italian regions. His concept was that the restaurant and the food would remind you of home, that the kitchen would be populated not by prodessional chefs but by people who were cooking food they had made for their families for decades. There is also a thread here of hanging on to your culture, and that the recipes that our grandmother's made being made now is a way to hang on to that history. It’s about holding onto tradition—conjuring our ancestors through the things they pass down to us—whether it’s culture, inheritance, or food. I just saw a recipe for Molasses Cookies in my grandmother's handwriting in my recipe book this past week and it made me think of so much more than her or those cookies. Even though I did not find the recipe that I was looking for, it was quite lovely to peak in to my past.