L’ Italo Americano magazine’s Paula Reynolds tells us that there are iconic brands that rise above, morphing into a name that stands for an entire category of products. Kleenex, Chapstick, and Jacuzzi – all stand the test.  Whether it’s an innovative product or merely a great marketing scheme, when a brand name becomes a hit, the name sticks. 

Had it not been for the pacifist leanings of Giovanni Jacuzzi (1825 – 1929), you and I might never have had the enjoyment of a bubbly soak under a starry sky. Giovanni, a farmer, and his bride Teresa, both from the Northern Italian village of Casara della Delizia, married in 1886 and quickly began fashioning their large family of 13 children. Giovanni, however, was greatly dissatisfied with the government’s hawkish policies. The onset of World War I was the catalyst; the eldest seven Jacuzzi brothers, now doing seasonal work in Germany, were summoned by their father and ordered to set sail for America. Some traveled together, others followed on their own — soon Rachele, Francesco, Valeriano, Galindo, Giuseppe, Giocondo, and Candido found themselves on Californian soil. Settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, an area already hosting an established Italian community, the innovative brothers spared no time in finding ways to be productive. 

Rachele was endowed with an inventor’s spirit, and he was really smart. After a stint in a mechanic shop owned by a Mr. McDonnell – who later established the aerospace corporation McDonnell Douglas – Rachele began work near the 1915 Panama-Pacific World’s Fair airfield, allowing him to view active aircraft up close. Believing the current standard of the propeller could be improved upon, Rachele designed a windward pitched propeller dubbed the Jacuzzi Toothpick. His design caught on, becoming the military standard, as well as the prop of choice for Charles Lindberg. In short order, the brothers convened under one roof, funneling their collective brain power and creativity into the infant aviation industry. 

What followed was impressive. The innovative Jacuzzi J-7 came into being, the first enclosed cabin monoplane. Exhibitions and publicity brought great interest, which lead to a proposed contract from the U.S. Airmail services. The practically infallible plane was a top contender, its final test was to prove it could ferry tourists. A group of four, including Giocondo Jacuzzi, flew from San Francisco to Yosemite. The flight was seamless, and two days later the crew took off for a victory flight home to San Francisco. No one knows exactly why, but the pilot chose to make a descent into Modesto, possibly to see a girlfriend. Something went freakishly wrong, and the J-7 lost first its left wing, then the right. The four onboard were lost, along with the future of the aircraft. 

The early success of the elder brothers dissolved quickly after the tragedy. By this time, father Giovanni and the remainder of the family had emigrated and settled in San Francisco. Financial aspects aside, Giovanni forbid any further involvement in aviation . . . it was time to reinvent. 

An earlier creation by Rachele using his knowledge of aerodynamics had resulted in a pump that moved water using water. As Ken Jacuzzi, son of Candido, states in his book Jacuzzi: A Father’s Invention to Ease a Son’s Pain (iUniverse, December 2005), “The principle was simple: water would be forced down a pipe, creating a vacuum and bringing water up.” Simple, effective, and efficient, the family latched on to the potential of marketing the pump to the many farmers scattered throughout the San Joaquin Valley. 

If Rachele was the master inventor of the family, Candido, the youngest son, was the charismatic salesman. His mission clear, Candido set out door to door, often rejected when his poor English riled up prejudice or impatience. Determined, he attended evening English lessons. In a matter of time, the pump became popular for the agricultural area. The Jacuzzi name was back in the game. Business burgeoned, extended family joined the operation, a factory was purchased on the Richmond shoreline, where the building still stands today on Jacuzzi Drive. ​

​ “Necessity is the mother of invention,” as the great Mr. Einstein once said. Words never rang truer in the next, and most profitable, phase of the Jacuzzi story. By the early 1940’s, Candido had risen in the ranks of the family business. His young family welcomed their fourth child, Kenneth. A normal, healthy boy, but the tides turned when the young toddler endured a bout of strep throat that resulted in the complication of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. His entire body was wracked by the disease. Drugs, physical therapy and, prophetically, hydrotherapy were prescribed to ease young Ken’s symptoms. 

Inez, Ken’s mother, observed the hydrotherapy treatments brought great relief to her son’s symptoms. However, the journey to the hospital created challenges; Candido’s help was enlisted. As Ken relays in his book, “Dad went out to see me in the whirlpool tank. He said, ‘Why that’s just a pump!’” That “just a pump” was the birth of an iconic industry. Candido and family designed the first submersible pump, a metal canister that could safely be placed in a tub of water, and christened it the J-300. Ken’s physician came out to take a look. Astounded, he eagerly encouraged Candido to manufacture the pumps for other patients. 
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Despite its usefulness, the pump was initially resisted by the Jacuzzi family – the inclusion of a consumer-based product was risky. Candido, unrelenting, got busy. He used connections to get the pump on “Queen for a Day” (1945 – 1964), a wildly popular daytime show watched by millions. “Every time a queen had a story that had some medical-related aspect, one of the prizes was a Jacuzzi,” relates Ken. “The name became known overnight.”

In January 2018 I wrote about ‘prosciutto’. Recently Toni Brancatisano of L’Italo Americano magazine focused on San Daniele DOP prosciutto one of the best known prosciuotto’s around the world.
 
San Daniele del Friuli is a beautiful, quaint small town in Italy’s northern region Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the province of Udine. It is situated on the top of a hill, half-way between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea, near the Tagliamento River, which is the largest river of the Friuli region.  It is a town rich in medieval history and artistic treasures such as the frescoes inside the tiny church of Sant’ Antonio Abate, otherwise called the “Sistine Chapel of Friuli,” and the Guarneriana Library (one of the oldest in Italy). Founded in 1466, this library contains more than 12,000 antique books including a priceless manuscript of Dante’s Inferno. 
 
But, there is another treasure that has made this town famous all over the world: the delicious Prosciutto di San Daniele D.O.P.
 
Prosciutto is the Italian word for ham. Prosciutto Crudo is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually served raw and thinly sliced. The word crudo means raw, as opposed to prosciutto cotto, which is cooked.  It is characterized by a pinkish-red color and is slightly veined with thin streaks of fat. The fat or lard around it, which is pure white, is delicate and complements the meat, so when eating Prosciutto Crudo, both the meat and the fat should be enjoyed together.  Prosciutto Crudo is eaten either wrapped around grissini (bread sticks), and in Summer is often paired with cantaloupe melon or fresh figs.  Most commonly though throughout the year, Prosciutto Crudo is simply enjoyed as a sandwich filler, often paired with mozzarella inside two slices of rustic Italian bread.  Prosciutto Crudo is perfect any time of day enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and is also commonly enjoyed during an Italian Aperitivo.
 
The geographical location of San Daniele del Friuli and the micro-climate there is fundamentally important for the production and aging of Prosciutto di San Daniele. The cold winds blow down from the Alps and meet the breeze from the Adriatic Sea, while the Tagliamento River in the middle ensures the air has a certain amount of humidity and is never too dry. So the only ingredients that are required to make Prosciutto Crudo are the hind legs of Italian pigs, sea salt and the magical air of San Daniele del Friuli.

No chemicals, additives or preservatives are used throughout the production of Prosciutto di San Daniele, which can only be made using the hind legs of pigs that are born, bred and also slaughtered in Italy. If the pigs aren’t of an excellent quality, one can’t expect to produce an excellent Prosciutto di San Daniele.  The pigs can only come from ten regions in Italy: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo, Marche, and Umbria. The diet of the pigs is under strict control and all the phases required to achieve a prosciutto leg worthy of the SAN DANIELE DOP brand at the end of 13 months are controlled by rigid regulations.

There are only 31 producers that are recognized by the Consortium San Daniele (il Consorzio del Prosciutto di San Daniele). The Consortium is an association that functions much like a union, their goal is to not only protect and promote the brand but also to educate people about this unique and precious product. 

Some of the prosciutto producers are 4th generation families who have continued the tradition of their ancestors. It definitely isn’t a job you could do if you didn’t have the dedication and passion required to pour your heart and soul into the care that goes into each leg of Prosciutto di San Daniele.  Some bigger companies have machinery to facilitate the production process, but smaller businesses still use traditional methods.  It is an artisanal job involving manual labor. Whether these companies use modern day machinery or traditional methods, the process of production must be the same and uniform for all the companies that belong to the Consorzio.

The production begins with the arrival of the pork hind legs, the thigh with the pork trotter attached (an identifying factor of Prosciutto di San Daniele).  The thighs are inspected and only those passing the initial test will begin their journey to becoming Prosciutto di San Daniele.  They are first stored for 24 hours at a temperature between -33°F and 37°F they are then trimmed with special cuts to facilitate the loss of moisture.

After a second 24 hours, the thighs are covered with sea salt and placed at a temperature between 32°F and 39°F. Each ham rests in this condition for a number of days: the time of this resting depends on how much each thigh weighs.  After salting, Prosciutti di San Daniele are pressed along the muscle mass in order to make the salt penetrate deeply. This phase is exclusive to San Daniele and also gives the hams their characteristic “guitar” shape.

The salted thighs are left to rest in rooms where humidity varies between 70% and 80% and a temperature between 39°F and 49°F. This phase lasts up to the fourth month from the start of processing and allows the salt to penetrate evenly inside the ham.  After the rest, the thighs are washed with warm water. This phase is very important because it promotes the toning of the meat and, with the change of temperature, the aging process begins. This must last at least thirteen months from the beginning of the initial process. During this whole period it is essential to maintain an optimal temperature, humidity and ventilation.
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The next phase is called the sugnatura in Italian, sugna means suet. A paste is made consisting of pork fat and rice or wheat flour, and it is applied by hand and massaged onto the part not covered by the pork rind.  This protects and, at the same time, softens that part of the meat, preventing the underlying meat from drying. Interestingly this has traditionally been a job done by women (this process has the side benefit of leaving lovely soft hands).

Spending more time in Italy every year reminds me of things I didn’t notice about my Nonni (grandparents) growing up, but as I grew older I wondered why they did certain things in certain ways, meaning not like everyone else!?

I learned that how they lived in Italy was how they lived in the US. They shopped for food on a daily basis (usually in the morning) as opposed to a large once-weekly shopping trip. Shopping for food in Italy means buying food that one needs for that day (maybe two because there may be leftovers, depending how many people showed up!?), and buying only what is fresh and “in season”, or vegetables that my Nonno hadn’t grown in his garden. I think we now know it as the Mediterranean diet. Life for my Nonni in Italy before their immigration to the US was difficult. They didn’t waste anything even after coming to the US, so this concept of buying fresh everyday also helped in reducing food waste.
 
Most Italian dishes are from ‘cucina povera’, poor kitchen, or poor peasant cooking. That being said, there are some wonderful traditional recipes in Italy that are made with ‘stale’ ingredients, like bread.
   
Tuscan bread, used in this recipe, is usually unsalted, the reason is it dates back to the 12th century. The rulers of Pisa were at odds with the rulers of Florence, and cut off their supply lines from the coast. This made salt prohibitively expensive. The Florentines, unwilling to cave to the pressure, simply began making their bread without it, and this tradition continues today.  
 
So, our Tuscan chef at Villas of Italy, Chef Mauro, has a wonderful recipe to use day old rustic Tuscan style Italian bread, Pappa al Pomodoro. Those of you who have stayed with us have enjoyed Chef Mauro’s Pappa al Pomodoro, and this is the perfect time of year to talk about this recipe because it's ideal to take advantage of the delicious plump red tomatoes that are abundant in super and farmers markets during the coming hot summer months.
 
The Italian word 'pappa' translates to baby food, which pretty much describes the consistency of the finished product: a dish that can be eaten at any age. But with amazing tomatoes, fresh basil and high-quality olive oil, the flavor is anything but boring.   
 
Many Tuscans will tell you not to even think of putting grated parmesan cheese on it... but sorry… I love a scattering of freshly grated cheese and freshly cracked black pepper on top!
 
Buon Appetito!

PAPPA AL POMODORO

INGREDIENTS:

• 5lbs. tomatoes
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• Salt
• ½ lb. stale crustless, 1-inch Italian bread cubes (4 cups)
• 1 cup basil leaves torn, plus more for garnish
  
  

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1    
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Cut a slit in the base of each tomato. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and blanch just until the skins start to split, about 10 seconds. Transfer the blanched tomatoes to the ice water to cool.

Step 2    
Peel and halve the tomatoes crosswise. Working over a mesh strainer set over a large bowl, pry out the seeds and press the tomato juice and pulp through the strainer. Discard the seeds. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.

Step 3    
Wipe out the pot and heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and crushed red pepper and season with salt. Cover partially and simmer over moderately high heat until the tomatoes have cooked down, about 30 minutes.

Step 4    
Add the bread and the reserved tomato juices to the soup and cook, mashing the bread until fully incorporated, and season with salt. Stir in the basil leaves. Spoon the soup into shallow bowls, drizzle lightly with olive oil, top with a few torn pieces of basil and serve right away.

Make Ahead - The soup can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight. Reheat before proceeding.

Suggested Wine Pairing - This traditional Tuscan soup is robust enough for red wine, but its summery flavors taste particularly good with rosato (rosé), especially ones made from Sangiovese; the wine's cherry-berry fruit seems to intensify the already sweet flavors of end-of-season tomatoes.

Davide Sessa says working from his small leather and cork studio outside of Cagliari, “My challenge is to make objects that no one has ever imagined could be made with cork.” Sessa’s workshop, filled with jackets, umbrellas, hats, shoes, and other items—all crafted from the bark of the island’s cork trees—stretch the imagination of what could be made from sughero, one of Sardinia’s most versatile raw materials.

Although tourism on Sardinia is on a much smaller scale than mainland Italy, it remains one of the most important sectors of the island’s economy. And, Pasella says, a growing number of those visitors are interested in their products, “We recognize that outside visitors to the island are an important driving force for economic growth,” says Pasella. “More and more people want to learn about cork processing. For us, it indicates how important it is to preserve our know-how and to share it with the growing numbers of visitors who come to Sardinia.”
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Davide Sessa says that it’s not only a growing number of visitors to the island but also the creative impulse itself, that he believes will keep the working of cork alive for the next generation, whether in the making of wine corks or objects yet unknown. “What motivates me to create is often the desire to materialize something I’ve seen in a dream or vision. I don’t think about reselling a new creation. I make it for the pure joy of seeing something new born from my own hands. That’s the secret.”

A lot of the cork wares sold throughout the retail shops of Sardinia are aimed for the tourist trade, stamped with scenes of Sardinia or silly sayings in Italian. Make the trek to Calangianus, or seek out the island’s individual cork artisans, to ensure that you buy a high-quality, handmade item directly from the source. Handmade cork items are relatively affordable, easily portable, and make great gifts to bring home in your suitcase.   ​

L‘ Italio-Americano, the #1 source of all things Italian since 1908 reminds us when growing up your Nonni (grandparents) curing your ailments with peculiar medical remedies is as natural as getting double portions on your dinner plate. We all got warm milk, honey and a drop of whiskey when we had a bad cough, and eating eggs or drinking milk was certainly forbidden if we were taking antibiotics. My Nonna, as many others from the Liguria area, also swore by 'segna la tosse con l'olio d'oliva’- she would make crosses on my chest after dipping her finger in olive oil warmed in a half of a walnut shell for a cough, or putting a pungent smelling herb (still don’t know what it was) under our pillows when we had a cold. Every time I’d roll over I’d get this awful smell of something and thought – my God, what is that, and then I would remember my Nonna had put it there. But, you know what, my colds didn’t last very long!? If some of these concoctions and practices are certainly more folklore than medicine, some others have solid roots in ancient medical practices and are worth knowing.  
 
In any case, they all are part of that immense, age old traditional knowledge that makes so much of our heritage and marks our identity of Italians so profoundly. And you know what? Some of them, it seems, truly work. Let’s take a closer look at five of the most common throughout the peninsula. 

​2. Sliced potatoes to soothe a sore head 
I admit this sounds very strange, but it is a hit among Italian Nonne. Complain about a headache and they’ll come to the rescue with a few slices of freshly peeled, raw potatoes and a neck scarf, they’ll get you to lie down, place the slices on your temples and forehead and secure them in place with the scarf. Their prompt medical intervention usually ends with the warning not to move for at least 30 minutes. And well, as strange as this remedy may sound, it sometimes work. Potatoes are rich in starch, which is known to work as an anti-inflammatory. Moreover, potato juices are alkaline and improve circulation, thus helping blood flow to the brain. So, in this case, too, science supports our Nonna's’ advice.  ​

​4. Onions to get rid of earache 
Nonne would take half an onion, warm it up in a bit of hot water, then have you lie down and place it on the sore ear. Needless to say, she wasn’t the only Nonna to know about the medical properties of onions, which contain a natural antibiotic called allicin, the active ingredient helping ease out the pain.  

Of course, the onion’s warm vapors, released thanks to its immersion in hot water, also work as a mild painkiller, which may not be as strong as a real medicine, but certainly helps: this is why Italian grandmas of the past often liked to put flannel to heat up on the stove and then placed it tight on their grandchildren’s sore ears. And the relief, believe me, was indeed immediate! Other times Nonna would use the above olive oil, warm if and soak somme cotton in it and place it in our ears for awhile - again, the anti-inflammatory and painkilling properties.

​5. Clover to kill the pain of a toothache 
I think there isn’t a pain quite as awful as that of a bad toothache, especially when you’re a child. The problem is that antibiotics often take a couple of days to get rid of the pain, so the agony lasts, especially when prescribed painkillers cannot be taken more than a couple of times a day, but their effect lasts only a handful of hours. Nonne of Italy swear by a couple of natural remedies, including that of imbuing a cotton ball in brandy and place it on the sore tooth although, now that I think of it, that’s not that “natural” of a remedy!?  
But using cloves certainly is. As grandmas teach us, placing cloves on the aching tooth eases the pain almost immediately. This is because cloves have known anesthetic properties thanks to a substance, eugenol, they contain in abundance. If walking around with a handful of cloves in your mouth seems odd, then you can let them soak in hot water with a spoon of coarse sea salt and use the mixture as a mouthwash.  
Looking at these remedies, and at all the others they like to use, it really seems Nonne truly know best, even when it comes to health. Though I think what made us feel better was the most important and amazing ingredient of all, the beautiful, heart warming and never ending love of Nonna.

“In Italy, food is an obsession and rightly so.” Traveling to Italy for over 40 years I have witnessed this infatuation and ardent passion for food on a daily basis. That is why, it comes as no surprise that in Italy almost every ingredient or traditional recipe is celebrated in some way, typically by means of a sagra or town festival. Montaquila, a town in the Molise region of southern Italy,  celebrates La Sagra della Frittata or the “Frittata Festival.” In 2018, they kicked off the event by making a BIG-frittata with 1,501 eggs! 

A frittata, is a great treat and for generations Italian's used it as a solution to reducing waste.  After a family dinner in which there were leftovers (not often, but occasionally) those leftovers would make a tasty frittata the next morning. The frittata is a common way to use up any leftover ingredients you have in the fridge--vegetables, protein, pasta, beans, cheese--the list goes on. You can follow the recipe below or simply adapt it with what you have on hand. Enjoy! 
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients

• Water: 2 tablespoons
• Leek: 1, only the white part thinly sliced
• Extra virgin olive oil: 3 tablespoons
• Green Onion: 1, thinly sliced
• Kale: 2 cups packed raw purple kale leaves (stems removed), chopped
• Brussel Sprouts: 4, finely sliced
• Portobello mushrooms: 5 baby Portobello mushrooms, sliced

                   Or, any mixture of vegetables you may have on hand

• Eggs: 6 large eggs
• Parmigiano Reggiano: 1/2 cup shredded
• Whole milk: 1/4 cup
• Fresh parsley: ½ cup packed parsley, chopped
• Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
• Freshly cracked pepper as needed

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. 
Add the water and leeks to a cast iron skillet and heat over medium high until the leeks are soft; about 5 minutes. Add the extra virgin olive oil, green onion, kale, brussel sprouts and mushrooms (or other vegetable you have on hand). Heat until vegetables are soft; 10-15 minutes. 

In the meantime, whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl then stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, milk and parsley. When the vegetables are cooked, pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. (For a prettier presentation, remove half of the vegetables, pour in the egg mixture then layer those vegetables on top.) Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the eggs are just barely set. Carefully slide (use a hot pad as skillet handle will be very hot) the cast iron skillet into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden and the egg mixture doesn’t run (test with knife) when sliced with a knife (I turn on the broiler for a couple minutes at the end to get a nice golden brown crust on top, but you need to watch very carefully it as it will quickly burn). Remove from oven and grate Parmigiano Reggiano over top of frittata. Serve warm or cold.

                                                                                                 Buon appetito! 
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