1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to River Cafe Table four, a production of iHeartRadio 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: and Adamized Studios. 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 2: There is an infinite amount of subjects I'd like to 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 2: discuss with Speaker of the House Pelosi, but you know 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 2: the rules of River Cafe Table four. We only discuss food, 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 2: memories and how food fits into our lives, family, work, 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 2: and values. Nancy Pelosi and I share the same aspirations 8 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:43,599 Speaker 2: and concerns inequality the environment. The difference is that I 9 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 2: wake up every day worrying about the world, and she 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:53,480 Speaker 2: goes to work every day to change it. In an hour, 11 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 2: fifty guests will be arriving for dinner in our home 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 2: to celebrate this awesome woman. While we are talking agripher 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 2: cafe chefs are cooking risotto ammaroni, poaching Langestine, roasting pumpkin, 14 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 2: And because Speaker Pelosi loves chocolate, We're going to have 15 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 2: two chocolate desserts, a bit of chocolate sorbet and a 16 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 2: rich chocolate cake. 17 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 3: I'm very happy to read the recipe for chocolate sorbet, 18 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 3: one of my favorite basic foods. In order to achieve 19 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 3: this work of art, you take seven hundred and fifty 20 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 3: milli liters of water, two hundred and fifty grams of 21 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 3: castor sugar, one hundred and fifty grams of cocoa powder, 22 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 3: one hundred milli liters of recchio romagna. Gently boil the 23 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 3: water and sugar together to this light syrup. Add the 24 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 3: cocoa powder, quit gently stirring for fifteen to twenty minutes 25 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 3: until the coco powder is completely He dissolved strain, cool 26 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 3: and add the brandy. Put the mixture into an ice 27 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 3: cream maker and churn until frozen or freeze and flat 28 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 3: freezer trays. 29 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 2: Thank you. Before we go into food and values, and 30 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 2: food and family and food and memories, tell me about 31 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 2: your love for chocolate. 32 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 3: My earliest memories are about loving chocolate. I remember once 33 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 3: when I was a very little girl, my big brother, 34 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 3: who was a teenager. My parents said, you can have 35 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 3: the car if you bring Nancy home some ice cream. First, 36 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 3: he brought vanilla ice cream home. I put it under 37 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 3: the bed, never ate it because it wasn't chocolate. Why 38 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 3: would he bring me vanilla ice cream? But I've always 39 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 3: loved it, And as time has gone by, I've loved 40 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 3: it darker and darker and darker. 41 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 2: And what about ice cream? Because I did read that 42 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 2: you have ice cream for breakfast or is that an 43 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 2: urban myth. 44 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 3: No, it's not an urban myth. It's convenient, it's right there, 45 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 3: it has long shelf life. I don't have to worry 46 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 3: about it. It's right there, and but I have it 47 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 3: for breakfast. It's a great way to start the day. 48 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 3: I don't have it every day, but I have it often. 49 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 3: And when I was younger, I used to have it 50 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 3: before I went to sleep, a pint device chocolate ice cream. 51 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 3: But as time has gone by, the later the chocolate, 52 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 3: the less sleep I have. 53 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 2: You find the caffeine and the chocolate. So as a child, 54 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: so you ate chocolate. Did your mother know that you 55 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: were having a pint of ice cream before you went 56 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 2: to sleep? And that was fine. 57 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 3: It was not usual. We didn't have sodas or soft 58 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 3: drinks or anything in our home like that. Everything was fresh, 59 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 3: except we had chocolate ice cream. 60 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: I love ice cream. When I go to the River Cafe, 61 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 2: my restaurant, or go to any restaurant, the dessert I 62 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 2: go for is always ice cream. 63 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 3: Well, people say to me, you're going to some of 64 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 3: the fanciest restaurants in the world and you're ordering chocolate 65 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 3: ice cream. For dessert. Don't you think you should have 66 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 3: something more sophisticated. 67 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 2: I think it's delicious. I think it's the way to 68 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 2: end a meal. Should we go back then to your 69 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 2: mother and your older brother. How many of you were 70 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 2: there in your family? 71 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 3: Well, I'm talking about my oldest brother. At the time, 72 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 3: there were seven children, six boys, one girl. I was 73 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 3: the youngest, and I'm talking about my brother who was 74 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 3: like eleven years older than I was. My oldest brother. 75 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 3: When we talked about if you want to have the car, 76 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 3: you have to get ice cream for Nancy first. 77 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 2: So your parents had six boys and then they had you. 78 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 3: One of them died when he was young. So I 79 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,600 Speaker 3: was really raised with five five boys. 80 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the Della Sandra household of six children. How 81 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 2: is the food? Who cooked? 82 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 3: The cook cooked? And my mother, may she rest in peace, 83 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 3: bless her heart. She had a cook and what was 84 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 3: what was it like? 85 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 2: Well, it was very. 86 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 3: Italian, but it was also very fresh and delicious. Sin 87 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 3: of the rest, I mean the cook would come in 88 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 3: the morning and make breakfast in that what would that be? 89 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 3: It could be anything you want. It could have eggs 90 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 3: or you could have oat meal. There were some standard 91 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 3: things sometimes that would even drink coffee at an early age, 92 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 3: like eleven or twelve, and. 93 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 2: Would you all sit down to breakfast, So that would 94 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 2: be if six or seven children and two parents, was 95 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 2: breakfast and meal that you all shared. 96 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 3: Sort of dinner was what we shared. Now. My father, 97 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 3: my whole life, My father was the mayor of Baltimore 98 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 3: from when I was in first grade when I went 99 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 3: away to college my freshman year of college, he was 100 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 3: still the mayor of Baltimore. So our routine was he 101 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 3: would come home and in those days a long time ago, 102 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 3: he would go out to make all of his speeches 103 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 3: in the evening in black tie. Everything was very formal. 104 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 3: So he would come home from work, we would have 105 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 3: our family dinner together early. What time would that be 106 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 3: like five point thirty, Yeah, because he'd have to then 107 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 3: go on the campaign trail or just the civic engagements. 108 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 3: So that was the time that we were together. And 109 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 3: then of course Sunday brunch and those kinds of things. 110 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 3: But I'm just talking about every day and to this day, 111 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 3: my husband, Paul, who was born and raised in San Francisco, 112 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 3: I was born and raised in Baltimore. To this day, 113 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 3: he likes to dine at eight, and I like to 114 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,679 Speaker 3: eat at five early, like a peasant. 115 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 2: Now well, actually I find that now in the restaurant, 116 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 2: more and more people are eating earlier. We used to. 117 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 2: Everybody used to make fun of Americans for wanting to 118 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: eat early, and now it's harder for us to sell 119 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 2: the later tables. Even young people. Everybody wants to eat early. 120 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 2: But going back to this day of your father coming 121 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 2: back from work and you're all sitting down, would it 122 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 2: would there be? Would it be raucous? Would it be talk? 123 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 2: Would everybody be? What was it like at the table? 124 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 3: Would be a mixture, just depending what the mood was 125 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 3: at the time. But there were certain things that I 126 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 3: carried over to my own children, and I'm still that way. 127 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 3: In a restaurant I had, we always had to have 128 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 3: a tablecloth, you know. I mean that was a long 129 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 3: time ago, so it doesn't it isn't so unusual to 130 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 3: think tablecloth then. Now it's almost a luxury. And so 131 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 3: for my own children, we've never had a meal without 132 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 3: two things, some linens, whatever it might be, could be 133 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 3: place matt and salad and whatever else we happen to have. 134 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,239 Speaker 3: And when they were growing up, the five of them 135 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 3: five and six years in one week to the day 136 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 3: a pack. I had different things I would try. I 137 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 3: would try when they came home from school. I'd say, 138 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 3: let's have dessert now for three thirty four o'clock, we 139 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 3: have dessert and then we'll have dinner later. Then I 140 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 3: decided wouldn't be a good idea because they came home 141 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 3: that they were hungry to have dinner at four o'clock, 142 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 3: So that they would have their dinner and then we'd 143 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 3: have dessert later. We've tried all kinds of things to 144 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 3: satisfy their appetites. 145 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 2: I loved that you said that your families were basically 146 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 2: a map of Italy of those very and so tell 147 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 2: me about the Italian influence on the food. 148 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 3: Well, my father's mother was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but 149 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 3: her parents, which would be my great grandparents, one was 150 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,559 Speaker 3: born in Venice and one was born in Genoa, so 151 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 3: there was a lot of that influence in the in 152 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 3: the food Northern and northern Italian. My mother's family was 153 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 3: from Compobasso, which is in the center of Italy, but 154 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 3: we lived in an Italian neighborhood, so there was every 155 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 3: food you can imagine in the neighborhood and every dialect 156 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 3: that you could imagine in the neighborhood. But there was 157 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 3: one thing in common, the smell of very fresh bread 158 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 3: early in the morning, fresh Italian bread. To this day, 159 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 3: it's one of the my happiest memories, the smell of 160 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 3: fresh bake bread smells. 161 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good smell. But I think we always 162 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 2: talk about Italy, you know, which was became a country 163 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 2: very late. So you have the very strong regional dishes, 164 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,559 Speaker 2: don't you. So in Venice you have the polenta, and 165 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 2: in southern Italy you have smattest, and then in Florence 166 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 2: it's very in Tuscan it's very bread oriented. And then everybody, 167 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 2: I guess came to Baltimore and there was there was 168 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 2: everything in every area. 169 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 3: Thing. You had the Trascana, the Siciliana, the Marca, John 170 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 3: or bruts As, the what do they call the Genovase 171 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 3: Gena Basically they were the other different names from Ligorian, Yeah, 172 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 3: the Venezzi that goes from Venice, by the name of 173 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 3: where they came from, because they were all sort of 174 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 3: like city states. Whny of the northern Italians came early, 175 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 3: you know, As I say, my father's mother she was 176 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 3: born in Baltimore, probably like in the eighteen eighties or 177 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 3: something like that. Yeah, they came earlier than the others. 178 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 2: And then the Southern Italians came later. You think the more. 179 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 3: Later, the middle and later. And then San Francisco is 180 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 3: a very Italian American city. The Bank of America was 181 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 3: originally the Bank of Italy. Yeah, as a bank of Italy, 182 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 3: and the influence there is very Italian in terms of food. 183 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 3: So it was a comfortable move for me. 184 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 2: And what did you so, what would a meal be liked? 185 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: Would they make? Did you have a lot of spaghetti 186 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:15,080 Speaker 2: or pasta? 187 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 3: Well, we laugh because we used to say in those 188 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 3: days you had macaroni and gravy and ice cream, and 189 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 3: then it became pasta and sauce and gilato. 190 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 2: Did you have pasta every day? 191 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 3: Regularly? It may may not be actually every day, but 192 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 3: on the average of every day in one form or another. 193 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 2: And we had, you know, my husband's family Italian. My 194 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 2: husband was born in Florence, and his mother was born 195 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 2: in Trieste, and his father was born he was born 196 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 2: in Nice and they moved to Triesta. The whole family 197 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 2: is very Italian. We tell the story that one of 198 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 2: the cousins came to visit from Florence to London and 199 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 2: they put the food on the table and there wasn't 200 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 2: a pasta. Started to cry because it was just a 201 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 2: meal without pasta. 202 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 3: It was not and pasta wasn't the meal, it was 203 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 3: part of the meal. Yeah, yeah, it's a PREMI When 204 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 3: my friends this or that where they'd have a exchange 205 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 3: student or something like that, it would be we tell 206 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 3: the story when they were having lunch and they said, well, 207 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 3: you know who's having peanut butter and jelly, who's having 208 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,959 Speaker 3: this or that? What would you like? And the child said, well, 209 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 3: how about a little veal with lemons. Yeah it came 210 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 3: from Tuscan exactly. 211 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 2: And so did you remember the pastas that you had? 212 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 2: Do you remember the food? Exact food? 213 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 3: Oh? I know, all the standard stuff that you see now, 214 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 3: of course, but I loved it. I always liked it 215 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 3: a little thicker and a little more all Dante, whether 216 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 3: it was that chuccini, of course, Rigatoni would be hard. 217 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 3: I preferred cheese ravi only polenta, and was very amused 218 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 3: because my big brother. One day a very fancy restaurant 219 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 3: opened up in Maryland, not in Bolt but in sort 220 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 3: of eastern shore of Maryland, it was very acclaimed and 221 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 3: it's hard to get into and this or that. And 222 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 3: my brothers went to the restaurant and he came back. 223 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 3: He said, Nancy, you'll never believe it. They had polenta, 224 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 3: as if it was from a former I said, no, 225 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 3: tell me if that's become She. 226 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 2: Out, no, exactly what year would that have been? 227 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 3: Remember probably about twenty five years ago that became. It's 228 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 3: not like they're having your grandma. There's polenta they're having. Well, now, 229 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 3: let me just say, people say to me, what is 230 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 3: your In fact, my grandch son said to me for 231 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 3: our family tree project in our class, we have to 232 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 3: have a family favorite family recipe that's been in our 233 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,959 Speaker 3: family for generations, and what would you suggest? And I said, well, 234 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 3: when I would suggest, it's probably chocolate supflor chocolate moves. 235 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 3: And he said, no, I mean a traditional family thing. 236 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 3: My mother wasn't. She wouldn't like me saying this. She 237 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 3: wasn't a big cook. I mean she was capable of cooking, 238 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 3: but she always had a cook and her mother didn't 239 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 3: cook because her husband cooked. He was a chef. He 240 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 3: would I would see him break the neck of an 241 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 3: eel or whatever it is, and cook these fabulous Your grandfather, 242 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 3: my grandfather and so my grandmother never cooked and I 243 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 3: was like, you better talk to your father about a 244 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 3: family recipe. 245 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 2: So the Italian influence so stayed and stayed. 246 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 3: Well you think the deliciousness of it. 247 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 2: So I think, you know, it's funny that you say 248 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 2: about polenta, because polenta and a lot of the dishes 249 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 2: that come from very traditional family are I hate the word, 250 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 2: but what they call peasant food. I would never let 251 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 2: it be called peasant food. But rest of cooking, family cooking, 252 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 2: family dishes are now so as you say, so sophisticated. 253 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 3: Well, my husband's mother made tripe all the time, and 254 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 3: that was pretty standard. She made Oh she made tripe 255 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 3: with polenta, tripe with polent or polenta with almost anything. 256 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 3: So when it became chic, we thought, oh my gosh, Nana, 257 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 3: it's really on the forefront. 258 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 2: Did your parents speak Italian? 259 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 3: No, Well, I don't know. Do you know I didn't 260 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 3: speak Italian. See, my father's mother was born in Baltimore, 261 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 3: so it wasn't the case of his He didn't know Italian. 262 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 3: My mother she spoke some, but I don't know how 263 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 3: good she was. And every time I would go to 264 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 3: see my grandfather, who was so beautiful and wonderful, and 265 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 3: I loved him so much. The chef he was going 266 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: to teach me how to speak Italian, and every time 267 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 3: i'd go, he'd get out a map and we'd start. 268 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 3: These are different diet elects of Italian. So I could 269 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,239 Speaker 3: give you the map of Italy and the different dialects, 270 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 3: but I don't know to speak Italian because we'd start 271 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 3: with that map every day. 272 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 2: No, there are they're very you know. My again, my husband, 273 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 2: I was saying, was born in Florence, but when we 274 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 2: would go to Venice, very often he couldn't understand some 275 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 2: of the fishermen, you know, what they were speaking. It's 276 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 2: interesting because in these podcasts I talked to many people 277 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 2: who recall their grandparents cooking almost more than their parents cooking, 278 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 2: And very often they come from families that emigrated from 279 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 2: another country. And I often think that perhaps the mother 280 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 2: was trying to adapt to the new environment where the 281 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 2: grandparents probably, you know, that was their identity and took 282 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 2: it with them. But I haven't ended you know the 283 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 2: fact that your grandfather was actually a professional chef. 284 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 3: My understanding of this is before I was aware of 285 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 3: what he was doing. He sold postive. He had one 286 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 3: of those shops that's sold products from Italy, pasta, dry 287 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 3: pasta and those kinds of things. So he was a foodie. 288 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 3: I mean, he was into food and a chef. And 289 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 3: my grandmother was treated like a queen. She never did 290 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 3: any housework or anything like that. And she didn't cook. 291 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 3: That's I mean, I never knew how to cook. One thing. 292 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 3: In my mother's case, she had these seven children. Is 293 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 3: she were alive in another generation, who knows what she 294 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 3: would have been. She was a mom, she was a 295 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 3: political organizer from my father. She was a poet, she 296 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 3: was an inventor. She did all kinds of things. She 297 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 3: said to me once when I was a little girl, 298 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 3: I know that the telephone can be used for more things. 299 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 3: I just have to figure it out. 300 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 2: And also you were her only daughter. 301 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 3: We're very by the way, in all of this, very 302 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 3: devoutly Catholic. So lots of times the ritual of food 303 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 3: surrounded Mass, either after or midnight or Sunday branch or 304 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 3: A lot of it revolved around going to. 305 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 2: Church, coming home and each afterwards. 306 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 3: As I always say, we were born in the family 307 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 3: was devoutly Catholic, fiercely patriotic, proud of our Italian American heritage, 308 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 3: and staunchly democratic. 309 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, staunchly democratic. Those principles came in very early. 310 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 3: They related to our Catholicism in our view of taking 311 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 3: care of other people and food. People came to our 312 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 3: door when people were poor. My brother Tommy, my older brother, 313 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 3: he used to tell me that when he was a 314 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 3: little boy, people would come to the door and Mommy 315 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 3: would always be giving them food, giving them food, giving 316 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 3: them food. And even in her old age, she was 317 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,440 Speaker 3: giving ice cream to children and they knew to come 318 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 3: to the door to get ice cream. So it was 319 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 3: all about nourishment one way or another. 320 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 2: And when you left this incredibly close family and centered 321 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 2: around the table and food, food and church, when you 322 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 2: left this family and went to university to college, how 323 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,680 Speaker 2: did you deal with food then? Do you remember? 324 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 3: Yeah, I went away. The only place that I was 325 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 3: allowed to go would be a woman's Catholic college. 326 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 2: That would be where was that? What college? 327 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,719 Speaker 3: It was called Trinity College in Washington, d c. The 328 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 3: oldest Catholic women's college in America. It was strict academic school, 329 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 3: and it was within fifty miles of Baltimore, Maryland and 330 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 3: our college. It's not exactly a culinary July any but 331 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 3: we used to. We used to don't tell anybody who 332 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 3: told you this. We used to go at night. They 333 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 3: know now years later they know. But we used to go, 334 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 3: like in the middle of the night, down to the 335 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:02,199 Speaker 3: dining room and break into the freezer to get ice cream. 336 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 3: Now they was locked, so you can only lift it 337 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 3: a little bit and put the scooper in there and 338 00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 3: pull it out. 339 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 2: We better not tell certain members of the house about 340 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 2: this exactly. 341 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 3: It's hard to tell a flavor and the dark and 342 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 3: the dark, and you could tell if it's chocolate or not, 343 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,479 Speaker 3: but peach, strawberry and the rest it kind of comes together. 344 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 3: And sometimes we would order pizza so that the guard. 345 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 3: We'd say to the guard. Somebody would go talk to 346 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 3: the guard and said, I ordered pizza. I'm waiting here 347 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 3: for the pizza, while we would go down and steal 348 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 3: the ice creams steal the ice cream. 349 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,719 Speaker 2: And so your college days were spent stealing ice stealing 350 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 2: ice cream. Basically twenty minutes speaker Nancy Pelosi was never 351 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 2: going to be enough time to explore her movie and 352 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 2: memorable food story. So join us next week when we 353 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 2: will continue our conversation River Cafe Table four Part two. 354 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 2: To visit the online shop of the River Cafe, go 355 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 2: to shop Therivercafe dot co dot UK. 356 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: River Cafe Table four is a production of iHeartRadio and 357 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: Adami Studios. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 358 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.