Podcasts about heirloom kitchen

You're in our kitchen! On this week's episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by two cookbook authors, television personalities, and beloved chefs, Rachael Ray and Anna Francese Gass. You know and love Rachael Ray from her Emmy-award winning daytime talk show, Rachael Ray, for 17 seasons, from her incredibly popular Food Network series 30 Minute Meals, and also from Rachael Ray's Italian Dream Home. Rachael joins us today with Anna Francese Gass, host of the all-new Hulu cooking show, Instant Italian. Anna is also the author of bestselling cookbooks, Heirloom Kitchen, and Italian Snacking, which we discuss in this conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: August 8, 2023We are joined by Pete Candia, the esteemed food and drink editor at NJ Digest, while surrounded by the cozy ambiance of Osteria Crescendo. Join us as we embark on Pete's inspiring journey – from a discerning eater to a triumphant graduate of culinary school, all while navigating the challenges posed by a progressive muscle wasting disease.Pete's culinary passion was ignited by the charisma of Emeril Lagasse on television, setting him on a path that led from culinary school to a prominent role in food writing. Discover the captivating narrative of Pete's transition from the bustling kitchen to his current influential position as the food and drink editor at NJ Digest. Delve into the heart of New Jersey's diverse culinary landscape as Pete shares his personal favorites and hidden gems. From the mouthwatering meatballs and hot vinegar chicken dish at Nettie's House of Spaghetti in Falls to the innovative and intriguing Lita, Heirloom Kitchen, and lovesick located in South Jersey.Drawing upon his extensive experience both in the front and back of the house, Pete offers a unique perspective on restaurant reviews, focusing on positive and uplifting stories rather than negative critiques. Explore Pete's creative ingenuity, including a whimsical April Fools' piece featuring the fictional Vesuvio restaurant from "The Sopranos." Join us in celebrating Pete's unwavering dedication to his culinary passions and his remarkable resilience in the face of adversity.As Mike and Pete conclude their enlightening conversation, get a sneak peek of the enticing topics and discussions that await in future episodes. From tantalizing tales of gastronomy to explorations of New Jersey's rich culinary heritage, "Greetings From the Garden State" promises to be your guide to the diverse flavors and stories that define this remarkable state.Thank you to our sponsors:UCS Advisors: ucsgreatness.comNJ Digest: thedigestonline.comAlbert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.comShanghai Jazz: shanghaijazz.comMayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendarNJspots: NJspots.comOperation K9 Beethoven: operationk9beethoven.comContact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.comSupport the show

We are joined by Pete Candia, the esteemed food and drink editor at NJ Digest, while surrounded by the cozy ambiance of Osteria Crescendo. Join us as we embark on Pete's inspiring journey – from a discerning eater to a triumphant graduate of culinary school, all while navigating the challenges posed by a progressive muscle wasting disease.Pete's culinary passion was ignited by the charisma of Emeril Lagasse on television, setting him on a path that led from culinary school to a prominent role in food writing. Discover the captivating narrative of Pete's transition from the bustling kitchen to his current influential position as the food and drink editor at NJ Digest. Delve into the heart of New Jersey's diverse culinary landscape as Pete shares his personal favorites and hidden gems. From the mouthwatering meatballs and hot vinegar chicken dish at Nettie's House of Spaghetti in Falls to the innovative and intriguing Lita, Heirloom Kitchen, and lovesick located in South Jersey.Drawing upon his extensive experience both in the front and back of the house, Pete offers a unique perspective on restaurant reviews, focusing on positive and uplifting stories rather than negative critiques. Explore Pete's creative ingenuity, including a whimsical April Fools' piece featuring the fictional Vesuvio restaurant from "The Sopranos." Join us in celebrating Pete's unwavering dedication to his culinary passions and his remarkable resilience in the face of adversity.As Mike and Pete conclude their enlightening conversation, get a sneak peek of the enticing topics and discussions that await in future episodes. From tantalizing tales of gastronomy to explorations of New Jersey's rich culinary heritage, "Greetings From the Garden State" promises to be your guide to the diverse flavors and stories that define this remarkable state.Thank you to our sponsors:UCS Advisors: ucsgreatness.comNJ Digest: thedigestonline.comAlbert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.comShanghai Jazz: shanghaijazz.comMayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendarNJspots: NJspots.comOperation K9 Beethoven: operationk9beethoven.comContact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.comSupport the show

David Viana is head chef and partner at Heirloom Restaurant Group in New Jersey. David began his career by attending law school in hopes of becoming an attorney. After 6 months in law school, he left because he was unhappy, and enrolled in culinary school. He worked at many well-established fine dining restaurants and eventually joined Heirloom in 2017. Heirloom now consists of a restaurant and a cooking school simultaneously. Many things about Heirloom are brand new in terms of business models and culture. David was also featured on Top Chef! Check out episode 371 with Jock O'Sullivan as mentioned in today's episode. Unstoppables! Please consider taking this survey about our listener demographics so that we can better determine how to best serve our listeners. Less than 10 simple questions. Here is the link: CLICK HERE Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!! Join Restaurant Unstoppable Network and get your first 30 days on me!  Connect with my past guest and a community of superfans. Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!) Favorite success quote/mantra: "Under-promise and over-deliver." In this episode with Sam Hart we will discuss: Partnerships Working in fine-dining Alternate payment and tipping models Attending and teaching a culinary school Today's sponsor: Ovation - Do you want real-time feedback from your guests instead of 1-star reviews? Ovation uses a 2-question, SMS-based survey, and frictionless integrations with online ordering platforms and other tools to enable restaurants to easily resolve guest concerns in real-time, get more 5-star reviews, discover insights to improve, and drive revenue. Unstoppable listeners who sign up will get$100 off their set-up fee! Visit ovationup.com/unstoppable to learn more. 1Huddle - 1Huddle is a coaching and development platform using quick-burst mobile games to more quickly and effectively level up and fire up your workforce. With a mobile-first approach to preparing the modern worker, a library of 3,000+ quick-burst skill games, and the option to instantly create personalized content – 1Huddle is changing the way restaurants develop their workers by transforming traditional manuals and videos into deceptively simple, highly effective mobile games proven to level up workers quickly. Key clients include Loews Hotels, Novartis, Madison Square Garden, Yum, FB Society, Hakkasan, TAO Group, and the Dog Haus. Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more… Click Here to learn more. Knowledge bombs Which “it factor” habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success? Identifying good people What is your biggest weakness? Pride What's one thing you ask or look for when interviewing/growing your team? Are you capable of passion? What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it? Opening a restaurant Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team. Be selfless What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff? A surprise gift for guests What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner? Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM  What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations? Toast Resy What is one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough? Listening to your team If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be? Be fearless Make lots of mistakes Learn from your mistakes Contact: Instagram: @chefdaveviana Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post. Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them. And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. Huge thanks to David Viana for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time! Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!

In this stunning turn of events, Chris is the one who had the food in this month's JDRJF. And he's using his knowledge to try to make Don jealous. You see, Chris has had a longstanding nervousness surrounding the idea of fine dining, and yet he recently took his wife Hallie on a date to Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge, oft cited by those in the know as the best fine dining in the Garden State. Was Chris able to function? Will Don be mad that he wasn't there? How many types of pasta can one boy eat? We answer all these questions and more. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chef David Viana is one of the most accomplished chefs in the state of New Jersey. While his resume speaks for itself, the road has not always been easy. We traveled to Asbury Park, NJ to visit with him at Heirloom Kitchen at the St. Laurent. Chef David takes us through his background in food, being accepted to law school and deciding to be a chef instead (much to the dismay of his parents), the long hours, the doubts, and eventually the moment where everything "clicked." We discussed Heirloom Kitchen, a new restaurant he is planning on opening, the historic St. Laurent hotel, and so many other great topics. https://thestlaurent.com/@chefdaveviana@heirloom_kitchen@stlaurentsocialclubThank you to our sponsors:Albert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.comFLK Method: fitlikekrys.comContact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.comSupport the show

Anna Francese Gass is the author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women. Anna's mother, an immigrant from Italy, is a phenomenal scratch cook. And although Anna trained at the French Culinary Institute and immersed herself in the world of food and recipe testing, she was embarrassed to admit that she didn't know how to make her mother's meatballs. Heirloom Kitchen documents Anna's effort to capture and master her mother's unwritten recipes, as well as the treasured recipes of women from all over the world who resettled in America. It was a delicious and uplifting experience. Also this hour, a conversation with the women of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven. We'll talk to Co-founder Sumiya Khan, Culinary Coordinator Carol Byer-Alcorace, and Sanctuary Kitchen Chef Rawaa Ghazi. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at seasoned@ctpublic.org. Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show. Guests: Anna Francese Gass - Author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women Sumiya Khan – Co-founder and Program Manager of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Rawaa Ghazi – Chef at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Carol Byer-Alcorace – Culinary Coordinator at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Features Recipes: Gina's Brodo di Mama e Polpette (Meatballs with Tomato Sauce) Safoi's Chicken Tagine Maria's Sancocho (Meat Stew) Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anna Francese Gass is the author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women. Anna's mother, an immigrant from Italy, is a phenomenal scratch cook. And although Anna trained at the French Culinary Institute and immersed herself in the world of food and recipe testing, she was embarrassed to admit that she didn't know how to make her mother's meatballs. Heirloom Kitchen documents Anna's effort to capture and master her mother's unwritten recipes, as well as the treasured recipes of women from all over the world who resettled in America. It was a delicious and uplifting experience. Also this hour, a conversation with the women of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven. We'll talk to Co-founder Sumiya Khan, Culinary Coordinator Carol Byer-Alcorace, and Sanctuary Kitchen Chef Rawaa Ghazi. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at seasoned@ctpublic.org. Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show. Guests: Anna Francese Gass - Author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women Sumiya Khan – Co-founder of Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Rawaa Ghazi – Chef at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Carol Byer-Alcorace – Culinary coordinator at Sanctuary Kitchen in New Haven, Conn. Features Recipes: Gina's Brodo di Mama e Polpette (Meatballs with Tomato Sauce) Safoi's Chicken Tagine Maria's Sancocho (Meat Stew) Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we’re excited to welcome **ANNA FRANCESE GASS **to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories on cookbooks.Anna is the author of Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women.Anna was born in Italy and grew up in the United States. After going to culinary school and working for major food companies, she realized she didn’t know how to make her mother's meatballs—a recipe that wasn’t written down, but held in her mothers’ memory. And that launched a multi-year project, chronicling the stories and recipes of immigrant women.In today’s episode, we’re talking with Anna about the process of joining 45 women in their kitchens to learn their recipes and family stories, about what led her to food and food media in the first place, and why she believes America is less of a melting pot and more of a stained glass.Also in today’s show:We’re stopping by OMNIVORE BOOKS in San Francisco to chat with CELIA SACK.Bonus Salt + Spine Features:Recipe: Gina's AranciniRecipe: Tina's Chinese New Year DumplingsBuy the Book: Amazon and Barnes & Noble See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join cohosts Ethan Frisch and Vallery Lomas for a conversation with Anna Francese Gass, author of the recently released cookbook Heirloom Kitchen. After a stint in corporate sales, she traded the boardroom for the test kitchen, and has since worked for Whole Foods, Mad Hungry, and Martha Stewart Living Ominmedia. Currently, she is a regular contributing editor at Food52 and contributing writer for msn.com. In her new book, Heirloom Kitchen, Anna shares the stories and recipes of 45 strong, exceptional women who immigrated to the United States, and whose family recipes helped shaped the landscape of American food. Organized by region, readers will enjoy Magda's meltingly delicious Pork Adobo from the Philippines; soak in the warmth of Shari's Fesenjoon, an Iranian walnut and pomegranate stew; learn to deftly seal pleat-perfect Northern Chinese dumplings with Tina; and yes, sink their teeth into Anna's mother's perfectly seasoned Calabrian Meatballs from Southern Italy. Along with these recipes are stories: recollections of a journey to America, of hardship and happiness, and of many nights by the stove using food as a comfort and a respite in a new land, a culinary tether to their cultural identities.She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children. It's HRN's annual summer fund drive, this is when we turn to our listeners and ask that you make a donation to help ensure a bright future for food radio. Help us keep broadcasting the most thought provoking, entertaining, and educational conversations happening in the world of food and beverage. Become a member today! To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we have brand new member gifts available. So snag your favorite new pizza - themed tee shirt or enamel pin today and show the world how much you love HRN, just go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate Why Food? is powered by Simplecast.

How do you save family recipes when your grandmother never writes them down? Anna Francese Gass tackles this culinary conundrum in her new cookbook, Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women. Anna spent time cooking with matriarchs who immigrated to America and learned the secrets behind their greatest hits. The cookbook is based on Anna’s blog, which she launched after years of testing recipes for the likes of Martha Stewart and Food52. We talk everything from her mother’s meatballs (the best we’ve ever had) to getting stranded on a desert island with Oprah. Also, find out who Nikki Pensabene of byPensa in New York City thinks is the Bombe! Thanks to Handsome Brook Farm Pasture Raised Organic Eggs for sponsoring this season of Radio Cherry Bombe!

Imagine all the great family recipes in the world not being written down or shared with others. The extinction of great food recipes, was a gap in evolution that needed to fill. After getting advice and guidance from the likes of , Anna went to work. Anna traveled across the country to cook with immigrant grandmothers who had a reputation for making delicious and authentic food from their homelands. Listen in as we get the inside scoop of cooking in the kitchens of 40 different immigrant grandmothers. We have everything from the "meatball project" to the difference of Borscht from the Ukraine to Queens. Oh we also learn how to get a book deal!     GET TICKETS TO "" in Cary for April 29th - heyneighbor.eventbrite.com  Forrest Firm, Business Attorneys Across North Carolina Need wine & beer? Of course you do, get it at  Use promo code 'NCFB' at checkout!  Hospitality industry veterans, and , get behind the scenes of North Carolina's burgeoning food and beverage culture. Hear from local chefs, sommelier's, distillers, farmers, brewers and the whole lot of them in the NC F&B podcast. Max is a front-of-house vet/sommelier that moved from Los Angeles to North Carolina in 2013. Since moving to North Carolina, he's run restaurants, designed wine programs and builds craft cocktail menus and now produces multiple podcasts.  Matthew is a certified sommelier from New York. His experience ranges from restaurant/bar to importing some of the finest wines in the world. He moved his family to North Carolina two years ago and works as a wine distributor. For questions, comments and booking, contact us at or Eat & Drink Merrily!

Heirloom KitchenBy Anna Francese Gass Intro: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book Podcast with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York city, sitting at her dining room table talking to cookbook authors.Anna: Hi, this is Anna Francese Gass and my cookbook is Heirloom Kitchen: Heritage Recipes and Family Stories from the Tables of Immigrant Women.Suzy Chase: I don't think we as Americans acknowledge enough how the cooking traditions of immigrant women have left a legacy on the American palate. Talk a bit about how you've cooked with grandmother around the country to compile this cookbook.Anna: Yeah, I mean, I think it was kind of a aha moment for me as well. I grew up in an Italian home. My mother came over from Italy. I actually was with her. I was one years old, and my mother always cooked the food of her homeland and that's what I grew up eating. I was obviously very aware of American food. I loved "American Food" but in our house it's all those staples from the Italian kitchen because that's what my mother grew up eating. That's what she knew how to cook. What happened when I did the project and when I started it, I realized, but I guess I always ... We all kind of know this unconsciously, we just don't talk or think about it, but immigrants from all over the world that come here do that exact same thing. No one is coming over from China and starting to cook meatloaf and steak. They continue to make their homeland foods, and because these women did that, starting all the way back from when immigrations really began in this country, that's how we created this amazing diverse food landscape that we call American food.Anna: I mean, if you think about meatballs, okay yes, their origin is Italian and that's where the women learned how to make them, but when you go out and you have spaghetti and meatballs, I mean you can have that at almost any restaurant. I think spaghetti and meatballs is as American as apple pie, so to speak, but the reason that is, the reason we've accepted these things into our culture is because nobody stopped making those foods the minute they came over here into the US.Suzy Chase: So let's move on to the women who immigrated to the United States that are in this cookbook. What was the process of getting introductions to these 45 women?Anna: So what happened was so nice, is that it really spread word of mouth. The way the whole project started was I just wanted to get my mom's recipes written down. I'm a recipe tester by trade. That's what I do for my living. I do it primarily out of my home and I love my job, but I realized I didn't have any of my mom's recipes written down, none of those were standardized and I really wanted to cherish and keep those recipes forever. My mom still cooks when we go over on Sunday, so there was never that need to learn, but then I realized that there's gonna be a day that my daughter wants to know how to learn ... Excuse me. Wants to know how to make those recipes, or her daughter, and you know, my mother isn't always gonna be able to cook them. So we started as a project, a family project, and I created a family cookbook, and then I had a moment that I thought, "Wow. I have all these friends from all over the world, many first generation kids. This is a service I could provide. This would be a fun blog. This is something I could do as a hobby." So this all started out with just a blog.Anna: So I sent an email to literally every friend I had with a first generation background, and the response was overwhelming. Everyone said, "Oh my goodness. I want you to cook with my mom. I want these recipes recorded." It was like a service I was providing. I was getting to learn all these authentic homeland foods, and they were getting recorded recipes. Then they were all gonna go up on the blog so I could share them. Once the project started and my blog really took off, then word of mouth created the next opportunity. So I was cooking with Iraqi woman for example, and she said to me halfway through cooking, "You really need to cook with my friend [Sheri 00:04:19]. She's Persian. She makes the most amazing Tahdig. You need to know how to make that." She made that introduction, and so on and so forth. So it started with friends and then, like the last couple of women I cooked with, I didn't even know the children. It was just that word of mouth.Suzy Chase: It's so funny, I was gonna ask you if these recipes were hard to get, but it just seems like it was just effortless and it just happened.Anna: It just happened, and you know, it's so funny because people will say, "Oh, grandma's secrets." Or, "My grandma would always tell people the wrong ingredients or the wrong measurements because she didn't want anyone to make it just like her." Or, "This was secret." I didn't encounter that once. It was, "Let me share this with you, I want you to get it perfect. We can make it again." I mean, there were times that I had to follow up, because I'm in there with a pad and paper scribbling as they're throwing things in the pot, and then when I went home and recipe tested it, it's like, "Wait a minute. Was it, did this go first? Did that go first?" So sometime I'd call and say, "I just want to make sure I'm getting this right." And everyone was more than willing to just sit on the phone with me to make sure it was absolutely perfect, and these women were with me during the cookbook process too, because then a recipe tester has a question, or a copy editor has a question, and I don't know if it was luck, but I came across the most generous women I could've ever encountered.Suzy Chase: What's one new tip that you learned from a grandma you met along the way? Maybe a life tip or a cooking tip.Anna: Wow, there's a lot. I feel like I learned so much in each kitchen. I learned first of all, I should probably take a step back. Once I went to the first home, it was a Greek woman Nelly in Long Island. We start making her pastitsio, her Greek dishes, and just by accident I said, "Hey Nelly, why did you come to the US?" And she just started telling me her immigration story, and while she was telling me this story, I'm thinking about how it's similar to my mom, or different, but the threads are the same, and I thought to myself, "This is just as important as the recipe, because why she came here and how this all came about is so important to just our historical oral knowledge of all these women." So I started writing down immigration questions before I went to the next appointment, because I wanted to know exactly why each women came here, and the stories were dynamic, and incredible, and inspiring, and that ended up going up on the blog too.Anna: Just the fact, if you think about when you go on a trip today, right? You go on trip advisor, you ask you mom friends, you do all these different things before you head out, so that when you show up at your location destination, you're an expert. These women didn't have that. There was no world wide web, there was no cellphone, pictures or whatever. They just packed their bags and went. One of the women said to me, because [inaudible 00:07:31], "What made you do it? What made you get up one day and say, 'You know what? I'm leaving everything I know. I'm leaving my family, I'm leaving my friends and I'm going to this mysterious place to start a new life.'" And she said, "You know, what people from the US don't realize is the US is so enchanting. When you're not from here and you think about The United States Of America, there's a dream there. There's a dream to be had." And I just found that so special, and I think as Americans it's something that we should embrace and understand that we're so lucky to be here, and it's why other people want to come.Anna: So just that tenacity, that courage, I just found so inspiring.Suzy Chase: So in Heirloom Kitchen, it's organized with the recipe, a story, and a lesson. Talk a little bit about that.Anna: When I went in and I was pitching cookbooks to all the different editors at all the different publishers, that was very important to me. I said, "I understand I'm sitting here. I am proposing a cookbook to you, but I think the only way that this is really gonna work and is really gonna be as special as I want it to be is if we also share the women's immigration story, because I think that's half the story." I'll tell you, when I'm making the recipes, I think about the women and I think about their story. I learned a whole bunch of different cooking techniques, for example the Palestinian women taught me how to make Maqluba, and Maqluba means, in Arabic means upside down. So it's this rice dish that you make in a pot and then at the end, when it's all done, you literally flip it upside down and you take it out of the pot and you're left with this mold, and I will tell you, I made a couple of that, did not work, but phone calls back and forth, I figured out how to do it and it's so satisfying when you turn this pot upside down and this beautiful, delicious, rice dish comes out.Anna: So I just think that the book is what it is because you are getting the lessons and the stories, and the recipe all broken down for you, and obviously categorized by continent.Suzy Chase: Your mother is in this cookbook. I found it interesting that she wanted nothing to do with pre-packaged frozen dinners that were the rage when we were growing up, and they were supposed to make our mom's lives easier.Anna: Yeah. I have the chicken pot pie story in there because I think it's quintessential immigrant mother lure. I think that it's very funny and I think that a lot of people will also really relate to it. Yes, I mean, when we were kids all I wanted was a Marie Callender's chicken pot pie. I watched the commercial, it looked so delicious, and why did I have to eat this Italian food every night when I all wanted was this chicken pot pie? So she relented and bought it, and cooked it incorrectly because she didn't read the directions. She just kinda threw it in the oven and that was the end of our chicken pot pie, but I think for my mother, and especially, it's hard to make generalization, but for at least the women that cooked with, the immigrant women that I cooked with, is they value the food that they create so much that the pre-packaged ready in five minute meals, what you were saving in time, it wasn't enough.Anna: It wasn't enough for them to say, "Okay, you know what? Forget my stuff, I'm just gonna do this." And it's funny, the women from Ghana told me that there were times her daughter would say to her, "Mom, we want to take you out to eat tonight. Let's just go out. We don't want you to cook. Let's just relax." And her mom's like, "No. I'd much rather eat my food. I don't need restaurant food." And I laughed when she told me that 'cause my mom doesn't like going out to eat either.Suzy Chase: Really?Anna: So funny. I think it's a common thread because there's so much pride in what they're creating, and it does keep them tethered to their homeland, which is still so very special to them. The cover of the book is my mom making Tagliatelle, which is a hand-cut Italian pasta, and I watched my grandmother make them, and obviously my mom grew up watching her mother make them, and when my mom makes Tagliatelle, we think about my grandmother who is obviously now past, but it's just so nice to have that memory and eat food that tastes exactly like how my grandmother used to make it.Suzy Chase: The story that you told about your mom really shows that she viewed her new American identity as an extension of her Italian identity.Anna: Yes. Absolutely. I think when they came here, these women, right? They were very brave, and they learned English, and I talk about my mom getting her citizenship and going to ESL classes to become an American. That's very important to them and they're proud to be American, but they also needed to create kind of like a safe haven. You go out in the world, you have an accent, you're an immigrant, everyone knows that, so when you come home at night, what's gonna make you feel safe? What's gonna make you feel comfortable? It's your food. The minute you start cooking and the meatballs are bubbling, or you have the rice cooking, or whatever it is that you made back in the homeland that you're now making here, food transports you. I can get transported to the past just as much as it gives you energy to catapult you into the future.Suzy Chase: I think my very favorite photo is on the inside page of the cookbook. It's the one of the hands forming either ravioli or some sort of dumpling. It's fascinating how you're drawn, how I was drawn, to this woman in the photo. Is that your mom?Anna: No. So that is Tina, and she is making traditional Chinese dumplings, and she makes everything from scratch and then she just sits there and pleats all these dumplings and they all look exactly the same and they're perfect. What I love about ... But first of all, my photographer Andrew Scrivani was just a genius. He is a genius and he does a lot of work for The Times, and it's because he's so wildly talented, but his whole thing was, "I want to see hands." This is food that you make with your hands. Nobody pulled out a food processor, nobody used their Kitchenaid. It was rolling pins, hands, mixing spoons. I had women using mixing spoons that they literally brought over from their country. They hold up a spoon and say, "This spoon is 45 years old." But that's the food of our grandmothers, right? They didn't have all these gadgets. They weren't sous vide, they weren't hot pot. So that was very important in the cookbook, to have a lot of hands, and I'm so happy that you were drawn to that photo because it is so tangible, right? Like you feel like you're standing right next to her while she's pleating these dumplings.Anna: She told me that, so they make Chinese dumplings every New Year, and what I love about this story is, she said that the women would get up, and they make the filling, and they make hundreds of them. So all the women in the neighborhood would come together and sit down and while they're pleating the dumplings, they gossip. So it'd just be a totally gossip day making [crosstalk 00:15:14] for dinner.Suzy Chase: I love it. On Saturday I made the recipe for tomato sauce with meatballs on page 25. Was this your grandmother's recipe?Anna: Yes. To be honest with you, it was probably my great-grandmother's recipe. My mother also spent a lot of time with her maternal and paternal grandmothers, and they all had the same techniques to make all these different dishes. So yes, the Brodo di Mama, which is mom's tomato sauce, and the Polpette, which is meatballs, come from a very long line of women. My grandmother did a couple things that were different. One, as you know, she uses some of the sauce in the meatball mixture, which we feel makes them very tender, and there's no pre-frying or pre-baking, which I know a lot of people do. These meatballs just get simmered right in the sauce, which not only does it eliminate a step, once again, we think it makes a very light and airy meatball.Suzy Chase: At the very beginning of this recipe you steep garlic, basil and olive oil. I feel like this is like the magical secret ingredient to this dish.Anna: Yes. By creating, and almost kind of liking it to a T, because you're infusing this olive oil at a very low temperature to kind of marry all of those delicious ingredients, so that once you ultimately strain the garlic and the basil out, you're left with a very aromatic olive oil, which is the base of the sauce. Now, my grandmother was obviously a trend setter in her day because now you can buy so many infused olive oils.Suzy Chase: What do you tell people who see a recipe, or who will see a recipe in this cookbook, and think, "That's not how my mother makes it."Anna: Oh, I'm so glad that you asked that question, and actually, if you read the very beginning of the book, I do address that because I think we play a lot nowadays with the word authentic, I know you probably hear that word all the time.Suzy Chase: All the time.Anna: And you know, what really is authentic? How could we really put our finger on that, right? So what I'm saying is these are my mom's meatballs. She's from Calabria, it's very similar to the way in her mom's village probably made them, but you know when you get in the kitchen, that's your recipe, and you might, your husband might not like garlic, or your son doesn't like the pinch of hot pepper flakes so you eliminate that. So I think, what I would love this book to do for people is kind of like the way I look at any cookbook or even food magazine, is use it as a jumping off point. Let it stimulate in you those memories of your grandmother. So let's say for example you're Greek and you buy this cookbook because you want to know how to make Spanakopita, and then when you get to it you said, "Wait a minute, my grandmother didn't use cottage cheese, she used ricotta." Or whatever it is, but it gets those creative juices flowing, it gets those memories flowing, and that's what I really want this to do.Anna: I do want you to try the recipes in the book. They are phenomenal, they are delicious, they're grandma's greatest hits, because everyone gave me theirs best dishes, but don't fret if it's not just like your grandmother, because your grandmother was special and she made things her way, just like these grandmothers made it their way and hopefully it just creates a new, that nostalgia for the homeland foods.Suzy Chase: Grandma's greatest hits. I love that. I think the main sentiment in this cookbook is maintaining the culture of our origin countries was not a statement, it simply created the comfort of home in a new place. I think we all deserve the comfort of home.Anna: Absolutely, and I think whether you're cooking a recipe from Poland, or literally you're just making your kids some brownies after school, I think that that's what food does for us. Food is the one thing that we all had in common. No matter who you are, how important, everyone has to eat, right? So it's this common thread amongst every single person on the planet, and it does provide comfort. When you're hungry, all you want to do, all you think about is what you're gonna eat. I know for my kids, the things that I make that they feel are very special, or when I'm eating something in mom's house in a Sunday that she made when I was a little kid and I can think about those days. It's why I think the term comfort food was created, right? Because food provides comfort.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called my last meal. What would you eat for your last supper?Anna: I think going on what I just said, I think my last meal would have to be something that my mom cooks for me, because when I'm eating something that my mom made, I know that that bowl of food is not only just filled with nutrients and everything I need physically, there is so much there emotionally for me, and it's filled with her love and her care, and everything that she wants me to have. One of the women that I cooked with said, "A mother is full when the children have eaten." And I think about that every day because I think that's the most important gift our mother give us, is nourishment and the memories of our childhood through food.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Anna: My website is annasheirloomkitchen.com and I'm very active also on Instagram, and I'm at @annafgass. So at A-N-N-A, F as in Frank, G-A, S as in Sam, S as in Sam.Suzy Chase: Heirloom Kitchens shows us that America truly is the land of opportunity. Thanks Anna for coming on Cookery by the Book Podcast.Anna: Thanks Suzy. This was great.Outro: Follow Suzy Chase on Instagram @cookerybythebook, and subscribe at cookerybythebook.com or in Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening to Cookery by the Book Podcast, the only podcast devoted to cookbooks since 2015.

On The Gist, Fox News isn’t distributing Trump’s talking points. Worse, it’s defining them. In the interview, reality TV typically thrives on drama and negativity. Top Chef isn’t necessarily an exception, but season 16 competitor David Viana says morale was high on set—and that that’s a good sign for the culinary world overall. “Better, healthier kitchens are popping up,” Viana says. “It isn’t the Gordon Ramsay style.” David Viana is the executive chef  of New Jersey’s Heirloom Kitchen. The finale of Top Chef: Kentucky airs March 14, 2019 on Bravo. In the Spiel, more from Trump’s nonsensical CPAC speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On The Gist, Fox News isn’t distributing Trump’s talking points. Worse, it’s defining them. In the interview, reality TV typically thrives on drama and negativity. Top Chef isn’t necessarily an exception, but season 16 competitor David Viana says morale was high on set—and that that’s a good sign for the culinary world overall. “Better, healthier kitchens are popping up,” Viana says. “It isn’t the Gordon Ramsay style.” David Viana is the executive chef  of New Jersey’s Heirloom Kitchen. The finale of Top Chef: Kentucky airs March 14, 2019 on Bravo. In the Spiel, more from Trump’s nonsensical CPAC speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Editors Unedited, Cristina Garces, an Editor at Harper Design, interviews Anna Francese Gass, author of HEIRLOOM KITCHEN, out on April 9, 2019.

What happens to family recipes if they’re not written down? Anna Francese Gass decided to preserve these treasures by celebrating grandmothers and their culinary creations via her website, Anna’s Heirloom Kitchen. Joining Anna is her sister Luciana Francese DeCrosta, a real estate developer with Acadia Realty Trust, the company behind the DeKalb food hall in Downtown Brooklyn. The sisters talk about their mother’s meatballs, how Anna’s project has become a family affair, and how they keep their heritage alive through food. Also on the show, The Cookbook Call-In. We talk to Diana Yen of Jewels of New York about her recipe in Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook, Black Sesame and Matcha Fortune Cookies.