Contributed by Mark Leslie
"Travel and Food Experiences in Italy~ their influences on my American life, plus photos and recipes, too!" by Mark Leslie, author "Beyond the Pasta: Recipes, Language & Life with an Italian Family"
Nonna at her finest~
Here is the last of the three videos I filmed with the Stefani family in Viterbo. I think this one really shows her spirit. She makes me laugh—a lot. The month I lived with them in 2005 was filled with laughter. The entire family is very humorous and they all know how to tell a good tale.
In this clip she is telling me that her mother didn’t like to tell Nonna her secrets, so when she gave Nonna a recipe she would purposefully leave things out. Nonna caught on and started watching her mother cook and when her mother noticed that she was preparing the recipe WITH the left out, secret ingredient she said, “Why are you putting that in, I didn’t tell you to do that!”
I must admit that I am not 100% sure of the translation, but that is the gist of the conversation as I understood it. And until I am corrected, that is my story and I am sticking to it. Remember, even on a perfect day, I only speak Italian at a 2-year-old level.
Regardless—I love this clip because you get the true flavor of Nonna.
On another video matter~
I am currently being featured on the blog dishKarma with a video of my “Ultimate Italian Meal.” It lists the dishes, mostly from Italy, that I love to eat. They have a pretty impressive list of other “Ultimate Meals” videos by Ming Tsai, Christina Pirello, Hagan Blount, and Stephen Fried to name a few. They also feature links to food charities and organizations that are helping to bridge the hunger gap in America. I hope you enjoy my piece and, more importantly, their blog.
Some exciting news about my manuscript should be coming down the pike soon. I am looking forward to sharing all of the details with you.
Until then…enjoy Nonna’a story, my meal, and dishKarma.
Buon Appetito!
Mark
Contributed by Mark Leslie
Mark Leslie works in professional theatre as a stage manager and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Currently he is busy working with Gemelli Press on his first book "Beyond the Pasta: Recipes, Language & Life with an Italian Family." http://beyondthepasta.com
Every year, Mark vacations in Italy and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato placed before him. In 2005, he had the good fortune to live for a month in Viterbo, Italy with the Stefani family. There he took cooking lessons from Nonna, the grandmother of the family, and Italian language lessons from Alessandra, the mother. That experience is the basis of his first book "Beyond the Pasta: Recipes, Language, & Life with an Italian Family." SEE DETAILS ABOUT THE BOOK: http://mark-leslie.net/we-have-a-publisher
THEATRICAL CREDITS:
Mark is in Winona, MN working on GRSF's production of COMEDY OF ERRORS. Recently, he wrapped up LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and AIDA for Opera Birmingham in Alabama. Last September, he stage managed CABARET at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina in Hilton Head, SC. He also worked at the Arts Center in 2005 on its production of Evita. This past summer, he worked in Minnesota on Great River Shakespeare Festival’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. Over the past 22 years, Mark’s regional theatre credits include: Denver Center Theatre Company (White Christmas, Noises Off, and a reading of a new adaption of The Unsinkable Molly Brown directed by Kathleen Marshall and authored by Dick Scanlon), Alabama Shakespeare Festival (resident stage manager on over 65 productions), Actors’ Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival (D. Boone by Marsha Norman), Arizona Theatre Company (Amadeus, Loot, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ directed by Arthur Faria), and Maine State Music Theatre (Phantom, South Pacific, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Cages Aux Folles, and the world premiere of Chamberlain).
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With all loves from me, Alessandra, Lillo, Mariana, Francesca, Thais, and Luca
La Nonna