About 57 years ago, the first girl was starting to walk. We have a home movie of her walking through her grandfather's garden, wearing a cute cotton white dress. As she was taking each step carefully, the movie camera spanned the garden. There before us, were grandpa's tomato plants gingerly supported by stakes to keep them off the ground. Grandpa was an excellent gardener and could nurture any plant with a gentle hand.
He would always save the biggest tomato on the vine and it would become his seed tomato for next year's crop. The movie camera spanned back to where the 1st girl was and caught her red handed!
Her eye was drawn to a beautiful, red, large tomato. She picked it and promptly sat down eating away. The movie camera rolled on and caught the culprit literally red handed. She had found the prized seed tomato and enjoyed every last bite!
Luckily, grandpa was a gentle man and was able to laugh at such an event. He knew his crop would be altered for next year, but the love of the tasty tomato carried on and that was the most important thing.
We are 2nd generation Italo Americans from the Puglia Region. Our story is like many Italo Americans brought together via tradition, laughter, family and food. Since we could walk, we were in our grandparents' gardens reaching for the prized "seed" tomato. The "tasty tomato" is our life force; metaphor for love, food, tradition, memories, comfort, the market, summer canning, harvest, celebration, and much more. Share our family traditions as we build upon the legacy of our Italian Ancestry.
Food Is...
Family, Tradition, Memories, Flavors, Gatherings, Laughter, Life, Vitality, Comfort...Love.
1 comment:
hello...i've just returned from your restaurant and it was an amazing experience. thank you for everything...cannot wait to return in September.
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