a document of days

I was only seven years old when my Nonna Olga died. Her youth and mine never allowed for the development of the closeness I imagine we would have shared in later years. The few memories I have of her are much cherished, as are any memories my mother and my Nonno pass on to me. As my interest in Italian culture and cooking grows, I’ve realized that learning my grandmother’s recipes is one way I can still feel close to her.

When my mom visited me in DC last weekend, I prepared a recipe that my grandmother cooked often for her family. Bracciole was completely new to me. I’d never heard of it until my mom mentioned it to me only a week prior. As found in so many of the best recipes, a cheap cut of beef is used and cooked until tender. Bracciole is simple. Sauteed Italian flat-leaf parsley, pine nuts, and garlic line a rolled beef cutlet (I added mushrooms). The beef is browned for a couple of minutes at the bottom of a heavy sauce pan. Sauce is added, enough to cover the meat, and it all cooks slowly until the beef is very tender.


In addition to the bracciole, I made a salad of grapefruit, parsley, onion, and fennel, placed over a bed of arugula (I saw Giada De Laurentiis prepare this as a salsa for cod, I add arugula and call it a salad.) Finally, to pay homage to one very nice June 2007 night in Verona, I prepared gorgonzola polenta.


Not sure how I did, as I'd never prepared bracciole before, I braced myself as my mom took her first bite. Her shoulders dropped, she seemed transported, "Exactly like Nonna used to make." I felt triumphant. Would she have been proud? I hope so.