Nonna's Story

	My grandmother, Caterina Neri, came to America in 1916 from Porto Empedocle, Sicily. She met my grandfather to be, Michael Schiavone, on the way to America and settled in Buffalo, N.Y. They married the same year and went on to have a family of 5 boys along the way. It was common in the early 1900's for families of the same ethnicity that immigrated to America to group together in communities and neighborhoods.
My mother, Crucifissa Chirico (everyone called her Tilley) was part of a big Italian family as well with 6 brothers and sisters of her own. The Chiricos became friends with the Schiavones soon after arriving in Buffalo. My father, Joe Schiavone, proposed to my mother shortly after WWII in 1946. Upon engagement, my mother thought it would be a good idea to learn the recipes that my father loved growing up as a boy from his mother.
	Nonna (grandma) Schiavone used to bake bread for the week and made enough dough to make mignolates as well, usually for special occasions and family gatherings. Mignolates are a recipe originating from the Agrigento region of Sicily. By definition, a pastry with foccacia /pizza ingredients. Nonna's specialty were her meatball and spinach mignolates. These two original recipes were passed on to myself and my brothers.

 

My favorite part of all of this is the reaction of people tasting my Nonna's mignolates for the first time. One of the best reactions to date is "Are you kidding me!? These are 'you're kidding me' great!!" A few years ago some friends thought I should share these with the rest of the world. So that’s the story. Enjoy!

 

Sincerely,
Larry Schiavone