The Cook Who Makes the Gravy




sauce

GENERATIONS OF FAMILY TRADITION

Here’s a little information about the guy making the gravy. I simply love to cook. There isn’t much more to tell you about myself except that I value my Italian heritage and wanted to share some family recipes with the rest of the world.

I started cooking when I was very young. With both parents working I either cooked or starved. So I would flip through cookbooks and Mom's recipes and started cooking until I got it right.

Cooking gives me pleasure. Being Italian gives me pleasure. Eating Italian food....well you know that brings me pleasure. But bringing you this site and sharing family recipes and stories gives me the most pleasure of all.


Statue of Liberty DEDICATION

Creating this site took a lot of time and commitment. But the one thing it didn’t take is courage. The type of courage it took my Grandparents and other Italians to immigrate to this great country in search of a better life for their families. They endured a lot of hardships by traveling to a new world and starting a new beginning.

That’s why I’m dedicating this site to my Grandparents. They may rest knowing that they accomplished the American dream. If it weren’t for them my family and I wouldn’t have the many opportunities that we have today.

My maternal Grandparents came from a town called Aragona, located in a small province named Agrigento in the south-west corner of grandparents Sicily. My Grandfather worked in the coal mine of West Virginia before coming to Chicago where he raised a family of six.

My paternal Grandfather had a push cart and sold vegetable and shaved ice like many Italians who immigrated to Chicago. He raised a family of four. I’m still working on where he and my Grandmother came from. I never new them but I did grow up on my maternal Grandmother’s cooking and appreciate the opportunity of knowing her.

The one thing I’ve always believed and try to instill in my children is in order to know who you are and what your all about begins with where you came from. Heritage and culture should be taught to each and every generation in order for them not to take things for granted and to appreciate the things they have today.

I’d like to take this time to thank my Grandparents, my Parents and my Aunts and Uncles for teaching me about the importance of culture, family and cooking.

Visit and support the Ellis Island Foundation, a good site to begin researching your family history. While I was surfing the net I also found a nice site on Sicily.


Dear Readers,

I am building an Italian-America Heritage Preservation page with stories and/or pictures relating to Italian families who immigrated to the United States. Please feel free to send your family stories in order to keep our heritage and traditions alive. I will be more than happy to publish them. Thank You,

Phillip J. Speciale

For further information and instructions visit:

Italian-American Heritage Preservation


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