Italian cookbook draws on author’s favorites
Lauretta Barsi-Avina lived in Italy until she was 8 years old,
when her family moved to the United States and settled in Gilroy.
She now lives in Hollister, but through every move she has taken
with her memories of the cuisine she ate in her native Marlia,
Tuscany.
Italian cookbook draws on author’s favorites
Lauretta Barsi-Avina lived in Italy until she was 8 years old, when her family moved to the United States and settled in Gilroy. She now lives in Hollister, but through every move she has taken with her memories of the cuisine she ate in her native Marlia, Tuscany.
In recent months, she collected some of her favorite recipes and the stories behind them into a cook book called “Ricette Del Mio Paese,” which translates to “My Country’s Recipes” that she is selling at Dona Esther’s Restaurant, in San Juan Bautista, and at Garlic World and Fortino’s Winery, in Gilroy.
The book that she printed at a print shop, and collated and bound herself at home, sells for $15. The money she makes from the profits will be split between a scholarship fund in memory of her sister Franca Barsi, who died in 2006, a victim of domestic violence, and Barsi-Avina’s own studies. She is taking online classes toward a degree in criminal justice to be a victim and witness advocate, inspired by her family’s own experience with the justice system.
“When something like this happens, no one really understands it,” Barsi-Avina said. “It is so tragic. No one understands how you wake up one day and life is changed.”
She said she and her family spent a year going in and out of court while the suspect in her sister’s case, David Vincent Reyes, was on trial. Reyes was eventually sentenced to 32 years in prison for pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of felony robbery, and failure to register as a sex offender.
“We’d never been to court,” Barsi-Avina said. “Stuff like that didn’t happen in our family…As a victim it is so stressful to see the amount of effort it takes to convict someone. He already confessed…But the whole experience made me feel inspired to go back to school to be a victim advocate.”
Shortly after her sister’s death, Barsi-Avina said she and her mother both thought of starting a scholarship in Franca’s memory. Since both daughters had been crowned Miss Gilroy Garlic, the two contacted the Garlic Festival office to see if they could coordinate with them.
“They send a copy of the applications along with transcripts and we read all of them and go over them,” she said. “We are looking for someone who wants to make something of themselves and is willing to work for it.”
Each year, the family selects one student to receive the scholarship. Last year’s recipient, a student at Gavilan College, received $900.
Though the cook book dredged up some bad memories of losing her sister, it also brought up plenty of good memories of dinner with family and friends, in Italy and locally.
“We literally sit down for three or four hours for multiple courses,” she said.
The meals include antipasto, different pasta sauces, homemade gnocchi, meat dishes and they always end with biscotti dipped in a white or dessert wine.
Barsi-Avina’s mother caters a little on the side, and Barsi-Avina has friends who pay her to make the family’s signature biscotti cookies.
She would often use the money made from baking toward the scholarship fund. It was friends who suggested she should put together a cook book and use the money for the scholarship, as well as her own studies.
With the help of friends and family, she put together the book, which includes more than a dozen family favorites. Some are regional recipes, such as a lasagna that uses besciamella (a creamy white sauce) instead of ricotta cheese. Others are recipes that are unique to Barsi’s family, such as the involtini di carne, which are rolled pieces of beef stuffed with different fillings.
“Everyone helped me tie it together,” she said. “It took two months. There were a lot of sleepless nights.”
In the book, she writes about growing up in Italy and her favorite meal when she would come home from school. She wrote about the Gilroy Garlic Queen Pageant, when she talked about a family recipe when asked by the judges about her favorite garlic dish. She also wrote about her sister, Franca, and other family members.
“When I first moved here in 1972, it was hard being different,” she said. “I wanted to assimilate…as I grew up I became proud of it.”
For More Information
Lauretta Barsi-Avina’s cookbook can be purchased at Dona Esther’s, in San Juan Bautista, or Garlic World or Fortino’s Winery, in Gilroy. It can also be purchased by calling Barsi-Avina at 673-1665 or e-mailing av***********@ho*****.com. The book sells for $15, with part of the money going to the Franca Barsi-Miss Gilroy Garlic 1986 Memorial Scholarship and part going toward Barsi-Avina’s own studies toward a degree in criminal justice. She is also working on a website, www.delalalicious.com, which is not up yet.
