Earlier this year, I crisscrossed America for three months, visiting multiple cities on a book tour. I talked to cooks and readers about generations of resilient women who created the Italian American foodway. My cookbook Mother Sauce: Italian American Family Recipes and the Story of the Women Who Created Them tells a story of the women from the Mezzogiorno who immigrated to America 100 years ago in one of the largest mass migrations in world history.
In the bookstores, festivals, and cooking schools where our events were held, often two or three generations of a family would attend, delighting in our shared story. Other times, a single man or woman would come simply wanting to know more about a history lost to them. History—especially the ancient kind—helps soothe the soul. We learn from the past.
