Nonna's Kitchen 8 - Nonno's American Birthday

My grandfather, Alfredo Cipolato (Nonno), arrived in the United States on April 25, 1940; he was 27 years old. He came to New York City to work as a waiter in the Italian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. The job was actually supposed to go to his brother Carlo, but Carlo joined the Italian cavalry instead, so Nonno came in his place. Nonno had a repertoire of stories that he told often, and the one about his first day in New York has always been one of my favorites. After being processed through Ellis Island, he went to Central Park where he was approached by a policeman on horseback.

“Hey, shorty!” the policeman yelled down to him. (My grandfather was not a big man.) “See that cart over there? Go get me two hot dogs, plenty of mustard, and a root beer.” He then handed some money down to my grandfather. Nonno spoke English fairly well, but his training and work history was at some of the finest hotels in Italy and France, where one assumes they must not have served hot dogs… As he retold the story, time and time again, he said that he knew what “hot” was, and he knew what “dog” was, just as he knew both “root” and “beer”, but he’d never heard the words used together like that. He was confused, and wondered to himself if Americans really ate dogs and drank beer made from tree parts.

“Hot dogs?” he repeated to the cop.

“Yeah, plenty mustard,” came the reply. “Get yourself one, too.” Nonno went to the stand, parroted the order and then enjoyed his first meal in the United States.

My grandfather never planned to stay in the US. When the World’s Fair closed in October 1941, he decided to visit other parts of the country until his work visa expired. He was in Florida when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and when the US entered WWII he was classified as an “enemy alien” along with 600,000 other Italians living and working in the country. In early 1942 he was arrested and sent by train to Fort Missoula, which served as an internment camp for nearly 2000 Italian and Japanese nationals. After his release in 1943, he met my grandmother singing in the church choir, and they were married shortly thereafter. My grandmother still has his unused return ticket to Milan!

We have celebrated Nonno’s American Birthday for as long as I can remember, so I assumed that it had been a tradition for much longer than I’ve been around. However, when I asked my mother about the origins of this “holiday,” she told me that it just sort of happened some time around 1970, perhaps with the casual mention of Nonno’s having been in the United States for 30 years. At any rate, every year until his death in 2008 we observed Nonno’s American Birthday on April 25, the day he arrived in New York. The menu? Hot dogs and root beer, of course! I’m not kidding – every year, we had what Nonno joked was the most American of meals; hot dogs, boiled on the stovetop and served on gooey white buns with ketchup, mustard and relish. Baked beans from a can, potato chips and my mother’s potato salad rounded out the meal, and the beverage offerings did include beer for the adults, though Nonno always made a point to have a small glass of root beer. He would always tell the story of that first hot dog in Central Park, and we all listened with rapt attention, even though each of us could recite the story word for word.

It can’t be Nonna’s Kitchen without a recipe or two, so I’m including Nonna’s recipe for potato salad. It’s much drier and less “dressed” than deli potato salad, allowing the flavor of the potatoes to shine through. The other recipe is for Gold Cake, a dessert that found its way to the table only a handful of times each year. Gold Cake was reserved for my grandparents’ anniversary, my parents’ anniversary, Nonno’s American Birthday and occasionally Valentine’s Day, when Nonna would make a small Gold Cake for Nonno and cupcakes for the kids. My mother suspects that Gold Cake was invented by Grandma D’Orazi – Bisnonna – her maternal grandmother. It gets its name from the color (duh), a rich yellow hue that comes from the 12 egg yolks in the cake (Bisnonna raised chickens behind the house on Pine Street.) The anise flavoring is a very traditional Italian touch, as is the mild sweetness – Italians aren’t big on rich or sweet desserts as a rule. Most meals are completed with a piece of fruit or maybe a bit of chocolate, and things like Tiramisu are reserved for very special occasions. Gold Cake is dense and pretty dry, and it is almost always served with Bolla, a fruit and wine punch for which I’m also including the recipe. Gold Cake is great when dunked into the Bolla, and this is the preferred method for everybody except Nonna, who doesn’t like “bumps” in her wine.

The Recipe:
Nonna’s Potato Salad
Serves 8-10 as a side dish

Total prep and cooking time: approx. one hour

Ingredients:
5-6 large russet potatoes
2 stalks of celery
2 green onions
6 eggs
1/4 c mayo
1 Tbsp. sweet relish
1 tsp. yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish

Boil potatoes in their skins until tender, but still firm. Over cooking will make a squishy salad. Hard boil eggs - usually 14-15 minutes at a simmer. Chop celery into bite sized pieces; slice the green onions into 1/8” rounds - use the green part also, as it gives good color. Place both into a large serving bowl. Rinse the potatoes in cold water until cool enough to handle, then peel and dice into ½” pieces; place into serving bowl and toss gently to incorporate the celery and onions. Peel the eggs and set aside one for garnish. Roughly chop the remaining five and place into the serving bowl. Mix the mayonnaise, relish, mustard (Dijon works also) in a small bowl, then pour over the potato mixture and fold in until all of the ingredients are coated with the dressing. Add extra mayonnaise if the salad seems too dry. Salt and pepper to taste. Slice the remaining egg into rounds, place on top of the potato salad and sprinkle liberally with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

The Recipe:
Gold Cake
Serves 12

Nonna often served this cake with a drizzled icing made of confectioners’ sugar and milk, usually spelling out ”Happy Birthday” or Anniversary or whatever. Nonno, ever the jokester and imp, believed the best way to serve this cake was to tear pieces off by hand (much like rustic bread at dinner) and toss them to diners around the table. Of course, we especially loved this as kids…

Total prep and baking time: approx. one hour

Ingredients:
12 eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 ½ C. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. anise extract
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ½ C. cake flour (my mother says regular unbleached flour is fine)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees; grease and flour either a bundt pan, two 8” round cake pans or a 9 x 13 baking pan. (The rectangular pan is best if you insist on the authentic tearing method of serving!) Separate the eggs: place the yolks in a large mixing bowl, put four of the whites into a smaller bowl and set aside the remaining eight egg whites for another use. Using a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on medium high speed until pale yellow and creamy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; gradually pour in the melted butter – work slowly so as not to curdle the egg yolks – then slowly add the sugar, ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the baking powder, anise and vanilla extracts and salt, allowing each to be mixed in for several seconds before adding the next one. Gradually add the flour – again ¼ cup at a time – until the entire mixture is thoroughly mixed and glossy. Beat the four egg whites to soft peak stage, then fold into the batter. It’s better to mix them in thoroughly (even if they deflate a little) than to have lumps of unincorporated egg white. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool and serve!

The Recipe:
Bolla
Serves 8-12

Bolla is Italian for “bubble” – this wine punch is most often served in the summer when fruit is fresh and flavorful, but frozen berries are fine in the winter. Use wines you want to drink, but don’t break the bank – no need for vintage champagne or a fine white. $10 wines are great for this. Also, this is better served in wine glasses or wide champagne glasses rather than flutes, especially if you plan on dunking Gold Cake!

Ingredients:
1 bottle Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine, very cold
1 bottle Pinot Grigio, Frascati or other light white wine, very cold
2 C. strawberries, raspberries or peaches – fresh or frozen

If you’re using strawberries or peaches, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place the fruit into the bottom of a large serving bowl or punch bowl, then pour the white wine over it. Gently pour in the Prosecco, stir with a ladle to incorporate and serve!

Mangia, mangia, fatte grande