Italian-American Herald - August 2023

Accomplished Philadelphia restaurateurs: Retirement in Italy is our destiny
By Ken Mammarella
Joe and Angela Cicala share a dream
of buying a small farmhouse in Italy, and moving there after their restaurant (Cicala
at the Divine Lorraine, a historic building in Philadelphia’s Spring Garden neighborhood) can be run from abroad. But they haven’t agreed on where.
“I’m very much a beach person,” Joe said. “When I was living in Italy, it was in Salerno along the Amalfi Coast. My family’s village
is beachside, so I associate that with being Italian. But Angela’s family is from Abruzzo, and she’s very much a mountains kind of person and worked in Tuscany.”
But both agree on the high quality of life in Italy.
Their attraction to Italy is the reason they met. Angela was looking for a second job in 2010 when she interviewed at Le Virtù, the South Philadelphia restaurant where Joe was then the executive chef. “I didn’t want the job,” Angela said. “I wanted to earn money to return to Italy.”
And why was Joe in South Philly in the
See CICALAS - page 8
Gelato anyone? Sì!
The magic happens when fresh fruits meet aerated milk and cream
AWARDS
Delco Chamber honors former POW Ralph Galati
PAGE 20
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Atantalizingdisplayofgelatoprovestheaxiom“Weeatwithoureyes.” ADOBESTOCK.COM
By Jeanne Outlaw-Cannavo
On a hot summer day one of the best ways to cool off is to enjoy a delicious gelato. This is the Italian word for ice cream, and Italy is famous for the taste of gelato and its many flavorful varieties.
The word gelato refers to something that is frozen, and Italian “ice cream” has its origins in this word. This frozen treat first came into fashion thousands of
years ago when Romans discovered that eating crushed ice covered in honey was a wonderful way to cool off.
In the late 1500s the Medici family tasked the Florentine designer and architect Bernardo Buontalenti to prepare a special treat for the visiting king of Spain. Buontalenti went into an ice cave beneath the Boboli Gardens and created a frozen zabaglione, an Italian dessert made of whipped and heated egg yolks, sugar, and
Marsala wine, which he churned with salted ice. In this case the cold mixture
was flavored with bergamot, lemon, and oranges. The dessert was a remarkable success, and the new treat began to spread quickly across the land and later throughout the world.
Around 1700, Italian immigrants brought the refreshing sweet to the United States,
See GELATO - page 4
A homemade wine enthusiast shares memories made around the world
By Barbara Ann Zippi-Och
Italians are heading into the season for homemade wine, a family tradition from Italy which many Italian Americans continue today.
If you’re a homemade wine enthusiast, you know the routine: Plan in August. Buy
grapes or juice in September. Ferment and bottle in October. Then nurture the bottles until it’s time to share with family and friends in the spring.
Here’s a whirlwind tour of my wine- making experiences, some recent, others older.
Start in Loreto Aprutino
In visiting the art studio of famed artist, concert pianist and avid winemaker Maurizio Ruzzi in Loreto Aprutino’s historic center village, you first see a shiny black grand piano. Ruzzi’s studio sits on the grounds
of his grandfather’s home with his nonno’s
See HOMEMADE - page 10
Vol. 10 / No. 8