Ancona to the Midwest: a Culinary Journey

The Cortellini family's remarkable story begins in Ancona, Italy, when, amid the final throes of World War II, Paolo Giuseppe Cortellini is born. Having survived the horrors of Mussolini and Hitler, the family immigrates to the United States and settles down in Indiana to raise their three boys in a non-Italian community.

Paolo Cortellini's memoir is a tribute to his father's artistic passions and his mother's fine cooking. The family's love for classical music, traditional...
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The Cortellini family's remarkable story begins in Ancona, Italy, when, amid the final throes of World War II, Paolo Giuseppe Cortellini is born. Having survived the horrors of Mussolini and Hitler, the family immigrates to the United States and settles down in Indiana to raise their three boys in a non-Italian community.

Paolo Cortellini's memoir is a tribute to his father's artistic passions and his mother's fine cooking. The family's love for classical music, traditional Italian cuisine, and each other are the threads that tie them together through the trials of war and immigration.

Cortellini seasons the stories with more than one hundred of his mother's recipes, enriching the journey and making one feel a part of the family. He includes traditional methods of preparing antipasti (appetizers), minestre/zuppe (soups), paste (pastas), carne (meats), pesci (fish), verdure (vegetables), dolci (desserts), and more. He also shares recipes from friends and family that he collected over a fifteen-year period, when he returned to Europe. Finally, the memoir includes many images and photographs that further illustrate landmarks and memories, and put faces to names.

Read the stories, make the meals, and share in the Cortellinis' legacy through this inspiring culinary journey.