Happy 2022!

Should Old Fragrances Be Forgot?

By Alice Jane-Marie Massa

                Whenever my nose catches the aroma of garlic, I always think:  “That smells like home to me.”  Actually, the fragrance of garlic smells like home or my Aunt Zita’s Italian restaurant.  For many years, my extended family and I celebrated New Year’s Eve and the New Year with an Italian specialty called Bagna Calda or spelled “Bagna Cauda).  Before Fondue pots became popular in the 1970s, either my dad or my Aunt Zita prepared the Bagna Calda as what we would refer to today as a “hot dip.” 

                Although recipes for Bagna Calda are in the Little Italy Festival  cookbook (Clinton, Indiana) and a cousin gave me a recipe, I will not be sharing a recipe in this WORDWALK post because I cannot find my dad’s recipe and because you can find various recipes online.  Throughout my moves, I have lost some items and found others; after my most recent moves, I do wish I had found my one missing recipe box wherein, undoubtedly, is my dad’s excellent recipe for Bagna Calda.  In general, if one follows a recipe from Northern Italy, the basic ingredients will be olive oil, butter, anchovies, and cloves of garlic.  During this COVID Era, using a communal iron skillet for dipping into the “bagna” most likely sounds terrible; however, in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s–we frequently ate the Bagna Calda in this manner.  Nevertheless, I must admit that even as a child or teen, I preferred my own little bowl–usually one of the beige bowls that my Aunt Zita used for serving extra parmesan cheese.  One would hold a thick slice of Italian bread; then, select a leaf of Iceberg lettuce, bell pepper (which many Hoosiers called “mangos”), or another vegetable for dipping.  After dipping the lettuce leaf (or leaves) into the bagna, I placed the lettuce onto the Italian bread which would soak up the drippings  of flavorful garlic mixture.  When the bread had soaked a sufficient amount from a few helpings of vegetables, eating the moistened bread was a delicious next course.  Some family members would also eat the anchovies and garlic, but I did not.  While I loved the anchovies in the Bagna Calda, I have never ordered anchovies on a pizza. 

                Some of my friends were from families whose ancestors were from Southern Italy.  Their custom was to make the Bagna Calda with cream and tuna.  I could never eat Bagna Calda with cream nor tuna!  I stuck to my roots of Northern Italy–Levone.

                While the Bagna Calda was a special treat for New Year’s Eve, since I liked this Italian specialty so much, we, on a rare occasion, did enjoy this “hot dip” on other wintry evenings.  Most often the bell peppers we used were from our gardens and from Mason jars which had been canned (pickled) by my parents, my Aunt Zita, or my paternal grandmother.  I loved these pickled bell peppers–red, orange, yellow, and green–as much as I enjoyed the Bagna Calda.  For many years, the Italian bread to accompany this recipe was from our cousins’ Comba Bakery.  How delicious was that crusty Italian bread made by cousin Martin Comba in his large brick oven!  Finally, the other ingredient of this recipe was good conversation as all gathered around.  Mangia!  Mangia!  (Translation:  Eat!  Eat!)

                I hope that you and yours are enjoying some traditional foods and beverages on this New Year’s Eve and that you will safely and happily toast the new year.

Cheers!  May 2022 bring you many smiles, the warmth of happiness, and

the fragrance of good food and memories!

Alice and Leader Dog Willow

December 31, 2021, Friday

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