A Spark that still burns

Mary A. Castillo

Newport Beach graphic designer Tony Salvo reached the end of a 10-year

journey last Christmas. He saw the publication of “Anna’s Spark,” a

cookbook dedicated to his mother.

After losing Anna Arrigo Salvo in 1991, Tony and his brothers and

sisters decided that they would compile a cookbook of their mother’s

favorite recipes.

“We not only wanted something that we could hold in our hands and

remember her by,” Tony said, “but also to relive the delicious foods she

had prepared for us.”

But Tony couldn’t bring himself to fully embrace the cookbook project.

Going through old photos and the scraps of papers on which Anna had

written her recipes brought back memories. And reminded him of what he

had lost.

At a family reunion in August 2001, Tony was touched by the spark of

inspiration.

“My sister Patty showed me a hand-written note from our mom,” he said.

“As I read it, I heard her voice in my head and I knew that I had to

finish the cookbook for not only my family but also for myself.”

He went home determined to complete the cookbook he and his family had

talked about all these years.

While sister Diana worked out the recipes in her kitchen -- Anna

rarely wrote down the measurements of her recipes -- Tony selected photos

and papers for the book, working his mother’s immigration papers, photos

of his grandparents and notes written by long-lost friends to his mother

into the design.

As the days peeled away, bringing him closer and closer to Christmas,

Tony recruited just about everyone, including his employees who typeset

the recipes and helped him scan in the photos into the book.

Within a month and a half, Tony finished the personal tribute to his

mom, appropriately titled “Anna’s Spark.”

“Mom was always feeding people,” Tony fondly remembers. “At dinner she

made everyone’s favorite -- that meant sometimes between six to seven

individual dishes for 10 people.”

Although he remembers her cooking as being the best in the world, Tony

learned in conversations with older family members that his mother’s

first culinary attempts as a 19-year old bride to A.S.D. Salvo were

anything but auspicious. But under the dazzling smile there was a steely

tenaciousness in Anna that enabled her achieve the seemingly impossible.

When she arrived in Cleveland as a 16-year-old immigrant from Sicily,

she learned to speak fluent English within her first year as an American.

Later, as a young bride, she channeled that same determination into

teaching herself to cook by reading and trying recipes from Betty

Crocker.

Pointing to the book with a photo of a 4-year-old Anna with her

mother, Carmela Arrigo, on the cover, Tony is clearly proud of his

mother’s achievements.

“This is a part of my mom that will live on,” he said. “It not only

tells the story of our Italian American heritage, but it also tells

future generations of our family what a loving, giving and hard-working

woman they come from.”

A taste From “Anna’s Spark”

Tony said Anna often turned to this recipe when she needed to whip

together a quick meal for the family.

Meatless Marinara Quick Sauce

1 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes

1 12-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 tablespoon sugar (add more later if needed)

3/4 tablespoons dry oregano

3 to 4 fresh basil leaves or 1/2 tablespoon dried basil

Saute onion in oil until tender. Chop tomatoes into large chunks.

Combine tomatoes with the onion and remaining ingredients.

Simmer until it is the desired consistency.

Serve over very fine spaghetti.

FYI

For copies of “Anna’s Spark,” $24.95 plus shipping and handling, write

to Salvo at 2817 Newport Boulevard, Newport Beach, CA 92663 or check out

www.salvodesign.com. A percentage of the proceeds from books sold will go

to the American Heart Association.