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.
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