Nonna’s House: Cooking and Reminiscing with the Italian Grandmothers of Enoteca Maria

There is no better gimmick than legitimacy, and Staten Island restaurateur Scaravella has found a way to multiply authentic Italian cuisine by a factor of 10. Behind the scenes of his eight-year-old eatery, Enoteca Maria, there are no award-winning celebrity chefs; instead, there is a rotation of 10 real-life Italian grandmothers (nonnas) serving up their ages-old family recipes. This rustic collection showcases over 100 of those dishes and also provides each chef’s life story, told in her own words. The autobiographies are notably similar: tales of large, multi- generation families; hungry husbands; immigration to America; and ever-present food streaming forth from the kitchen. The 10 primary chapters are arranged in course order from antipasti through cereali (polenta, risotto, and the like) to dessert. Pastas are broken out into two different chapters, with one dedicated to stuffed pasta and pizza and showcasing not only three types of lasagna but also ravioli with rabbit filling and spinach manicotti. The grannies do not always play it safe. For instance, cocoa plays a starring, and startling, role in two obscure dishes: eggplant with chocolate, and chocolate blood pudding. In the latter, four cups of pig’s blood are sweetened with semisweet chocolate, honey, and wine. For tamer palates, the final chapter, on holiday treats, features an Easter wheat pie with nothing more daring than orange peel and ricotta. Color photos. (Apr.)