Typical recipes from Molise

CHICKPEAS AND “TACCOZZE” (a kind of home-made pasta)

Put to soak in cold water chickpeas for 12 hours, then boil them with no salt in a pressure cooker for 50 minutes, or in a simple pan for at least 2 or 3 hours.

Knead “taccozze” with flour, water and some salt (15 g each kg of flour), mix well until it gets smooth.

Roll out the dough with the rolling-pin and let it dry for half an hour, then cut the dough in way of shaping 5 or 6 cm wide strips and cut them in way of shaping little triangles.

When the chickpeas are cooked, take a pan, fry there lightly oil and garlic, then add the chickpeas, a vegetable stock cube and cook it for half an hour.

In the meantime boil "taccozze" in boiling salt water for few minutes and strain them and put them together with the chickpeas. Finally just add some salt.

BOILED POTATOES TYPICAL OF MOLISE

Ingredients for 4 people:

Potatoes: 1 kg

Oil: 200 g

Garlic: 2 cloves

Dried sweet pepper: 2 pieces

Some red pepper

Procedure

Boil potatoes for 20 minutes, then peel them and let them cool, then slice them up and keep them in a serving dish.

Put oil, garlic and red pepper in the saucepan, as soon as the garlic turn out to be brown take it out of the pan and add big pieces of sweet pepper for a very short time to not burn it. Finally spill sweet pepper on potatoes and add some salt.

RUSTIC PIE

Ingredients for 4 people

Round puff pastry: 1

Eggs: 3

Champignons: half a kg

Grated parmesan: 100 g

Diced dry mozzarella: 1 portion

A little of salt, pepper and minced parsley

Procedure

Put puff pastry in the baking tin, then put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well. Spill the mixture on the puff pastry and bake it to 180˚. It is ready when it turns out to be brown, so just take it out of the oven and taste it.

Italy's slaughter abroad

This is the USA ad of a Bertolli frozen meal. The green phrase in the bottom part elegantly says:

P.s. Bertolli was owned by the Anglo-Dutch Unilever (the makers of Dove deodorant) since '93 and in 2008 was sold to the spanish SOS Group.

Having a name like that, they must be at the end...

The story of a return in Molise. After 90 years.

The gentleman in the picture is Robert Bruno.

He's American and lives in the USA.

But he has Molisane origins.

His grandfather, Pasquale Casertano, arrived to Ellis Island (the center in New York which managed immigration) from Campobasso on October 24th 1913, in search of fortune.

He found it, but lost over the years any link with his Molise.

Exactly 90 years later, on October 24th 2003, Robert met for the first time with his family in Campobasso.

Robert wrote me, asking to publish on my blog the touching story of that journey, written by himself.

I am happy to do so, in the links you'll find at the end of the post.

Here is an excerpt from his story, that I strongly suggest you to read (it is touching):

"Anticipation and anxiety started to build up. We were extremely excited. In ten minutes Lucia and Laura arrived. It was an extremely moving moment. I was so excited I was lost for words. I didn’t know what to say. I was very happy. We hugged each other and just looked at each other in amazement. We then went to our car to get Mariann (my wife). The three of them were so excited they were jumping up and down. Mariann went with Lucia and Laura came with me in our car. Laura and I were trying to communicate with each other. We were laughing a lot. Mariann said her communication with Lucia was just fine. We felt like we knew them all our lives"

Robert will return to Molise for the second time in his life next week.

His dream? Teaching English in Molise.

For free.

His full lenght story.

Novant'anni - La fine dell'arcobaleno - Ritorno a Campobasso di Robert Bruno

Tradotto dall'inglese da Myria Rylee

Mi chiamo Robert Bruno. Sono italo-americano della seconda generazione. I miei genitori sono nati in America e tre dei miei nonni sono nati in Italia. Le mie origini sono italiane al cento per cento. Il padre di mio padre era di Napoli, e sua madre di Bari. La madre di mia madre, Josephine, era nata a New York, ma i suoi genitori erano di Roma. Mia madre si chiama Rose Casertano e suo padre era Pasquale Casertano di Campobasso.
Il nome Campobasso mi e' sempre stato familiare perché a Campobasso c’era la casa spesso accennata da mio nonno. Mio nonno arrivò in America tramite Ellis Island il 24 ottobre, 1913. Ancora non lo sapevo, ma il 24 ottobre sarebbe stata una data molto speciale. Pasquale aveva sedici anni quando venne in America appresso ai suoi fratelli Giuseppe e Giovanni. Essi arrivarono in America alcuni anni prima ma ignoro la data esatta. Sfortunatamente, nessuno dei tre fratelli ritornó a Campobasso o rivide la famiglia e nemmeno ebbero l’opportunità di parlarle. Ultimamente mi sono reso conto di quanto possa essere stato difficile per tutta la famiglia Casertano in Italia. Avere tre fratelli lasciare per sempre una buona famiglia e un bel paese deve essere stato devastante.
Ero il primo nipote di Pasquale e Josephine Casertano. La mia famiglia è sempre vissuta con i miei nonni. Pasquale scriveva sempre alla sua famiglia a Campobasso fino alla sua morte nel 1963. Mia nonna, Josephine, non parlava ne scriveva l’italiano molto bene, dunque poco dopo la morte di mio nonno, tutte le comunicazioni con i Casertano di Campobasso si fermarono.
Nell’autunno del 2000, mia moglie Mariann ed io cominciammo il nostro viaggio, atteso da tanto, in Italia. Siamo partiti dall’ aeroporto internazionale di Miami e siamo andati a Londra. Da lì abbiamo preso la coincidenza per Nizza, in Francia. Abbiamo passato due giorni in Francia e il terzo giorno ci siamo messi in cammino per l’Italia.
Avevamo progettato il nostro tragitto da mesi. Le nostre destinazioni includevano Santa Margherita, Orvieto, Positano, Amalfi, Ravallo sulla costa Amalfitana, Siena, Assisi, e naturalmente, Campobasso. Eravamo tutti e due eccitati che avremmo finalmente visitato l’Italia. C’erano molti posti che volevamo vedere incluso il luogo di nascita di mio nonno, Campobasso. Non me ne sarei andato via dall’Italia se prima non visitavo Campobasso. Una forte sensazione in me mi diceva che dovevo vedere da dove mio nonno proveniva. Dopo tutto, Campobasso era tutto ciò che sapevo delle mie origini.
Mariann ed io stavamo in Italia da un paio di settimane quando arrivammo a Positano sulla costa Amalfitana. Dopo il nostro soggiorno lì, la nostra prossima destinazione sarebbe stato Campobasso. Campobasso si trova a circa due ore e mezza di guida da Napoli ed è il capoluogo della provincia di Molise, ad ovest della costa Adriatica. Mentre andavamo a Campobasso, il cielo cominciò a scurirsi e cominciò a piovere. Pioveva per un pò poi il sole riappariva ma poco dopo il cielo si scuriva di nuovo e si rimetteva a piovere, poi di nuovo il sole ricompariva e così via. Questa sequenza andò avanti più volte mentre ci avvicinavamo ai limiti della città. Mentre proseguivamo il nostro viaggio verso Campobasso, vidi un segno stradale che diceva “Campobasso – 2,5 chilometri”. Appena dopo aver letto quel segno, un arcobaleno apparve davanti a noi. Abbiamo letteralmente attraversato un arcobaleno nella città! Era un sentimento affascinante che non posso spiegare. Era come se tutti i nostri antenati ci stessero dando il benvenuto. Ci diede i brividi a tutti e due.
Siamo giunti a Campobasso nel tardo pomeriggio. Abbiamo trovato un hotel chiamato “Le Cupolette” fuori città. Per me era molto eccitante perché sapevo che mio nonno e i suoi fratelli provenivano proprio da qui. Ero l’unico Casertano che ebbe l’opportunità di ritornare. Era come un viaggio nel passato. Siamo andati a passeggiare in città. Avevo voglia di dire a tutti chi ero e che mio nonno veniva da qui. Volevo dire a tutti che ero un Casertano, un “italo-americano”. Volevo dire a tutti che un Casertano era finalmente tornato dall’America. Quella sera, chiamai mia madre. Era molto contenta e eccitata perché sapeva che ero il primo Casertano a ritornare da quando i tre fratelli partirono al principio del 1900.
Dopo una cena meravigliosa stile Campobasso, siamo ritornati all’hotel. Mariann andò in camera ed io decisi di rimanere un pò nel lobby. Pensavo che forse avrei incontrato qualcuno che conoscesse la famiglia Casertano. Mi resi conto che questo non sarebbe accaduto visto che nessuno parlava inglese. Ero eccitato di dove mi trovavo. Mentre sedevo nel lobby a guardare il viavai della gente, chiesi un elenco telefonico. Mi ero detto, “vediamo se ci sono dei Casertano nell’elenco telefonico”. Non so cosa pensavo, visto che naturalmente c’erano. Mentre sfogliavo l’elenco telefonico, arrivai al nome Casertano e vidi due Salvatori, Michele, Rafaele, Fabrizio, Francesco e Bianca. Non ero veramente sorpreso di trovare tutti i Casertano nell’elenco telefonico. Nemmeno ero sorpreso di vedere che vivevano tutti sulla stessa strada, a Mascione. Vivere vicino alla famiglia era tipico per gli italiani in America.
Sapevo che mia madre sarebbe venuta a trovarci a Natale, cosi ho chiesto all’impiegato dietro il banco di farmi una copia della pagina che conteneva tutti i Casertano. Volevo fare vedere a mia madre tutti i Casertano che vivevano ancora a Campobasso. L’indomani lasciammo Campobasso e ci avviamo a nord verso Siena. Non posso spiegarne le ragioni, ma mentre lasciavamo Campobasso, sentivo nel mio cuore che sarei ritornato ancora.
Poco dopo il nostro rientro in America, mia madre arrivò per le feste Natalizie. Ero molto ansioso di farle vedere la pagina che avevo copiato dall’elenco telefonico di Campobasso. Quando mia madre vide la lista, si eccitò subito. Cominciò a dire “oh mi ricordo che il nonno scriveva a Salvatore, Nunzio e Rafaele” e cosi via. Era molto eccitata. Sapevo che queste non erano le stesse persone alle quali mio nonno scriveva, ma che sarebbero stati i figli, nipoti e cugini dei parenti che mio nonno lasciò e ai quali scriveva spesso.
Essendo curioso, decisi di scrivere un lettera a Campobasso. C’erano circa sette o otto Casertano nell’elenco del telefono, così dovevo scegliere un nome dove avrei indirizzato la lettera. Ho scelto Rafaele Casertano. La ragione che scelsi Rafaele era perché il fratello di mio nonno, Giovanni, aveva avuto un figlio chiamato Rafaele. Conoscevo Rafaele tutta la mia vita perché era molto vicino a mia madre. Anche se era un cugino al secondo grado, per rispetto l’ho sempre chiamato zio Ralph. Zio Ralph adesso ha 83 anni e vive ancora nella stessa casa che Giovanni comprò molti, molti anni fa a Staten Island, a New York. Era la prima casa che la famiglia Casertano comprò in America.
I nostri amici, Olga e Steve Delpietra di Trieste tradussero in italiano la lettera che avevo scritto per Rafaele in Italia. Spedii la prima lettera a Rafaele nel febbraio 2001. La lettera diceva semplicemente chi ero io, chi era mia madre e che mio nonno Pasquale venne in America nel 1913 con i suoi due fratelli maggiori Giuseppe e Giovanni. Nella lettera chiedevo anche se per caso ci fosse una parentela tra noi, oppure se conoscevano qualcuno a Campobasso con il quale potrei essere apparentato. Ho incluso il mio indirizzo e-mail, ho spedito la lettera sperando di ricevere una risposta.
Avevo spedito la lettera di venerdì. All’ufficio postale mi dissero che ci vorrebbero dai sette ai dieci giorni affinché la mia lettera raggiungesse Campobasso. Cinque giorni dopo mentre stavo al lavoro, mi telefonò mia moglie Mariann. Mariann mi informò che avevo ricevuto un e-mail. Chiesi “da chi?” Mi disse che era da Rafaele, a Campobasso. Chiesi “cosa dice?” Mi rispose “non lo so, è in italiano”. Le ho chiesto di stampare l’e-mail e appena sarei arrivato a casa l’avremmo portata a casa di Olga e Steve per farla tradurre.
Non vedevo l’ora di andare a casa. Eravamo cosi eccitati. Appena arrivato a casa, attraversai subito la strada per scoprire il contenuto della lettera. Olga tradusse la lettera per noi. Scoprimmo che Rafaele era il cugino di primo grado di mia madre. Suo padre, Antonio, era il fratello più giovane di mio nonno. Dunque, anche se mia madre e Rafaele sono cugini, Rafaele e’ più vicino alla mia età che a quella di mia madre.
E' stato un momento estremamente eccitante di scoprire che avevamo ancora parenti che vivevano a Campobasso. Ho sempre saputo che erano da qualche parte in Italia, ma non mi ero mai immaginato che tutti i figli del fratello di mio nonno vivevano ancora incredibilmente a Campobasso. Da quella volta nella quale comunicai con Rafaele fino ad oggi continuo a scrivere a Campobasso, più che altro per e-mail e lettere nella posta normale. Ci siamo anche scambiati le foto. Quando ho ricevuto una foto da Antonio, mi colpì la sua somiglianza a mio nonno – suo fratello maggiore – Pasquale. Ho fatto copie di tutte le foto e le mandai a mia madre nel New Jersey, che a sua volta le fece vedere alle sue sorelle – Lucile a Long Island, Annette in Pennsylvania e suo cugino Rafaelle a Staten Island. Era grandioso poter scambiare le foto cosi.
Un giorno ho ricevuto un altro e-mail da Campobasso. Questa volta non era da Rafaele ma da sua figlia Laura. Laura è mia cugina di terzo grado. Era molto emozionante ricevere un altro e-mail da un altro parente della famiglia Casertano. Laura stava con suo cugino Claudio e si presentavano. Ero molto felice perchè i primi paragrafi erano in inglese e dunque non avevo bisogno che qualcuno me li traducesse. Laura diceva che era molto felice di conoscermi e che sperava un giorno di potere conoscermi in persona e di venire in America. Pensava che il suo inglese non era buono e proseguì scrivendomi in italiano. In tutta sincerità, l’inglese di Laura è molto buono. Spero che un giorno il mio italiano sarà buono come l’inglese di Laura. Le comunicazioni continuarono così avanti e indietro per i prossimi tre anni. Io dissi che sarei eventualmente tornato a Campobasso un giorno, ma non sapevo con esattezza quando. In quei tre anni ci furono alcuni eventi che mi proibirono di tornare presto come lo volevo io. In agosto del 2001, ebbi un’opportunità unica di tornare all’università e prendere il diploma universitario. Il mese dopo un altro evento accadde in America che avrebbe cambiato il nostro modo di vita per sempre. L’11 settembre 2001, dei terroristi attaccarono il “World Trade Center” a New York, il Pentagono a Washington D.C. e un’altro aereo era diretto verso la Casa Bianca quando precipitò in Pennsylvania. Non era il momento giusto per un Americano di andare all’estero, così mettemmo da parte i nostri progetti di viaggio.
Nel 2003, un terremoto vicino a Campobasso uccise più di 25 bambini in una scuola del luogo. Quando seppi che il terremoto era dalle parti di Campobasso, mandai subito una e-mail per essere sicuro che i Casertano non avevano subito danni. Dopo due settimane ancora non mi avevano risposto, così decisi di chiamare Campobasso. Era domenica e chiesi a Olga di venire da noi. Rispose Lucia, la moglie di Rafaele. Quando sentì che era una chiamata dall’America ha subito chiamato Laura. Ci siamo tutti emozionati tanto. Era un momento storico per la famiglia. Era la prima comunicazione a voce per le due famiglie Casertano da quando mio nonno lasciò Campobasso nel 1913. Ne Pasquale, Giuseppe o Giovanni parlarono per telefono con la famiglia rimasta indietro. Mia madre confermò questo fatto. Nessuna chiamata telefonica fu mai fatta. Non penso che la tecnologia telefonica fosse molto buona prima del 1963 e quella che esisteva era molto cara. Era davvero un momento molto emozionante per tutti noi potere finalmente parlarci. In quel periodo avevo iniziato a studiare l’italiano, ma mi dimenticai di tutto quello che avevo imparato nell’eccitamento del momento. Non dimenticherò mai quel giorno. Io e Mariann parlammo con Laura e Rafaele, ma fu Olga a parlare più di tutti. Sono contento che ci fosse per tradurre. Penso che da quel giorno in poi siamo diventati un realtà. Scrivere era bellissimo, ma una volta fatto il contatto a voce, entrammo in un’altra dimensione di parentela.
I contatti via e-mail continuarono e in giugno del 2003, Mariann ed io decidemmo che saremmo ritornati in Italia. Mentre facevamo i piani per il nostro viaggio non eravamo completamente sicuri che saremmo riusciti a partire. La moglie del padre di Mariann stava male ed anche suo padre non era nella migliore salute. Mariann combatte' con questi pensieri per mesi. Avevamo gia le nostre prenotazioni aeree, ma Mariann non voleva dire alla famiglia in Campobasso che venivamo. Non voleva deludere nessuno, incluso noi stessi, nel caso che dovremmo cancellare tutto all’ultimo minuto. Abbiamo atteso per vedere come si svolgerebbero le cose nei mesi successivi.
Avevamo progettato di partire da Miami via Londra con arrivo a Nizza, Francia il 19 ottobre 2003. Avremmo seguito l’itinerario esatto di tre anni prima salvo per un paio di piccoli cambiamenti. Ho spedito una lettera a Campobasso il 29 settembre 2003, dicendo a tutti che venivamo in Italia e che ci sarebbe piaciuto andare a Campobasso e conoscere tutti. Pochi giorni dopo ho ricevuto una lettera da Laura. Tutti erano cosi eccitati come noi. Lucia e Rafaele insistevano a ospitarci.
Siamo partiti da Miami domenica il 19 ottobre per Londra. Dopo uno scalo di sei ore all’aeroporto di Heathrow siamo arrivati a Nizza lunedì 20 ottobre. Durante il nostro soggiorno a Nizza abbiamo visitato la nostra amica Rita Meloni che avevamo conosciuto tre anni prima a Eze, in Francia. La famiglia di Rita proviene originalmente dalla Sardegna. Questo incontro con Rita tre anni prima e tutt’un'altra storia. Abbiamo passato tutto il giorno dopo, martedì 21 con Rita la quale ci fece vedere tutti i punti salienti di Nizza. Il giorno dopo, mercoledì 22, abbiamo lasciato Nizza e ci siamo diretti verso la Riviera Italiana. La nostra prima fermata sarebbe stata Viareggio. Avevamo scelto Viareggio perché era sulla costa e non lontano da Pisa. Avevamo progettato di passare giovedì 23 a Pisa e poi avviarci verso Campobasso venerdì 24 ottobre. Nella sua lettera Laura ci diceva che il momento migliore per venire sarebbe stato nel fine di settimana perché tutti sarebbero stati lì. Sapevo che il 24 ottobre sarebbe stata una data speciale visto che avrei incontrato tutti, ma non sapevo che bella sorpresa ci era stata riservata.
Venerdì mattina, siamo partiti da Viareggio diretti verso Campobasso. Secondo le direzioni che avevo preso da Mapquest, Campobasso era a circa 7 o 8 ore di distanza in macchina. Le direzioni non mi avrebbero portato direttamente a Mascione, che sta a qualche chilometro da Campobasso, ma mi avrebbero portato direttamente nella città. Una volta arrivati nella città avevo un piano. Sarei andato in un bar, pizzeria, gelateria o qualsiasi altro posto dove mi sarei potuto fare capire. Pensavo che con tutto l’italiano che avevo imparato avrei almeno potuto presentarmi. Pensavo dire chi ero e che il mio italiano non era molto buono. Volevo anche dire che l’inglese della mia famiglia non era molto buono e se sarebbero stati cosi gentili da telefonare per me.. Volevo che dicessero alla mia famiglia dove eravamo e se potrebbero venire a prenderci. Non è andato tutto liscio come pensavo. Nel primo negozio non mi hanno capito, il secondo negozio, di tessuti, non aveva telefono, il prossimo negozio, una pizzeria aveva il telefono abilitato solo per le chiamate in arrivo e finalmente dopo la quarta prova, una gelateria, il proprietario fece la chiamata per me. Questa è stata la prima volta che ho dovuto comunicare in italiano. Penso di essermi sbrogliato abbastanza bene visto che il signore fece quella chiamata per me. Ironicamente, anche lui si chiamava Pasquale. Chiamò Laura e le disse dove ci trovavamo. Avevano aspettato la nostra chiamata tutto il giorno. Pasquale mi disse che conoscevano la gelateria e che sarebbero arrivati dopo 10 minuti. Quando tornerò a Campobasso, mi fermerò a trovare anche Pasquale.
Cominciai a sentirmi in ansia. Eravamo estremamente eccitati. Stavo ancora nella gelateria e Mariann stava in macchina ad aspettarmi. Tornai alla macchina per dire a Mariann che sarebbero arrivati presto. Mi ero fermato in una posto di sosta vietata e Mariann era nervosa. Aveva paura che un vigile sarebbe venuto a farle una multa. Le dissi di fare finta di essere ancora a Brooklyn, dove gli Italiani hanno inventato il parcheggio illegale. Dieci minuti dopo, Lucia e Laura arrivarono. Era un momento molto commovente. Ero così eccitato che non trovavo le parole. Non sapevo cosa dire. Ero molto felice. Ci siamo abbracciati e ci siamo guardati meravigliati. Poi siamo andati alla macchina a prendere Mariann. Le tre donne erano così eccitate che saltavano di gioia. Mariann andò con Lucia e Laura venne in macchina con me. Laura ed io provammo a comunicare. Ridemmo molto. Mariann disse che la sua conversazione con Lucia andò molto bene. Era come se ci conoscevamo da sempre.
Ci avviammo verso la frazione Mascione che era a circa 10 minuti. Cominciava a fare buio. Siamo arrivati a casa e ho finalmente conosciuto Rafaele. Era un altro momento molto commovente. Eravamo tutti e due eccitati. Tutti ci abbracciarono e ci diedero il benvenuti. Erano tutti contenti di vederci. Era un momento specialissimo. Ho anche conosciuto Michele, Lena, Francesco e Santina. Poco dopo ho conosciuto Sandro. Poi venne Massimo e poco dopo arrivò anche Marìa. Stavo conoscendo cugini che non sapevo esistevano. Era stupendo. Poi finalmente arrivo Rosaria. Era una bella sorpresa perché non sapevo che Rosaria parlava l’inglese perfettamente. Rosaria è la sorella di Lucia. Aveva vissuto in Australia per vent’anni. Per i prossimi quattro giorni Rosaria ci servì da traduttrice. Quando non c’era e non riuscivamo a capirci, dicevamo simultaneamente “aspettiamo Rosaria”. Ci stavamo tutti divertendo. Lucia, che io ho soprannominato Santa Lucia, cominciò a cucinare e non si fermò un attimo. Il cibo era incredibile. Mangiammo pasta, pollo fresco, pizza, insalata, lasagne, pane fatto in casa e tutta una varietà di dolci. Marìa ci porto il pane e la pizza fatti in casa. Abbiamo anche bevuto il vino di Rafaele e mangiato prosciutto fatto da lui. Era incredibile. Parlammo, mangiammo, bevemmo e parlammo, mangiammo e bevvemmo ancora tutta la notte. Mi ha ricordato le riunioni di famiglia che avevamo quando mio nonno era ancora vivo, più di quarant’anni prima. Era una celebrazione, “Ritorno a Campobasso”. Cominciai a praticare in pieno il mio italiano. Seguii il consiglio della mia professoressa Myria. Mi aveva detto di non preoccuparmi della grammatica o di fare sbagli. “Buttati e parla. E la loro lingua madre e sapranno cosa intendi dire.” Aveva ragione. Tutti mi dissero che parlavo assai bene. Una volta che cominciarono a darmi da mangiare e da bere non mi sono fermato più. Era una notte molto bella.
Era circa l’una di notte. Tutti erano rientrati a casa. Mariann era stanca e andò a letto. Io mi sentivo ancora piena di energia tremenda anche se era tardi e avevo guidato tutto il giorno. Era pura adrenalina. Stavo in cucina con Rafaele, Lucia e Laura. Stavo ancora bevendo il vino di Rafaele e divertendomi molto. Stavo provando a raccontargli della famiglia Casertano in America e altri argomenti in generale che potevo tradurre facilmente. Visto che il mio italiano non era molto buono, ho provato a mantenermi sul semplice. Era un po’ difficile ma nei prossimi giorni sono riuscito a dargli tante informazioni su di noi e ricevere tante informazioni da loro. C’era molto da assorbire. Avevo portati dei documenti di mio nonno che pensavo avrebbero interessato tutti. Lo erano e sono stati anche felici che li avevo portati. Mentre gli facevo vedere quei documenti e provavo a spiegargli in italiano che tipo di documenti erano, Lucia mi fece notare qualche cosa. La faccia di Lucia era illuminata di curiosità e sembrava dire “Roberto, Roberto, cos’è questo e questo?” Stava indicando il documento ufficiale che Pasquale ricevette quando arrivò in America. Guardai cosa stava indicandomi. Anche se era in inglese, era la data. La data era il 24 ottobre 1913. Dopo qualche secondo mi resi conto di perché era così eccitata. Quel giorno era il 24 ottobre 2003. Mariann ed io eravamo arrivati a Campobasso esattamente 90 anni dopo l’arrivo di mio nonno in America. Ci siamo guardati stupiti. Non c’erano problemi di lingua in quel momento. Penso che eravamo tutti un pò in shock. Questo era il terzo segno. Il primo fu l’arcobaleno, Pasquale della gelateria che fece la chiamata era il secondo. Il 24 ottobre era un giorno bellissimo.
I prossimi tre giorni rimarranno nella mia mente per sempre. Cugini arrivavano da tutto Campobasso. Abbiamo conosciuto Salvatore, Angelina, Luca, Alessandra e Chiara. Abbiamo anche conosciuto le sorelle di Rafaele, Angelina, Irene, Carmelina e Elvira. La ragazza di Massimo, Laura, pure venne a conoscerci. Poi abbiamo conosciuto Marco, il ragazzo di mia cugina Laura. La zia di Marco vive a Staten Island e sua madre aveva vissuto là per quattro anni prima di tornare a Campobasso. Non potevo credere che Marco aveva visitato Staten Island. Il suo inglese era molto buono. Che mondo piccolo. Ero un pò deluso di non avere potuto conoscere Claudio, speriamo di farlo la prossima volta. Mia cugina Laura e il suo ragazzo avevano progettato molto per la nostra visita. Volevano farci vedere molto. Ci portarono a Campobasso vecchio e ci diedero un tour della città. Era un’altra lezione di storia. Ero tornato indietro nel tempo provando ad imparare e assorbire cosi tanto della storia della mia famigli in cosi poco tempo. Domenica ci portarono alla chiesa che frequentava mio nonno. Abbiamo anche visto il luogo di riposo dei miei bisnonni, Michele e Irene. Lì ho conosciuto mia cugina Giovanna e sua madre Elvira. Elvira è un’altra cugina di primo grado di mia madre. Giovanna era cosi contenta di conoscerci che cominciò a piangere. Una volta che lei cominciò a piangere non ci volle molto prima che Mariann iniziasse a piangere anche lei. Quel pomeriggio volevo vedere dove mio nonno era nato e cresciuto. Pensavo che mia cugina Laura ci avrebbe portato in macchina, invece facemmo una piccola passeggiata. La casa dove crebbe mio nonno stava a 50 metri. Era la casa accanto al numero 16 di Mascione. Era incredibile. Mi resi conto che tutti i Casertano hanno continuato a vivere a Mascione, lo stesso posto che mio nonno lascio' novant’anni prima.
La prima volta che siamo stati in Italia, nell’autunno del 2000, la prima città che avevamo visitato era Santa Margherita sulla costa Ligure. Era in quel momento che sentivo che l’Italia sarebbe stata molto speciale per Mariann ed io. Avere conosciuto la mia famiglia a Campobasso era molto importante per me. Continuerò a mantenere i contatti e spero di ritornare molte volte. Io e mia moglie non abbiamo figli ai quali passare la nostra eredità italiana. E un eredità della quale sono molto, molto fiero. Pasquale Casertano venne in America quando aveva solo 16 anni. Venne in America per ragioni economiche e per le opportunità che c'erano, e delle quali anch'io ne traggo vantaggio. Gli italiani che vennero in America erano molto forti, fieri e lavoratori. Hanno aiutato a creare l’America forte di oggi. Vorrei che i Casertano a Campobasso si ricordino sempre dei tre fratelli che vennero in America e spero che si ricordino di me come il Casertano che ritornò a Campobasso.
Domenica 26 ottobre 2003, dopo un’altra cena fantastica, la mia famiglia ci presentò una torta sulla quale avevano scritto in inglese “Welcome to the Casertano Family”. Era molto emozionante per noi due e ci arrivò dritto in cuore e incise una memoria che non dimenticheremo mai. Il giorno dopo ci stavamo preparando per la nostra partenza. Saremmo andati in Calabria e poi in Sicilia. Rosaria ci diede una carta telefonica di modo che potevamo chiamarli e fargli sapere dove eravamo e che eravamo arrivati sani e salvi. Lucia e Laura avevano provveduto al nostro viaggio. Ci diedero abbastanza cibo per un mese. Ci hanno anche dato una grossa bottiglia del vino di Rafaele per il viaggio e una bottiglia di olio d’oliva da riportare in America. Lena e Francesco ci hanno dato della salsiccia fatta in casa, delle briosce e delle caramelle. Angelina venne a salutarci e ci portò del formaggio. Abbiamo mangiato tutto il cibo dei Casertano e bevuto tutto il vino dei Casertano per tutto il viaggio in Sicilia. Era bellissimo. Ci rimane ancora dell’olio d’oliva e tutte le volte che lo usiamo, Campobasso e i Casertano vengono menzionati nella nostra conversazione. Ogni volta che parliamo della nostra visita a Campobasso non possiamo fare a meno di sorridere.
Vogliamo ringraziare tutta la famiglia Casertano a Campobasso per avere reso la nostra visita lì cosi speciale e memorabile. Ci ricorderemo sempre il caloroso benvenuto ricevuto da tutti e speriamo potere tornare a Campobasso prossimamente. Vogliamo anche ringraziare di cuore Rafaele e Lucia per averci ospitati durante la nostra visita. E finalmente un grazie di cuore a mia cugina Laura che mantiene le nostre comunicazioni in vita. Grazie Laura.

Ninety Years - End of the Rainbow - Return to Campobasso By Robert Bruno

My name is Robert Bruno. I am second generation Italian American. My parents were born in America and three of my grandparents were born in Italy. I am one hundred percent Italian heritage. My father’s father was from Naples and his mother was from Bari. My mother’s mother, Josephine, was born in New York, but her parents were from Rome. My mother’s name is Rose Casertano and her father was Pasquale Casertano from Campobasso.
I was always familiar with the name Campobasso because Campobasso was the home frequently mentioned by my grandfather. My grandfather came to America through Ellis Island on October 24, 1913. I did not know at the time, but October 24 was going to be a very special date. Pasquale was sixteen years old when he came to America following his two older brothers Giuseppe and Giovanni. They had arrived in America a few years before but I do not know the exact dates. Unfortunately, none of the brothers ever returned to Campobasso or ever saw their family nor did they ever get the opportunity to speak to them again. Lately I realized that it had to be very difficult and devastating for everyone in the Casertano family in Italy. For three brothers to leave a beautiful family and beautiful country never to see anyone again had to be devastating.
I was the first grandchild of Pasquale and Josephine Casertano. My family had always lived with my grandparents. Pasquale wrote to his family in Campobasso until his death in 1963. My grandmother, Josephine, did not speak or write Italian very well, so shortly after my grandfather’s death, the communication with the Casertanos in Campobasso ended. In the fall of 2000, my wife Mariann and I began our long planned trip to Italy. We left Miami International Airport and flew to London where we made our connection on a flight to Nice, France. We spent two days in France and on the third day we headed toward Italy.
We had planned our route for months. Our destinations included Santa Margherita, Orvieto, Positano, Amalfi and Rapallo on the Amalfi Coast, Siena, Assissi, and of course, Campobasso. We were both very excited that we were finally going to visit Italy. There were many places we wanted to see including Campobasso, the birthplace of my grandfather. I would not leave Italy until I visited Campobasso. A strong feeling within told me I had to see where my grandfather came from. After all, Campobasso was all I really knew about my heritage.
Mariann and I were in Italy for a couple of weeks when we arrived in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. Following our stay there, our next destination would be Campobasso. Campobasso was a two and a half hour drive northeast of Naples and the capital of the province of Molise, west of the Adriatic Coast. As we were getting closer to Campobasso, it became very dark and started to rain. It rained for a short time and then the sun came out and shortly thereafter it became dark again, rained, the sun came out again, repeating its prior sequence. This sequence repeated itself several times as we were approaching the city limits. As we proceeded on our drive towards Campobasso, I saw a sign that read “Campobasso 2.5 kilometers.” Shortly after reading that sign, a rainbow appeared in front of us. We actually drove through a rainbow into Campobasso! It was quite a fascinating feeling that I cannot explain. It was as though we were being welcomed by all of my Campobasso ancestors. It brought goose bumps to both of us!
We arrived in Campobasso late in the afternoon. We found a hotel called “Le Cupolette” outside of the city. It was very exciting for me because I knew this is where my grandfather and his two brothers came from. I was the only Casertano who ever had the opportunity to return. It was like traveling back in time. We went into the city and walked around. I wanted to tell everyone who I was and that my grandfather was from here. I wanted to tell everyone I was a Casertano, an “Italo-Americano.” I wanted to tell everyone that a Casertano from America had finally returned! That evening, I called my mother. She was really happy and excited because she knew I was the first Casertano to return since the three brothers left in the early 1900’s.
After a wonderful Campobasso style dinner, we returned to the hotel. Mariann went to the room and I decided to sit around in the hotel lobby. I thought maybe I would run into somebody that knew the Casertano family. I realized that wasn’t going to happen because no one spoke English. I was excited about where I was. While sitting in the lobby “people watching,” I asked the hotel receptionist for a phone book. I said to myself, “let me see if there are any Casertanos in the local phone book.” I don’t know what I was thinking, but of course there would be. As I thumbed through the phone book and came to the Casertano name, I saw two Salvatore, Michele, Rafaele, Fabrizio, Francesco and Bianca. I wasn’t really surprised to see all the Casertanos in the phone book. I also wasn’t surprised that they all lived on the same road, in Mascione, 10 minutes from the center of Campobasso. Living near family was also very typical for Italians living in America.
I knew my mother was coming to visit us for Christmas, so I asked the receptionist at the front desk to make a copy of the page in the phone book that listed all the Casertanos. I wanted to show my mom all the Casertanos still living in Campobasso. The next day we left Campobasso and continued our trip north towards Siena. I can’t explain the reason but as we left Campobasso I felt in my heart that I would return to this place again.
Shortly after our return to America, my mother arrived for the Christmas holidays. I was very anxious to show her the page I copied from the Campobasso telephone book. When my mother saw the list she became very excited. She started saying “Oh, I remember grandpa writing to Salvatore, Nunzio, and Rafaele.” She went on and on. She was so excited. I knew these were not the people my grandfather wrote to but they had to be the sons, nephews and / or cousins of the family members my grandfather left behind and frequently wrote to.
Being curious, I decided that I would write a letter to Campobasso. There were about seven or eight Casertanos listed in the phone book, so I had to choose one name that I could send the letter to. I chose Rafaele Casertano. The reason I chose Rafaele was because my grandfather’s brother Giovanni had a son named Rafaelle. I knew Rafaelle all my life in America because he was very close to my mother. Although he is my second cousin, out of respect I always called him Uncle Ralph. Uncle Ralph is now 83 years old and still lives in the same house that Giovanni bought many, many years ago in Staten Island, New York. It was the first house the Casertano family bought in America.
Our friends Olga and Steve Delpietra from Trieste, Italy translated the letter I wrote to Rafaele into Italian. I sent the first letter to Rafaele in February 2001.The letter basically was an introduction of myself, who my mother was, and that my grandfather Pasquale came to America in 1913 with his two older brothers Giuseppe and Giovanni. In the letter I told him that I wanted to know if we were in some way related; and, if we weren’t related, did he know anyone in Campobasso that I was related to. I included my e-mail address, mailed it, and hoped I would get a response.
I mailed the letter on a Friday. The post office told me that it would take seven to ten days to reach Campobasso. Five days later while I was at work, I received a phone call from my wife Mariann. Mariann informed me that I had received an e-mail. I asked, “from whom?” She said from Rafaele, in Campobasso. I asked, “what does it say?” She said, “I don’t know. It’s in Italian.” I told her to print the e-mail and as soon as I got home we would go to Olga and Steve’s house so that they could translate it for us.
I couldn’t wait to get home. We were so excited. As soon as I arrived home I immediately ran across the street to find out what the letter said. Olga translated the letter for us. It turned out that Rafaelle is my mother’s first cousin. His father, Antonio, was my grandfather’s youngest brother. Although Rafaele is my mother’s first cousin, he is closer to my age than my mother’s age.
It was an extremely exciting moment to find out that I still had relatives living in Campobasso. I always knew they were someplace in Italy but I never realized that all of my grandfather’s brother’s children incredibly were all still there in Campobasso. From the first time I communicated with Rafaele and up to now, I have been communicating with Campobasso, mostly by e-mail and letters by regular mail. We also began sending photos back and forth. When I received a photo of Antonio, it was incredible how much he resembled my grandfather - his older brother Pasquale. I made copies of the photos and sent them to my mother in New Jersey who shared them with her sisters, Lucille in Long Island, Annette in Pennsylvania, and her cousin Rafaele in Staten Island. It was a lot of fun sharing each others photos.
One day I received another e-mail from Campobasso. This time it was not from Rafaele but from his daughter Laura. Laura is my third cousin. It was quite exciting receiving another e-mail from another member of the Casertano family. She was with her cousin Claudio and introduced herself and Claudio to me. I was so happy because the first few paragraphs were in English and I didn’t need to have anyone translate for me. Laura said she was happy to meet me and someday hoped to meet me in person and she hoped someday to visit America. She thought her English was not good and began to write in Italian. For the record, Laura’s English is very good. I hope someday my Italian is as good as Laura’s English.
Communications went back and forth for the next three years. I said I would eventually return to Campobasso to meet everyone someday, but I was not sure when that time would be. Over the next three years certain events took place that prohibited me from returning as early as I wanted to. In August 2001, I had an opportunity that I could not pass up to return to college to earn my Bachelors Degree. The following month an event took place in America that would change our way of life forever. On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and another plane thought to be heading towards the White House was foiled in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t a good time for an American to be traveling abroad so we temporarily put our trip on hold.
In 2003, Italy had an earthquake not far from Campobasso, killing more than 25 children at a local school. When I learned the earthquake was in the vicinity of Campobasso I immediately sent an e-mail to make sure the Casertanos were not harmed. I did not get a response for almost two weeks so I decided that it was time to call Campobasso. It was a Sunday so I called Olga to come over to our house. When the call went through, Lucia, Rafaele’s wife answered. When she heard it was a call from America,she immediately called Laura. We all became very, very excited. It was a historical moment for our family. It was the first verbal communication with the two Casertano families since my grandfather left Campobasso in 1913. Pasquale, Giuseppe, and Giovanni never spoke to any family member on the telephone since they left Italy. I confirmed this information with my mother –no phone calls were made. I don’t believe communication technology was very good prior to 1963 and whatever was available was very expensive. It was truly a moving moment for all of us to speak. At that time I was beginning to study Italian, but whatever I did learn at that point I forgot because I was so excited. I’ll never forget that day. Mariann and I spoke with Laura and Rafaele but Olga did most of the talking. I’m glad she was around to translate. From that day on I think we all became a reality to each other. Writing was great, but once we verbally made contact, we entered into another dimension of the relationship.
We continued to communicate by e-mail and in June of 2003, Mariann and decided that we would return to Italy. As we planned our trip we were not completely sure we would be able to leave. Mariann’s father’s wife was ill and her father had his own health issues. Mariann struggled with this for months. Although we had our flight reservations, Mariann did not want me to tell my family in Campobasso that we were coming. She did not want to disappoint anyone, including ourselves, in the event we had to cancel at the last minute. We waited to see what would take place over the next few months. We were scheduled to depart Miami to London and then on to Nice, France on October 19, 2003. We would follow the exact same itinerary as we had three years before but with a few minor adjustments. I mailed a letter to Campobasso on September 29, 2003, telling everyone that we were coming to Italy and wanted to come to Campobasso to meet everyone. Shortly thereafter I received a letter from Laura. Everyone was as excited as we were. Lucia and Rafaele insisted that we stay with them.
We left Miami on Sunday, October 19 to London, had a six- hour layover at Heathrow Airport and arrived in Nice on Monday, October 20. While in Nice we visited our friend Rita Meloni that we met three years prior in Eze, France. Rita’s family is originally from Sardegna. The meeting of Rita three years prior is a whole other story. We spent the next day, Tuesday, October 21 with Rita. She took us on a guided tour of Nice. The following day, Wednesday, October 22, we left Nice and headed to the Italian Riviera. Our first stop would be Viareggio. We chose Viareggio because it was on the coast and not far from Pisa. We planned to spend Thursday, October 23, in Pisa and then make our way southeast towards Campobasso on Friday, October 24. Laura said in her letter the best time to come was on the weekend, because everyone would be home. I knew that October 24 would be a special date because we would meet everyone, but I didn’t know we would all be in for a wonderful surprise.
On Friday morning, we left Viareggio and continued our journey towards Campobasso. According to the directions I received from Mapquest, Campobasso was about a seven to eight hour drive. The directions would not take me directly to Mascione, which is a few miles outside of Campobasso, but would only direct me into the city. When we arrived in the city I had a plan. I was going to go into a café, pizzeria, gelateria or any other store I could find that would listen to me. I thought with all the Italian that I had learned I would be able to at least introduce myself. I planned on telling them who I was and that my Italian was not very good. I also wanted to tell them that my family’s English isn’t good either so would you help me and call my family for me. I wanted them to tell my family where we were and would they come and get us. Well, it didn’t go as well as I planned. The first store I went into could not help me, the second store, a fabric shop had no phone, the next store a pizzeria had a phone for incoming calls only and finally after the fourth try a gelateria, the owner made the call for me. This was the first time that it was necessary for me to communicate in Italian. I guess I did pretty well because the man made the call for me. Ironically his name was Pasquale. He called Laura and told her where we were. They were waiting all day for our call. Pasquale told me they knew where the gelateria was and would be there in ten minutes. When I return to Campobasso, I plan on visiting Pasquale.
Anticipation and anxiety started to build up. We were extremely excited. I was still in the geletaria and Mariann was down the street still in the car waiting for me. I came back to the car to tell Mariann they would be here soon. We were parked in a “no parking zone and Mariann was getting nervous. She was afraid the police would come and give her a ticket. In ten minutes Lucia and Laura arrived. It was an extremely moving moment. I was so excited I was lost for words. I didn’t know what to say. I was very happy. We hugged each other and just looked at each other in amazement. We then went to our car to get Mariann. The three of them were so excited they were jumping up and down. Mariann went with Lucia and Laura came with me in our car. Laura and I were trying to communicate with each other. We were laughing a lot. Mariann said her communication with Lucia was just fine. We felt like we knew them all our lives.
The four of us headed to 16 Mascione Centre that was about ten minutes away. It was starting to get dark. We arrived at the house and there I finally met my mother’s first cousin Rafaelle. It was another great moment. We were both very excited. We received huge embraces from everyone and a homecoming welcome. Everyone was so happy to see us. It was a milestone moment. I also met Michele, Lena, Francesco and Santina. Shortly thereafter I met Sandro. Then came Massimo and shortly thereafter Maria arrived. I was meeting cousins I didn’t realize I had. It was great. Then finally Rosaria arrived. It was quite a surprise because I had no idea that Rosaria spoke fluent English. Rosaria is Lucia’s sister. Rosaria lived in Australia for twenty years. For the next four days Rosaria was our translator. When she wasn’t there and we couldn’t understand each other we all would say simultaneously “aspetta Rosaria”. It was funny. We were all having a great time. Lucia, whom I nicknamed “Santa Lucia”, began her cooking marathon. The food was incredible. We had pasta, fresh killed chicken, pizza, salad, lasagna, home made bread, and all kinds of desserts. Maria brought the bread and homemade pizza. We also drank Raffaele’s wine and ate his homemade prosciutto. It was incredible. We talked, ate, drank and talked, ate and drank again all night. It reminded me of the family get – togethers’ we had over forty years ago when my grandfather was alive. It was a celebration, “Return to Campobasso”. I began to really get to practice my Italian. I took my teacher Myria’s advice. She said “don’t worry about the grammar or making mistakes, just jump in and speak”. It’s their language they’ll figure out what you’re trying to say. She was right. They said I did pretty well. Once they started feeding me all that wine I really was on a roll. It was a fun night. It was about 1:00 in the morning. Everyone had gone home. Mariann was tired and went to bed. I was still full of a tremendous amount of energy although it was late and I had driven all day. I was on pure adrenalin. I was in the kitchen with Raffaele, Lucia and Laura. I was still drinking Rafaele’s wine and having a great time. I was trying to tell them about the Casertano’s in America and other topics in general that I could easily translate. Because my Italian was not very good I tried to keep it as simple for me as possible. It was a little difficult but over the next few days I was able to convey a lot of information to them about us and I received a lot of information from them. There was a lot to absorb. I brought some of my grandfather’s documents that I thought would be of interest to everyone. They were very interested and were happy I brought them. While showing them the documents and trying to explain in Italian what the documents were, Lucia brought something to my attention. Lucia with exciting expressions on her face was saying “Roberto, Roberto, what’s this, what’s this?” She was pointing to Pasquale’s official document that was used to process him through Ellis Island the day he arrived in America. I looked at what she was pointing to. Although it was in English, it was a date. The date was October 24, 1913. After a few seconds I realized why she was so excited. The day was October 24, 2003. Mariann and I had returned to Campobasso exactly 90 years to the day my grandfather arrived in America. The four of us just looked at each other in amazement. There was no language barrier at that moment. I think we were all freaking out. That was the third sign. The Rainbow was the first, Pasquale from the gelateria who made the phone call was the second. October 24 was a beautiful day.
The three days that were to follow will remain in my mind for the rest of my life. Rafaele had a picture that my grandfather sent to Campobasso over forty years ago. It was a picture of “Tippy” our pet chihuahua sitting on my grandfather’s lap in the living room of the first house my grandfather bought during World War II. It was quite a surprise because I hadn’t seen that picture in over 40 years. Cousins were coming from all over Campobasso. We met Salvatore, Angelina, Luca, Alessandra and Chiara. We also met Rafaele’s sisters Angelina, Lucia, Irene Carmelina, and Elvira. Massimo’s girlfriend Laura came to meet us also. We then met Marco, my cousin Laura’s boyfriend. Marco’s aunt lives in Staten Island and his mother lived there for four years, before returning to Campobasso. I couldn’t believe Marco visited Staten Island. His English was very good. What a small world. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to meet Claudio, hopefully on our next visit. My cousin Laura and her boyfriend Marco had all kinds of plans during our stay. Laura and Marco had so much they wanted to show us. They took us to Old Campobasso and a guided tour of the city. It was another history lesson. I went back in time trying to learn and absorb so much of my family history in such a short time. On Sunday, they took us to the church where my grandfather attended. We also saw the resting place of my great- grandparents, Michele and Irene. There I met my cousin Giovanna and her mother Elvira. Elvira is another first cousin of my mother’s. Giovanna was so happy to meet us she began to cry. Once she started crying it didn’t take long for Mariann to cry. That afternoon I wanted to see where my grandfather was born and grew up. I thought my cousin Laura was going to take us by car to show us where the house was. Instead we went for a short walk. The house where my grandfather grew up was 50 yards away. It was the house next door from 16 Mascione. It was incredible. Laura had another surprise for me. She pointed to the three pine trees that were out in front of the house. Each time my great grandmother gave birth to another child, they would plant a pine tree. My great grandparents Michele and Irene had nine children altogether, seven boys and two girls. Three trees are still standing. I realized that all the Casertanos’ continued to live on Mascione, the same place my grandfather left ninety years ago.
When we first arrived in Italy in the fall of 2000, the first town we visited was Santa Margherita, on the Ligurian Coast. It was at that time I knew Italy would be a very special place for Mariann and I. Meeting my family in Campobasso was very important to me. I plan on keeping my relationship with my family in Campobasso and I hope to return many more times. My wife and I have no children to pass our Italian heritage to. It is a heritage that I am very, very proud of. Pasquale Casertano came to America when he was only sixteen years old. He came to America for economic reasons and an opportunity that he passed on to me. The Italians that came to America were very strong, proud and hard working people. They helped make America become the strong country it is today. I want the Casertanos in Campobasso to always remember the three brothers who came to America, and although it took ninety years, I hope I am always remembered as the Casertano who returned to Campobasso. On Sunday, October 26, 2003 after another wonderful dinner, my family presented us with a cake with an inscription on it in English that read “Welcome to the Casertano Family”. It was so moving for the both of us that it touched our hearts and it inscribed a memory that will remain on our hearts forever. The next day we were preparing for our departure. We were going to head south towards Calabria and then into Sicily. Rosaria gave us a prepaid phone card so we could call them and let them know where we were and that we arrived at our destinations in Italy safely. Lucia and Laura prepared us for our journey. They put together enough food for us to last us a month. They also gave us a big bottle of Rafaele’s wine for our trip and a bottle of olive oil to take back to America. Lena and Francesco gave us some homemade sausage, some croissants and candy. Angelina stopped by to say goodbye and gave us some beautiful cheese. We ate all the Casertano food and drank the Casertano wine all the way to Sicily. It was wonderful. We still have some of the olive oil left and whenever we use it to cook, Campobasso and the Casertano’s always come up in our conversation. Whenever Mariann and I talk about our visit to Campobasso, it brings smiles to both of our faces.
We want to thank the entire Casertano family in Campobasso for making our visit there a memorable one and the highlight of our trip to Italy. We will always remember the warm welcome we received by everyone and we hope to return to Campobasso sometime soon. We also want to give special thanks to Rafaele and Lucia for sharing their lovely home with us during our visit. I also want to thank my cousin Laura for keeping our communication alive. Thank you, Laura.

Magazine article about Carrese

I asked Terre, a beautiful monthly magazine edited by the journalists of Italia del Gusto, to publish an article on Carrese. They accomplished my request with what I post herebelow, stating that there will be others in the near future:

the beauty of Molise...

A few days ago Regione Molise approved their list of "Chain of beauty" in Molise.

We applied for the project, describing what we are doing and where we are going (the promotion of Molise with direct involvement of foreign partners).

Well, among the hundreds of companies / associations / organizations participating, we did the 9th place with a score of 86/100.
:-)
Although we have not won even one euro, we are happy with it. It's a signal, important, that there are those who appreciate our work.

We are preparing for Carrese

The Carrese, a big popular event that becomes celebration of the values of the area, to be rediscovered and re-evaluateed also touristically and economically. This is the leit motif of this year event, that has convinced me to participate enthusiastically to the invitation by the organization and the mayor (and friend) Vittorino Facciolla to give my modest contribution.
My contribution will be as speaker, at the meeting of 30 April (10am) to tell my experience of AADI with the promotion of Molise abroad, and I will bring a fierce Dutch delegation who will come to San Martino to tell us their experience of Molise and... to have fun touring around. Among them there will be also a producer of dairy products, which will compare with colleagues from Molise. And, from London, Rabbi Akiva Padwa, consultant, and Chief Inspector CERIF for the Kosher (Jewish) milk-based products.
Here you can find the full program of events of the Carrese.

The program of the conference where I will participate is this:

Opportunities for tourism development in Molise: the village historical centers

The village, the "old country" is an example perhaps not enough known about how the beauty of a place may come from his life, from respiration, never interrupted, of his daily life.
"Mezz'a terra" of San Martino is a kind of oasis that has no intention to fossilize in the role of the monument but leaves his breath bricks, its walls with the mighty voice of those who live there, as usual. The balance between contemporary history and is a kind of responsibility implied, lived as obvious and natural.

Welcome speech
Mayor of San Martino in Pensilis Mr. Vittorino Facciolla

Speakers
prof. Antonio Minguzzi dean of the faculty of economics of tourism at the University of Molise
prof. Marcello Pastorini President dell'Ecomuseo "Frentani routes" - routes Ecomuseum Frentani: a journey between sea and mountains, in the heart of our villages

Prof. Michael Mancini - The village of San Martino in Pensilis: hints

Dr. Michele Esposto (vice president Nat Ass. Diffuso Hotel) - "Opportunities for developing Spread Hotels in Molise"

Dr. Michael Vitale, chairman Taste of Italy - "The Dutch are buying houses in honor of Molise: the experience of the Friends of Italy"

Dott.Cap Wiertz - "Why we chose Molise" - the contribution of a Dutchman who has chosen to live in Molise.

Dr. Paolo di Laura Frattura (Chamber of Commerce president)

Dr. Sandro Arco, regional culture

Conclusions:
Prof. Antonio D'Ambrosio, historical

Italia al dente + 4: il resoconto - The report

Dus hoe is dit eerlijk?
Heel goed, zou ik zeggen.

Onze stand was rijk, met vele uitstekende producten, en met een goede locatie (de eerste straat rechts na de ingang van de beurs).
Sinds de eerste dag heb ik, Francis en zijn vrouw Pia wij gerealiseerd ... dat we te kort: we hadden veel van de producten te zien, voor het proeven en de verkoop, en we wisten niet wat te doen ...! Gelukkig is de kleine Giulia (5 jaar) heeft ons geholpen om de koffie ... ;-)

In de middag kwam de versterkingen die zeer eenvoudig werk.

Een vreemde aangename Frenzy was op de stand, omdat de Nederlandse bezoekers eisten!
Zij zijn niet de inhoud te kijken of smaak, ze wilden om te lezen over alle producten en ze waren zeer attent en goed geïnformeerd.

Het vlechten van Santa Croce di Magliano is een product dat heeft de grootste nieuwsgierigheid.
We hebben meer dan twee kilo, maar na een paar uur waren ze bijna allemaal klaar, ik had te verbergen wat bleef na de aanslag in de koelkast voor de volgende dag.
Je zult niet geloven hoe vaak ik moest zeggen "Het spijt mij hebben we meer te verkopen, hebben we alleen bereiken voor de proeverij ... Volgende keer zullen we beter voorbereid!

Hoe zit het met de andere producten (kaas en olie Parco dei Buoi van Timperi en Oleificio Molisano, gekonfijt Biosapori en Oasis van de Zon, de wijn Catabbo, koffie Domingo) zijn zeer tevreden en zijn verkocht zeer goed ook.

De Nederlandse wilde kopen en bemonstering!

In wezen alle 6 kwintaal van goederen beschikbaar zijn verkocht.


Bovendien, 2 presentaties van Carrese San Martino werden gemaakt in de film kamer.


Het publiek hoorde presentaties tonen steeds meer belangstelling. Zelfs Onno Kleyn, een van de belangrijkste gastronomische Nederlandse journalisten zag de presentatie. Misschien Onno is het bijwonen van de Carrese, 30 april volgend jaar.

Ook veel Nederlandse reisbureaus en home cinema, zoals een documentaire te schieten op ons, een bezoek aan de stand. Ik denk dat we zullen zien goede dingen ...

Werden verdeeld, ook honderden dvd's, gidsen en brochures in het Engels op de Nederlandse Molise en velen hebben de wens geuit voor een bezoek aan ons in Italië.


En wanneer zij zullen worden in goed gezelschap, want zo veel van hun landgenoten hebben al een tweede huis gekocht in Molise ...

Italia al dente + 4: il resoconto - The report

So how was this fair?
Very good, I would say.

Our booth was rich, with many excellent products, and with a good location (the first right after the entrance of the fair).
Since the first day, I, Francis and his wife Pia we realized ... that we were too short: we had lots of products on show, for tasting and sale, and we did not know what to do ...! Fortunately, the small Giulia (5 years) helped us make the coffee ... ;-)

In the afternoon came the reinforcements that have very simple work.

A strange pleasant frenzy was on the stand, because the Dutch visitors were demanding!
They are content not to look or taste, they wanted to read about all the products and they were very attentive and well informed.

The braid of Santa Croce di Magliano was a product that has had the greatest curiosity.
We brought over two kilos, but after a few hours they were almost all finished, I had to hide what remained after the assault in the fridge for the next day.
You will not believe how many times I had to say "I am sorry we have more to sell, we only reach for the tasting ... Next time we will better prepared!

What about the other products (cheese and oil Parco dei Buoi of Timperi and Oleificio Molisano, preserved Biosapori and Oasis of the Sun, the wine Catabbo, coffee Domingo) are very pleased and have been sold very well, too.

The Dutch wanted to buy and sampling!

In essence, all 6 quintals of goods available have been sold.


Moreover, 2 presentations of Carrese San Martino were made in the film room.


The audience heard presentations showing increasingly great interest. Even Onno Kleyn, one of the most important gastronomic Dutch journalists saw the presentation. Perhaps Onno is to attend the Carrese, April 30 next year.

Even many Dutch travel agencies and home cinema, like to shoot a documentary on us, visited the stand. I think we will see good things ...

Were distributed, also, hundreds of DVDs, guides and brochures in English on Dutch Molise and many have expressed a desire to visit us in Italy.


And when they will be in good company because so many their countrymen have already purchased a second home in Molise ...