meet me at meet me at
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mazzaro’s Secrets of an Italian Deli KURT CUCCARO
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Meet Me at Mazzaro’s Copyright © 2016 by the Cuccaro Family Photographs copyright © 2016 by Amy Pezzicara All rights reserved. No portions of this book may be copied or distributed without express written permission of the author and Story Farm, LLC. Published in the United States by Story Farm, LLC. www.story-farm.com Printed in China Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request. ISBN 978-0-9966038-6-7 Editorial director: Ashley Fraxedas Art director: Lauren Eggert and Amanda Bardwell Front cover design: Amanda Bardwell Project manager: Kurt Cuccaro Editorial assistant: Marcie Oliveira Copy editors: Mick Lochridge, Eva Dougherty and Billie Jo Iles Indexing: Amy Hall Production management: Tina Dahl 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition
Dedicated to all our family and loyal customers who keep the flavor of the old neighborhood
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contents origins caffe pasta cheese salumi bread deli meats fish vegetables oil wine sweets acknowledgements index 6 mazzaro’s book title
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CHAPTER 1
ORIGINS & the family Mazzaro’s has evolved over years of tinkering, experimenting, evolving and, of course, a lot of tasting. Here we explain how this maze of a family market came together all under, well, a few roofs.
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he first-timer doesn’t know where to start at Mazzaro’s. Or what to do. Do you enter through what looks like an old Vespa repair shop, the Ferrari store, somewhere on the bright rainbow of shops lining the way? Or between the brick columns and the walls of rubbled rocks and stones? That’s the right choice. It opens into a trophy room of old Piaggio scooters, a leaping shark and the first of hundreds of our antique coffee urns, grinders, espresso machines and moka pots. Not to mention the countless statues of angels, saints Mary, Joseph and Francis and pictures of more modern icons—our ancestors in their Sunday best, or Brando, Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Keep moving. Make your way past the cashiers, piles of tomatoes and greens, the meat counter and the fish on ice (you can come back for that).
we understand that you’re probably baffled at this point. do you shop, eat or stare in awe? We understand that you’re probably baffled at that point. There are hundreds of wines to the right, a world of cheeses in a dark cave, spices to the left and more pandemonium ahead. A cascade of coffee, a deli case that won’t quit, more salami than you’ve seen outside of Brooklyn—or was it that place in Chicago? And oh, those breads and cookies and pastries—more than in all of New Jersey, possibly. Endless shelves of olive oil, a zoo of pasta shapes, and then there’s the beer garden. Hungry yet? Do you shop, eat or stare in awe at the wild boar head, the pastel roadside shrine around the restrooms or the cool Italian postwar bicycle hanging from the ceiling? Over there, behind the wooden racks of bread, there’s an old door of frosted glass with a handlebar moustache painted
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on it. On the balcony above, someone left an accordion and a longhaired cat. Smell the garlic from kitchen and the fresh bread the bakers wheel by. Before you take a number—it takes four lines to keep some sense of order—it’s best to snag a seat at the coffee bar, get a doppio of espresso, catch your breath and check your bearings. Where are you? Somewhere between the old-neighborhood bakeries and butcher shops of Boston’s North End, Little Italy in Manhattan, San Francisco, St. Louis or our part of Pittsburgh and the old-world bakers and winemakers of Italy from the Alps to Sicily. When is it? At least 50 years ago, maybe 150, when not all bread and all salami tasted the same, and when cheeses were shaped by hand and time. Food was fresh and handmade, and meals were family affairs. Nothing instant, shrink-wrapped or mass-produced. Who thought up all this delicious, chaotic craziness? We did, right here in St. Petersburg, Florida.
It could have started when Kurt first went out on one of Bill Trappman’s shrimp boats; or maybe when Kurt’s mother, Pat, couldn’t find good bagels in St. Pete; or when Kurt’s father, Sam, roasted his first batch of coffee beans; or when Cindy became fascinated by the many smells and tastes of tea. Clearly, Mazzaro’s is a product of a family—a distinct family. And in our own way, “We’re just crazy,” Miss Pat says. Smart too, and ready to tackle new ideas, even if we have to learn from the bottom rung. Above all, we’re hardworking—every day, always on the go throughout the store, the back rooms and the bakery. You wouldn’t believe Pat is 78. Which is one reason we close at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Mind you, that’s a half hour more than we used to be open. Why so early? We’re tired, and our crew needs time off too. Of course, we never stop thinking or messing with new projects. Like last year during our annual summer week vacation, when the store was completely closed, Sam was back inside supervising the dismantling of our first brick oven. When we got to St. Petersburg in the early
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1980s, we’d never been in any kind of food business. Sam and Pat had run a fleet of seven trucks that hauled industrial trash in Pittsburgh, based in McKees Rocks—a tough, industrious borough across the river that built and repaired America’s locomotives and rail cars. “My parents weren’t what we call ‘foodies’ then,’’ says Kurt. But like their neighbors, they had good appetites and particularly high standards. “They used to go to a particular place for fried chicken, and for bagels we’d go over to Squirrel Hill,” a place lined with kosher butcher shops and bakeries. “The place we hung out was the Strip District,” Sam says, referring to Pittsburgh’s famous food wholesale market. That’s where restaurateurs bought supplies, and delicatessens and Italian stores catered to ethnic shoppers and sweaty deliverymen. It also is the home of Primanti Bros., a restaurant that put french fries on hoagies more than 50 years ago. McKees Rocks itself had a few mom and pop restaurants, a kettle of immigrant flavors—Italian, Polish, German and Ukrainian—fixed by cooks who had not lost their ancestors’ traditions, including the Cuccaros and Pat’s family, the Mazzaros. All of them had small independent bakers, butchers, pork stores and produce people who sold fresh goods or imported the best from the old country. Our families had already been in America for two generations after leaving southern Italy. Sam’s dad was a machinist and Pat’s worked in strip mining, when they met as kids. They were 3 at the time. When the Mazzaros sold their trucking
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fleet and landed in Florida, it was time for something new. Kurt was just out of high school, Cindy not quite, and Sam and Pat weren’t thinking about retiring. Like other transplants to Florida, they were thinking about seafood. So Kurt went shrimping, Sam and Pat went to work, and soon the 4th Street Shrimp Store was in very colorful business. It sold shrimp and other fish retail, but mostly big shrimp and clam baskets spilling over with fries. Boats and paddles hung from the rafters, while cigar-store Indians and ship captains crowded the dining room. The walls inside and out were peopled by hundreds of whimsical caricatures painted by muralist Steve Johnson. It was the first big helping of Cuccaro style. The next project for us was finding good bagels, bialys too. With none to be found, we learned to boil and bake our own and created St. Pete Bagel Co. And eventually opened six more bagel shops around Tampa Bay.
cuccaro abroad Sam and Pat Cuccaro had never traveled outside the U.S. until they were 60. They did want to see the Italy of their ancestors, but there was too much work to be done. Once Mazzaro’s was up and running, they got their chance. And they’ve been back 18 times in the past two decades. They’ve been all over—from Venice to Palermo—eating, shopping and always looking at anything curious, famous or otherwise. Miss Pat’s favorite: the flat bronze ruler under glass in Bologna’s city hall that shows the official size of noodles for pasta alla Bolognese. Now a seasoned traveler, Miss Pat has three pieces of advice. Stay cool: When to go? That’s easy. The weather is best and crowds are smaller in May and September. That gives you a taste of spring or a bite of the full fall harvest.
Yet bagel eaters needed something to drink, and keeping six locations stocked with commercial coffee wasn’t good enough for us. Especially when we knew people were drinking better and better coffee (Starbucks hadn’t found its way here back then), and roasting coffee was one more trade Sam could learn and master. We could serve our own brew with bagels and sell beans and fresh ground coffee to take home.
Forget the resorts: The Cucarros don’t look for the serenity of a luxury hotel on a Tuscan hillside. They want to see and taste how people live and work in the cities as well as the country. On some trips, friends guide them to special places, but more often they travel on their own energy and wits.
We were roasting in a small industrial space down 22nd Avenue N, which led us to our current home, the old Fridella Sausage Company.
Stay focused: “We like to pick a fairly urban city—be it Rome or Palermo—and stay there, but every day we take a bus or a train out to some little village. We get to see a lot more,” she says.
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varra and Chef Robert W. Smith, who tower over most of the staff. Distinct in black-and-brown chef’s pants and jackets, only our top culinarians in the kitchen and pastry stations wear the black-and-brown.
Fridella made Italian sausage and sold pizza, cheese, tomato sauce and other imported goods wholesale to the mom and pop Italian restaurants in town. The building was a large, plain white warehouse and much larger than Fridella needed. But not larger than Sam’s imagination. Plenty of room for coffee roasters and sacks of beans, and … well, you can see what we’ve done. First, we moved our coffee roasting operation. Then we brought in California’s pioneer modern baker to help us build a wood-fired oven. Eventually we had a booming bakery department, a deli, a complete kitchen, a beer garden patio, vast wine and cheese departments, a butcher shop, a fish counter, a houseware store—all covering nearly a whole block, and we’re still running out of room. As wonderful as this is to the eye, the food at Mazzaro’s is a more amazing playground for taste buds and nostalgic memories. We have old pasta shapes you haven’t seen since your nonna cooked them, two-fisted hoagies, crusty breads warm from the oven, perfect lasagna and hot soup, espresso just like the old men used to drink all day, ooey-gooey dresserts,
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beef we dry-age ourselves, fresh fish and a garden of bright fruits and vegetables. Taste carefully, and our inventory will take you further and further back to the old world. For millenia, farmers and craftspeople made their food by hand and with the seasons. They used time itself, along with sun and smoke, and salt and vinegar, to preserve their meat, milk, grains and grapes for the winter or for trade. This resulted in a vast array of salami, cheese, pasta and wine that was different in every village and valley. Those traditions remain, and we have collected as many as possible for you to try: the famous cured hams and huge wheels from Parma, the spicy salamis of Calabria, the squid-ink pasta like Venice’s and the pesto from Liguria. And wines to match, from 19 of Italy’s 20 regions. Our family is much bigger too. We can’t do it all. It takes almost a village—a crew of practically 100 chefs, prep cooks, bakers, baristas, cheesemongers, counter people and wine experts from all over the world. The big pillars are Executive Chef Ben DeNa-
Chef Ben is St. Pete born and bred, with a culinary education, which included his first stint with building Italian sandwiches at our deli counter. He still serves as one of the sandwich masterminds; if the sandwich of the day has ham, chicken, fresh mozzarella and cranberry, Ben created it (with a few bites from Kurt). Ben’s greatest pride is the imaginative menu at the Annata Wine Bar, where he spices lamb ragu and pappardelle with chevre and mint, and cooks up wildly delicious combinations like scallops with corn, tomatoes, bacon … and pickled jalapenos and cilantro. Chef Robert is a Brooklyn guy with more than 15 years here in Tampa Bay. His palate travels the globe llike a culinary pirate. Behind the red beard is a taste for Asian and Latin flavors and an eagerness to play kitchen improv with whatever comes through our doors to produce the day’s smorgasbord in our deli case. He loves the new growers and cheeses of California and the old-school feel of taking trips back to Bayshore just to hear the pizza oven door open and close like it did in his youth. Another key member of Mazzaro’s is both a Ben and a Smith. Chief baker Ben Smith worked many jobs before Sam talked him into trying baking at our first bakery. He’s been at it for 18 years and probably a million loaves, and now has a mastery of baking in all
The Disney of 22nd Avenue Sam Cucarro, the quiet fellow in the flat cap and trim moustache, didn’t start out to build an amusement park for foodies. But it’s turned out to be a perfect career for his genius. He was named Narsete at birth, after the great Roman general, and grew up on the industrial side of Pittsburgh. He spent years running and fixing a fleet of trucks hauling away rubbish and waste from commercial businesses before moving to Florida. That experience gave him fearless mechanical powers, a love of wheels, a natural bent for recycling and an eye for finding aesthetic appeal in almost anything old and forgotten. His work in Florida evolved constantly; first, he bought real estate, then became a seafood merchant, a bagel maker and a coffer roaster. He never met a refrigerator, an oven, a motor or an empty space he didn’t try to fix, paint or beautify. “When we had the 4th Street Shrimp Store, he and my mom were always coming in with things for the wall or the ceiling,’’ Kurt remembers. Soon everything was covered, inside and out, including our first murals. It still is. Our current building is Sam’s master work. Everywhere you look, you see a colorful, artistic and mechanical savvy worthy of an imagineer at Walt Disney World. No wall is plain, everything can be improved with a mural, a faux door or a window complete with a fortune teller or a Renaissance prince looking out. Behind them is artist Herbert Scott Davis, a local painter who is adept at classic, realist or spiritual artwork. Every niche, ledge and nook is filled with a statue or old coffee urn, and where there were none, Sam created them and then added a host of religious statuary and Italian relics. Sam’s imagination spills well out into the parking lot with large concrete horse statues, a wooden boardwalk cutout for picture-taking and Sam’s colorful rolling stock of Fiats, Serbian Zastavas and other pint-sized retro European vehicles. His favorites are old Italian three-wheelers, much smaller than the big trucks he used to command, but equally hardworking vehicles designed to handle narrow lanes in the heart of Genoa or Naples. They’re still in use today in cities all over Europe. One small vintage Piaggio Ape made in Pisa carries an 8-foot model of an Auricchio provolone that looks more like a mobile rocket launcher. He also likes the Empolini three-wheeled mini-trucks made in Milan decades ago. One of ours has a wooden cargo bed and is painted in the folkloric colors of a traditional Siciilan donkey cart. Don’t ask if they work. With Sam around, they have to. But they’re not making deliveries now; they have another job. “You have to give the people something to see.” Next on his list are an old Sicilian pony cart and a 40-foot gondola from Venice, “the old kind. They’re getting hard to find.” “We don’t want this to be a regular store.” That will never happen.
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casa di mazzaro
Our endless search to provide you with the best that Italy has to offer couldn’t be contained to just one building. Say ‘hello’ to Casa di Mazzaro. Casa di Mazzaro Once you have all those fabulous ingredients at Mazzaro’s, we want you to have the best in pots and utensils to cook with, and all the bowls and plates for a table as beautiful as your food.
before electricity. We have Japanese teaware made of classic Arita porcelain. Our English stoneware mixing and pudding bowls from Mason Cash & Co. haven’t changed in 100 years.
So we started hunting for ideas, old and new, from around the world and came up with so many useful things that Mazzaro’s would have to be twice as big.
However, a lot has changed in materials and design for cooking led by European companies like Bodum, Bosko and Joseph Joseph, and especially by Italian firms like Alessi. The Bialetti company, which created the moka pot, keeps on innovatng with clever ideas such as an aluminum pasta pot with a locking colander top in shiny, electric colors.
Now it is. Come next door to the green building we call Casa di Mazzaro, a kitchenware shop as big as the market but not as hectic. Visually, it’s still pure Mazzaro’s. You enter through the mouth of a huge gargoyle that Sam and Pat photographed in Rome and had recast here. Inside, statues of angels and gryphons watch over a multitude of kitchen gear in old ceramic-white, cast-iron black, cool neons and the latest LeCreuset rainbow. We should call it Casa di Cindy because the chief tastemaker is Cindy Richmond, our daughter who inherited Sam’s passion for design and turned it into a career as an interior decorator.
Some of Cindy’s biggest sellers are made of very modern silicone, a space-age plastic now used in everything from ovenproof loaf pans from Lekue in Barcelona to flowery suction pot lids from Charles Viancin in France. They’re not novelties, Cindy can attest: They work. To set your table, we have textiles of various styles, paperware with antique engravings and unique serving pieces such as trays cut from slabs of pink Himalayan salt.
She is constantly searching for the best for kitchens and tables. Her taste is wide ranging. She flirted with spare modern style in college, but now she’s more at home with European and especially Mediterranean looks.
If you want to mull over your selections, stop in the back for a spot of tea. Cindy was a tea lover before tea came into fashion. “I always loved tea. Me and my dad, we’re the tea drinkers in the family.”
They can be as old as the traditional ceramic platters, pitchers and bowls from Campania, outside Naples. We have them hand-painted in Cava de’ Tirenni and Vietri sur Mare by artisans whose traditions have been famous for centuries.
So she’s assembled a big choice of teapots, kettles and infusers. We have 60 some imported teas. Cindy’s favorites include mango and raspberry as well green, black and rooibos varieties. And local wild honey for a Florida sweetener.
Much of our Italian pasta-making equipment is made of wood and powered by hand cranks, as it was
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forms, sweet and savory. He has more than 40 bread recipes and countless cookie, cake and pastry doughs. Our staff comes from all backrounds and ethnic heritages, but share worldly expertise and a love of neighborhood spirit. The “cheese lady” in red pigtails, Hope, came from Tampa’s Pane Rustica; Italian wine expert Robert came from world-famous Bern’s Steak House; Robin, who runs the meat department, was a preschool teacher 15 years ago; Julie in produce is licensed in pharmacy and culinary; Anthony grew up in New York delis and salami packing, and is pure Italian-American.
Carlos is from Mexico. You’ll find them all in every corner of Mazzaro’s. Although we have defined departments and duties, most of our staff can sub in for other departments. In a rare hands-free moment, they may grab a mystery novel from the unofficial lending library that Dominic set up in an empty produce box in the store room. What really makes Mazzaro’s lovably crazy is all of you who make up our extended family. That’s the most important part of what we’ve built.
Not everyone is, though. Head barista Kirsten’s family comes from Croatia, while Fay at the bakery counter is proudly Greek, and sous chef
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CHAPTER 3
Pasta and gr ains From angel hair to cappelletti and all the shapes and sizes in between, pasta is a staple on every Italian family’s plate—for many good, delicious reasons.
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paghetti and macaroni have been on Italian-American tables everywhere for the past century. In the 1900s, every sizable city had its own “macaroni factory.” In Pittsburgh, there was Viviano Macaroni (a.k.a. Vimco) and the Sunseri Brothers (aka PennMac). In Tampa, it was the Ferlita Macaroni Factory in West Tampa and Ybor City. Today, Mazzaro’s Italian Market can import from a dozen Italian pasta makers, both the grand old names and tiny artisans from Naples to Bologna and Genoa, including some who have been in business for more than 200 years. All have their own parade of shapes, sometimes numbered as high as 100, and each with its own romantic name. Although a small number, like a No. 3 angel hair, for example, usually means the diameter is smaller than, say, a No. 6 spaghetti, each company has its own numbering system. Once you get into twists and short cuts, the numbers are nearly impossible to compare. Sorting them out is another example of the amazing diversity—and great fun—of Italian cooking. Or at least we think so.
fresh pasta is its own joy. mazzaro’s makes it daily, as do many home cooks in italy. More than 2,000 years ago, Etruscans first mixed water and flour to make pasta, with contributions from Greeks and Arabs along the way. Over the centuries, pasta was made by hand and took more than a hundred forms, each shape molded by hand differently in each village and then hung to dry in the sun. When cooked, each got its own sauce of local ingredients and tradition. You can still imagine those old hand motions if you look closely at shells, tortellini or strozzapreti. Since the late 19th century, pasta shapes have been carefully cut and pulled from bronze dies. The thickness, curves, ridges and ruffles—even the flattest linguine has a rough surface—determine the taste and texture of the pasta and its ability to hold a sauce or spice.
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seafood, vegetables, fresh tomatoes and citrus.
Corzetti Szgnerelli
Radozatori
Strozapreti
Farfelle
Pappadelle
fusilli From Naples, these corkscrews initially were made by wrapping the dough around a knitting needle like a spindle. Often served with tomato and ricotta, but also good with just olive oil, garlic and green vegetables. garganelli Egg pasta from Bologna that resembles penne, but the pasta is folded over and is not a perfect tube. Sometimes ridged. Always good with meaty sauces or prosciutto and peas. gemelli An intriguing shape called “twins,” but is made of just one noodle twisted around itself. Best for casseroles. Holds lots of flavor. Also good for light tosses
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linguine From the Genoa area, a wide, flat noodle. Good with tomatoes and herbs, anchovies, peppers, cheese sauces and seafood, especially clams. mafalda Flat, wide noodles with ruffled edges like lasagna, but thinner. Short cut or long. Good with creamy sauces. Also called “mafaldine.”
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Linguine
manicotti Very large tubes like cannelloni that are designed to be filled, often with cream and cheese, and baked in tomato sauce. Dried or fresh, the way we make them.
mandala Contemporary high de-
a smooth surface; rigati are ridged; pennette are shorter and smaller, better with beans and vegetables; pennoni are larger and wider. paccheri Short, fat rings of noodles, often ridged. From southern Italy. Good with thick sauces. pici Long, thick noodles handshaped from Siena.
maccheroni Italian for “macaroni.”
racchette A novelty pasta shaped like a tennis racket.
mista corta A mix of short cuts from elbows and penne to fusilli.
radiatore Looks somewhat like corkscrew pasta, but squat and hollow. Engineered in the 1960s to look like an old-fashioned Italian radiator with fins.
mostaccioli “Little mustache;” another term for smooth penne. orzo Named for grains of barley, this small, tapered pasta was once
Large, twisted shells that look like snails. Good in chunky sauces or most recipes for shells or elbows.
and salads.
0recchiette
sign of ridged tubes rolling wavelike over each other. From French designer Philippe Starck and similar to the Marille by Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
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made by rolling it between one’s hands. It’s traditional for soups, but now is used in stews, salads and added to risotto and pilafs in Greece and the Middle East. orecchiette Sometimes called “little ears,” they also resemble broad hats worn in Puglia. Excellent with ricotta sauces. A favorite with broccolini and sausage. penne From Campania, a hollowed tube cut on the bias, like the end of a quill. Takes various forms: Lisci have
rigatoni From Naples, ridged, slightly curved tubes. Good with thick sauces and often baked. rotelle Also called wagon wheels, but look more like gears with a ridged outside surface. Good with cheese and cream sauce, or in soups. A children’s favorite. rotini From northern Italy, a 1.5-inch- to 2-inch-long corkscrew spiral with a tight twist. Great for catching light sauces, or served cold in pasta salads. Also called “scrotini.” sacchettini Sacks or purses stuffed with cheese and other fillings. Great in broths. sagnarelli Flat rectangles with a ragged edge. Good with cream sauces.
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MAKE S 8 SE RVI NGS
NOTE For al dente pasta, cook for 9 minutes. Add some butter if ya want to. Be sure to salt the water.
Gorgonzola Ravioli
with White Wine Beurre Blanc Gorgon zol a a nd w a l nut s a re a c l a s sic com bi n at ion ; add m a s c a r p one, a nd it i s one of t he most i ng u lge nt f i l l i ngs we h ave, of te n u s e d i n m a n icot t i , c a n ne l lo n i or f resh r av iol i . M a k i ng you r ow n r av iol i i s e a sie r t h a n you t h i n k , a nd we h ave a l l t he to ol s you ne e d at C a s a d i M a z z a ro.
MAKE FILLING
INGRE DIE NTS
In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, place walnuts and parsley and finely chop. Add Gorgonzola and mix thoroughly. Add mascarpone and mix thoroughly once more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
GORGONZOLA FILLING 8 ounces toasted walnuts
Use as a filling for your favorite ravioli or manicotti.
MAKE BEURRE BL ANC In a sauté pan, sweat shallot in oil until translucent. Add vinegar and wine, then reduce liquid by half. Slowly add heavy cream, then add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over your favorite ravioli or manicotti.
2 sprigs parsley 8 ounces Gorgonzola dolce 16 ounces mascarpone cheese Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
BEURRE BLANC 1 tablespoon chopped shallot ½ tablespoon olive oil 1 cup sherry vinegar 1 cup white wine 1 cup heavy cream 4 ounces butter, softened Salt and pepper
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CHAPTER 4
cheese fRESH & AGED
In Italy, cheese is as old as the first flocks and herds on the mountain. Turning their milk into cheese was a very early cottage industry in ancient farms and villages, each one different—delicious traditions we can taste today.
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Canestrato An amazingly complex table cheese from Moliterno in southern Italy. Made from 70 to 90 percent sheep’s milk and 10 to 30 percent goat’s milk and aged for at least 60 days. Very full-flavored with hints of grass and nuts in a dense, flaky texture.
sheep’s-milk cheese is a wonderful representation of the grasses and herbs that the sheep grazed on. Smooth and condensed texture, with sweet, herbal flavors. castelrosso A whole cow’s-milk cheese from Piedmont with three layers, ranging from smooth and creamy to firm and curdy. An earthy, almost toasty flavor with hints of citrus. A rare and ancient cheese we are very thrilled to have when we can get it. crescenza Also known as stracchino, a young, rindless cow’s-milk cheese from northern Italy. Soft and creamy with a mild and delicate flavor. Made from the milk of “tired” cows, which are said to produce higher levels of butterfat. Mostly eaten on its own and occasionally used as a filling for focaccia. crucolo From the Trentino-Alto Adige region bordering Austria
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and Switzerland, this raw cow’smilk cheese is soft and mild with a rich and buttery flavor. Similar to Asiago fresco. fiore sardo DOP A raw sheep’smilk cheese from Sardinia that is the epitome of local cheese tradition. Aged for 4 months, this cheese is rustic, firm, piquant and sheepy. Similar to the manchego of Spain. fontal Mostly made in the Trentino province. A semifirm, mild, nutty pasteurized cow’s-milk cheese that melts like a dream. Much milder and less pungent than fontina val d’aosta. fontina val d’aosta A raw milk Alpine cheese from Piedmont near France. A semifirm, washed-rind, rich and earthy legend that never disappoints. The star ingredient in fonduta (Italian fondue) and one of our best-selling cheeses. ginepro Another raw milk pecorino, this time from Lazio outside Rome. Soaked in balsamic vinegar and rubbed in juniper before being aged for at least 4 months. A dark-brown, almost black rind gives way to a unique and unusual “gin” flavor. Very cool. gorgonzola DOP A blue cheese mainly produced in Piedmont and Lombardy. Made from whole cow’s milk, there are two different styles: piccante is compact and crumbly, strong and robust; dolce is soft, creamy and buttery with a mild sweetness.
grana A large class of hard, mature cheeses that are perfect for grating.
Monte Enebeo
Rabusano
gorgonzola cremificato Made from the morning milk of cows in Lombardy, this thick, rich blue is pungent and sweet with a heavy, ooey-gooey paste that caves in when you cut it! Very special stuff that we savor when we have it.
26-Month-0ld Gouda
grana padano DOP Extremely popular part-skim cheese is aged for at least 5 months. The name comes from grana, or grain, for its granular texture, and Padano for the Po Valley that stretches across northern Italy. Basically, a young Parmesan that is fruitier and less sharp than Parmigiano-Reggiano, more affordable and easy to grate.
Caciocavallo Avonlea Clothbound
il pastore A semihard sheep’s milk from Sardinia that’s aged for approximately 3 months. Nutty, buttery and full-flavored. Completely pleasant and satiating.
Avricchio 3 Year 0ld Provolone
mascarpone A buttery, rich double-cream cheese that’s really just curdled cream. Delicate, lovely and the key performer in tiramisu. Yet beyond that, it is a very versatile cheese. mazzaro’s fresh mozzarella Hand-stretched from curd every morning at Mazzaro’s by a skilled barella (stretcher). We sell it warm every day, when it is soft and buttery and ready to eat! A legendary item at our store. moliterno An aged sheep’s-milk
Grana Padano
0ssau Iraty Fermier
0rganic Manchego La Tur m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 51
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Fulvi Pecorino Romano
Fresh Mozzeralla
0ccelli In Chestunt
Delice De Bourbonne
The Perfect Cheese Plate The beauty of a cheese plate lies in the diversity, not the number of cheeses. The more the merrier, but three large pieces will be plenty if you offer cow’s-milk, sheep’s-milk and goat or soft, semifirm and aged. And give them something odd, bleu or stinky for fun.
Why so blu? Whether you call it mold or antibacterial medicine, Penicillium
roqueforti and Penicillium glaurum have made great cheese blue, bleu or blu for 2,000 years. The
Mimo Lette
Gorgonzola
Cave Aged Gruyere Rouge
first we know of came accidentally,
Paski Sir
when cheese was aged in French caves with the right temperature and moisture, then in Lombardy and the Piedmont region in the
Bica
ninth century. Smart farmers created more penicillin by leaving bread in the same caves. Today the bacteria is carefully cultivated and mixed in with the fermenting milk or curds, or injected later. In some cases, cheese makers spike the cheese to
Talebbio
let air in and create space for the mold to expand. Biochemistry at
Shropshire Blue Pecorino Il Pepe Niro
its smoothest—and discovered by peasants.
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MAKE S 10 SE RVI NGS
Tortellini and Mozzarella Salad Su re , tor te l l i n i f rom B olo g n a a nd Mo de n a a re g re at i n brot h a nd s oup s , but t h i s re f re s h i ng, c h i l le d s a l ad combi ne s tor te l l i n i w it h g r ap e tom ato e s a nd c i l ie g i n i , t he s m a l le st moz z a re l l a b a l l s we m a ke . Wit h c he e s e -f i l le d tor te l l i n i , it ’s a g re at me at le s s s u m me r e nt re e .
MAKE SAL AD
INGRE DIE NTS
Blanch tortellini in boiling water. Drain and let cool completely.
1 pound fresh tortellini
Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add mozzarella, bell peppers, red and green onions, and parsley. Drizzle oil and vinegar over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
1 pound fresh ciliegini 4 ounces red and green bell peppers, diced 1/2 inch ounces diced red onion 1 stalk green onion, finely sliced 6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, chopped 3 tablespoons roasted garlic– infused oil 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar Salt and black pepper
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CHAPTER 5
Salumeria & the salumeri What started as a method of preserving is now an art form served alone, between pieces of bread or, really, any way you want. However you slice it, salami deserves its own chapter.
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LU M E RIA
Culatello nduja Peppery, spreadable salami, something like Calabria’s own liverwurst.
Felino Salumi
pancetta Italian bacon, cured but rarely smoked, usually rolled into a circular shape. Good as antipasta or to use in cooking.
felino salumi Medium- to fine-ground salami from Felino outsode Parma and considered one of Itay’s finest. Lightly fermented, ages well.
it has a semicircular shape. It’s stronger in flavor and melts better in stews and sauces. milano Finely ground and lightly seasoned, but peppery and slightly tart. mortadella The pride of Bologna is nothing like what was on your childhood sandwich. Finely ground pork cooked with milk and studded with lard and often pistachios. Traditionally formed in a salami almost 10 inches in diameter. napoletano As spicy as Naples itself, lightly smoked with lots of red pepper flavor. norcino Salami cured with salt and white pepper. Also the name for master pork butchers and for residents of Norcia in Umbria.
piccante Salami fired up with red pepper and paprika.
Breszola
porchetta The best a pork roast can be. Boneless pork wrapped around herbs and spices and cooked over a wood fire, making it moist and fatty. Originally from Rome, it’s popular all over Italy and big in Canada too. pepperoni American peppery sausage similar to calabrese, but in thin lengths, and popular on pizza. soppressata Coarsely ground and dry cured. Spicy or sweet. Made from ham or leftover meats. A proud specialty in both southern Italy and in Tuscany, where it’s spiced with nutmeg and cloves. A hot new topping on pizza.
Tuscano Salumi
speck An Alpine prosciutto that is both cured and smoked in Tyrolean Italy, especially in Alto Adige. Slice thin for snacks or cooking. three way A cooked cold cut invented in San Francisco combining mortadella, coppa and cooked salami. Turducken doesn’t even come close.
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T hree Way
Hot Capicola
Sweet Sopressata
Hot Sopressata
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DE LI
what’s a deli? No matter what you call it, delicious food abounds at these food hot spots. When traveling, just look for these titles. Deli, of course, is short for “delicatessen,” one of many words for the kind of food shop we all love for sandwiches or take out. Delicatessen is half French, “delicat,” and half German, “essen,” and in Europe it generally refers to a store stocked with foie gras, truffles other gourmet delicacies. In the U.S., a delicatessen is a place for hearty eating with paper napkins and brown butcher wrap, nothing delicate. In this country, delis come in various flavors: Italian, Jewish, Polish and so on. Many other words are used around the world for places that aren’t quite restaurants. Here’s a sample. Appetizing An appetizing shop is half a Jewish deli. Following kosher rules for separating dairy and meat, it carries no meats, only dairy products, fish and pareve (neutral) dishes. If you want corned beef for your bagel, go elsewhere. Bistro A small cafe that originated in France with a limited sit-down menu and stand-up customers grabbing wine, beer, coffee or other drinks. Enoteca A modern Italian place for tasting a wide range of wines and small-plate eating, a bit like our Annata Wine Bar in downtown St. Pete.
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Osteria An informal spot in Italy with limited menus and common tables. Salumeria An Italian shop specializing in salami and other cured meats. Some make sandwiches to go. Take-away The English term for a take-out store. Traiteur A French establishment specializing in prepared foods to take home. Trattoria An Italian term for a place like a traiteur, but with a few seats and maybe wine. A term widely abused in the U.S.
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In Meet Me at Mazzaro’s, the Cuccaro family takes you through their maze of a market that has become a regional destination for young culinary explorers, big city transplants and anyone hungry for the way America used to shop and eat. This handsomely illustrated guide captures the pazzo pazzo nature of shopping and eating at Mazzaro’s Italian Market, while identifying the hundreds of cheeses, wines, salami, pastas, breads, spices and sauces you can find in the shop. Each has its own proud story, whether made by hand here or imported from a small Italian village. We also have included favorite Mazzaro’s dishes from both the market and the family recipe box, including our secret Christmas sauce of baccala and prunes from Nonna. You’ll find this book essential for shopping in any Italian market and as much fun as Mazzaro’s itself until you meet us at Mazzaro’s.
$29.95 ISBN 978-0-9966038-5-0
52995>
9 780996 603850
mazzaro’s Secrets of an Italian Deli KURT CUCCARO
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Meet Me at Mazzaro’s Copyright © 2016 by the Cuccaro Family Photographs copyright © 2016 by Amy Pezzicara All rights reserved. No portions of this book may be copied or distributed without express written permission of the author and Story Farm, LLC. Published in the United States by Story Farm, LLC. www.story-farm.com Printed in China Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request. ISBN 978-0-9966038-6-7 Editorial director: Ashley Fraxedas Art director: Lauren Eggert and Amanda Bardwell Front cover design: Amanda Bardwell Project manager: Kurt Cuccaro Editorial assistant: Marcie Oliveira Copy editors: Mick Lochridge, Eva Dougherty and Billie Jo Iles Indexing: Amy Hall Production management: Tina Dahl 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition
Dedicated to all our family and loyal customers who keep the flavor of the old neighborhood
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contents origins caffe pasta cheese salumi bread deli meats fish vegetables oil wine sweets acknowledgements index 6 mazzaro’s book title
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CHAPTER 1
ORIGINS & the family Mazzaro’s has evolved over years of tinkering, experimenting, evolving and, of course, a lot of tasting. Here we explain how this maze of a family market came together all under, well, a few roofs.
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ORIGINS
T
he first-timer doesn’t know where to start at Mazzaro’s. Or what to do. Do you enter through what looks like an old Vespa repair shop, the Ferrari store, somewhere on the bright rainbow of shops lining the way? Or between the brick columns and the walls of rubbled rocks and stones? That’s the right choice. It opens into a trophy room of old Piaggio scooters, a leaping shark and the first of hundreds of our antique coffee urns, grinders, espresso machines and moka pots. Not to mention the countless statues of angels, saints Mary, Joseph and Francis and pictures of more modern icons—our ancestors in their Sunday best, or Brando, Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Keep moving. Make your way past the cashiers, piles of tomatoes and greens, the meat counter and the fish on ice (you can come back for that).
we understand that you’re probably baffled at this point. do you shop, eat or stare in awe? We understand that you’re probably baffled at that point. There are hundreds of wines to the right, a world of cheeses in a dark cave, spices to the left and more pandemonium ahead. A cascade of coffee, a deli case that won’t quit, more salami than you’ve seen outside of Brooklyn—or was it that place in Chicago? And oh, those breads and cookies and pastries—more than in all of New Jersey, possibly. Endless shelves of olive oil, a zoo of pasta shapes, and then there’s the beer garden. Hungry yet? Do you shop, eat or stare in awe at the wild boar head, the pastel roadside shrine around the restrooms or the cool Italian postwar bicycle hanging from the ceiling? Over there, behind the wooden racks of bread, there’s an old door of frosted glass with a handlebar moustache painted
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on it. On the balcony above, someone left an accordion and a longhaired cat. Smell the garlic from kitchen and the fresh bread the bakers wheel by. Before you take a number—it takes four lines to keep some sense of order—it’s best to snag a seat at the coffee bar, get a doppio of espresso, catch your breath and check your bearings. Where are you? Somewhere between the old-neighborhood bakeries and butcher shops of Boston’s North End, Little Italy in Manhattan, San Francisco, St. Louis or our part of Pittsburgh and the old-world bakers and winemakers of Italy from the Alps to Sicily. When is it? At least 50 years ago, maybe 150, when not all bread and all salami tasted the same, and when cheeses were shaped by hand and time. Food was fresh and handmade, and meals were family affairs. Nothing instant, shrink-wrapped or mass-produced. Who thought up all this delicious, chaotic craziness? We did, right here in St. Petersburg, Florida.
It could have started when Kurt first went out on one of Bill Trappman’s shrimp boats; or maybe when Kurt’s mother, Pat, couldn’t find good bagels in St. Pete; or when Kurt’s father, Sam, roasted his first batch of coffee beans; or when Cindy became fascinated by the many smells and tastes of tea. Clearly, Mazzaro’s is a product of a family—a distinct family. And in our own way, “We’re just crazy,” Miss Pat says. Smart too, and ready to tackle new ideas, even if we have to learn from the bottom rung. Above all, we’re hardworking—every day, always on the go throughout the store, the back rooms and the bakery. You wouldn’t believe Pat is 78. Which is one reason we close at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Mind you, that’s a half hour more than we used to be open. Why so early? We’re tired, and our crew needs time off too. Of course, we never stop thinking or messing with new projects. Like last year during our annual summer week vacation, when the store was completely closed, Sam was back inside supervising the dismantling of our first brick oven. When we got to St. Petersburg in the early
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1980s, we’d never been in any kind of food business. Sam and Pat had run a fleet of seven trucks that hauled industrial trash in Pittsburgh, based in McKees Rocks—a tough, industrious borough across the river that built and repaired America’s locomotives and rail cars. “My parents weren’t what we call ‘foodies’ then,’’ says Kurt. But like their neighbors, they had good appetites and particularly high standards. “They used to go to a particular place for fried chicken, and for bagels we’d go over to Squirrel Hill,” a place lined with kosher butcher shops and bakeries. “The place we hung out was the Strip District,” Sam says, referring to Pittsburgh’s famous food wholesale market. That’s where restaurateurs bought supplies, and delicatessens and Italian stores catered to ethnic shoppers and sweaty deliverymen. It also is the home of Primanti Bros., a restaurant that put french fries on hoagies more than 50 years ago. McKees Rocks itself had a few mom and pop restaurants, a kettle of immigrant flavors—Italian, Polish, German and Ukrainian—fixed by cooks who had not lost their ancestors’ traditions, including the Cuccaros and Pat’s family, the Mazzaros. All of them had small independent bakers, butchers, pork stores and produce people who sold fresh goods or imported the best from the old country. Our families had already been in America for two generations after leaving southern Italy. Sam’s dad was a machinist and Pat’s worked in strip mining, when they met as kids. They were 3 at the time. When the Mazzaros sold their trucking
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fleet and landed in Florida, it was time for something new. Kurt was just out of high school, Cindy not quite, and Sam and Pat weren’t thinking about retiring. Like other transplants to Florida, they were thinking about seafood. So Kurt went shrimping, Sam and Pat went to work, and soon the 4th Street Shrimp Store was in very colorful business. It sold shrimp and other fish retail, but mostly big shrimp and clam baskets spilling over with fries. Boats and paddles hung from the rafters, while cigar-store Indians and ship captains crowded the dining room. The walls inside and out were peopled by hundreds of whimsical caricatures painted by muralist Steve Johnson. It was the first big helping of Cuccaro style. The next project for us was finding good bagels, bialys too. With none to be found, we learned to boil and bake our own and created St. Pete Bagel Co. And eventually opened six more bagel shops around Tampa Bay.
cuccaro abroad Sam and Pat Cuccaro had never traveled outside the U.S. until they were 60. They did want to see the Italy of their ancestors, but there was too much work to be done. Once Mazzaro’s was up and running, they got their chance. And they’ve been back 18 times in the past two decades. They’ve been all over—from Venice to Palermo—eating, shopping and always looking at anything curious, famous or otherwise. Miss Pat’s favorite: the flat bronze ruler under glass in Bologna’s city hall that shows the official size of noodles for pasta alla Bolognese. Now a seasoned traveler, Miss Pat has three pieces of advice. Stay cool: When to go? That’s easy. The weather is best and crowds are smaller in May and September. That gives you a taste of spring or a bite of the full fall harvest.
Yet bagel eaters needed something to drink, and keeping six locations stocked with commercial coffee wasn’t good enough for us. Especially when we knew people were drinking better and better coffee (Starbucks hadn’t found its way here back then), and roasting coffee was one more trade Sam could learn and master. We could serve our own brew with bagels and sell beans and fresh ground coffee to take home.
Forget the resorts: The Cucarros don’t look for the serenity of a luxury hotel on a Tuscan hillside. They want to see and taste how people live and work in the cities as well as the country. On some trips, friends guide them to special places, but more often they travel on their own energy and wits.
We were roasting in a small industrial space down 22nd Avenue N, which led us to our current home, the old Fridella Sausage Company.
Stay focused: “We like to pick a fairly urban city—be it Rome or Palermo—and stay there, but every day we take a bus or a train out to some little village. We get to see a lot more,” she says.
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varra and Chef Robert W. Smith, who tower over most of the staff. Distinct in black-and-brown chef’s pants and jackets, only our top culinarians in the kitchen and pastry stations wear the black-and-brown.
Fridella made Italian sausage and sold pizza, cheese, tomato sauce and other imported goods wholesale to the mom and pop Italian restaurants in town. The building was a large, plain white warehouse and much larger than Fridella needed. But not larger than Sam’s imagination. Plenty of room for coffee roasters and sacks of beans, and … well, you can see what we’ve done. First, we moved our coffee roasting operation. Then we brought in California’s pioneer modern baker to help us build a wood-fired oven. Eventually we had a booming bakery department, a deli, a complete kitchen, a beer garden patio, vast wine and cheese departments, a butcher shop, a fish counter, a houseware store—all covering nearly a whole block, and we’re still running out of room. As wonderful as this is to the eye, the food at Mazzaro’s is a more amazing playground for taste buds and nostalgic memories. We have old pasta shapes you haven’t seen since your nonna cooked them, two-fisted hoagies, crusty breads warm from the oven, perfect lasagna and hot soup, espresso just like the old men used to drink all day, ooey-gooey dresserts,
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beef we dry-age ourselves, fresh fish and a garden of bright fruits and vegetables. Taste carefully, and our inventory will take you further and further back to the old world. For millenia, farmers and craftspeople made their food by hand and with the seasons. They used time itself, along with sun and smoke, and salt and vinegar, to preserve their meat, milk, grains and grapes for the winter or for trade. This resulted in a vast array of salami, cheese, pasta and wine that was different in every village and valley. Those traditions remain, and we have collected as many as possible for you to try: the famous cured hams and huge wheels from Parma, the spicy salamis of Calabria, the squid-ink pasta like Venice’s and the pesto from Liguria. And wines to match, from 19 of Italy’s 20 regions. Our family is much bigger too. We can’t do it all. It takes almost a village—a crew of practically 100 chefs, prep cooks, bakers, baristas, cheesemongers, counter people and wine experts from all over the world. The big pillars are Executive Chef Ben DeNa-
Chef Ben is St. Pete born and bred, with a culinary education, which included his first stint with building Italian sandwiches at our deli counter. He still serves as one of the sandwich masterminds; if the sandwich of the day has ham, chicken, fresh mozzarella and cranberry, Ben created it (with a few bites from Kurt). Ben’s greatest pride is the imaginative menu at the Annata Wine Bar, where he spices lamb ragu and pappardelle with chevre and mint, and cooks up wildly delicious combinations like scallops with corn, tomatoes, bacon … and pickled jalapenos and cilantro. Chef Robert is a Brooklyn guy with more than 15 years here in Tampa Bay. His palate travels the globe llike a culinary pirate. Behind the red beard is a taste for Asian and Latin flavors and an eagerness to play kitchen improv with whatever comes through our doors to produce the day’s smorgasbord in our deli case. He loves the new growers and cheeses of California and the old-school feel of taking trips back to Bayshore just to hear the pizza oven door open and close like it did in his youth. Another key member of Mazzaro’s is both a Ben and a Smith. Chief baker Ben Smith worked many jobs before Sam talked him into trying baking at our first bakery. He’s been at it for 18 years and probably a million loaves, and now has a mastery of baking in all
The Disney of 22nd Avenue Sam Cucarro, the quiet fellow in the flat cap and trim moustache, didn’t start out to build an amusement park for foodies. But it’s turned out to be a perfect career for his genius. He was named Narsete at birth, after the great Roman general, and grew up on the industrial side of Pittsburgh. He spent years running and fixing a fleet of trucks hauling away rubbish and waste from commercial businesses before moving to Florida. That experience gave him fearless mechanical powers, a love of wheels, a natural bent for recycling and an eye for finding aesthetic appeal in almost anything old and forgotten. His work in Florida evolved constantly; first, he bought real estate, then became a seafood merchant, a bagel maker and a coffer roaster. He never met a refrigerator, an oven, a motor or an empty space he didn’t try to fix, paint or beautify. “When we had the 4th Street Shrimp Store, he and my mom were always coming in with things for the wall or the ceiling,’’ Kurt remembers. Soon everything was covered, inside and out, including our first murals. It still is. Our current building is Sam’s master work. Everywhere you look, you see a colorful, artistic and mechanical savvy worthy of an imagineer at Walt Disney World. No wall is plain, everything can be improved with a mural, a faux door or a window complete with a fortune teller or a Renaissance prince looking out. Behind them is artist Herbert Scott Davis, a local painter who is adept at classic, realist or spiritual artwork. Every niche, ledge and nook is filled with a statue or old coffee urn, and where there were none, Sam created them and then added a host of religious statuary and Italian relics. Sam’s imagination spills well out into the parking lot with large concrete horse statues, a wooden boardwalk cutout for picture-taking and Sam’s colorful rolling stock of Fiats, Serbian Zastavas and other pint-sized retro European vehicles. His favorites are old Italian three-wheelers, much smaller than the big trucks he used to command, but equally hardworking vehicles designed to handle narrow lanes in the heart of Genoa or Naples. They’re still in use today in cities all over Europe. One small vintage Piaggio Ape made in Pisa carries an 8-foot model of an Auricchio provolone that looks more like a mobile rocket launcher. He also likes the Empolini three-wheeled mini-trucks made in Milan decades ago. One of ours has a wooden cargo bed and is painted in the folkloric colors of a traditional Siciilan donkey cart. Don’t ask if they work. With Sam around, they have to. But they’re not making deliveries now; they have another job. “You have to give the people something to see.” Next on his list are an old Sicilian pony cart and a 40-foot gondola from Venice, “the old kind. They’re getting hard to find.” “We don’t want this to be a regular store.” That will never happen.
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casa di mazzaro
Our endless search to provide you with the best that Italy has to offer couldn’t be contained to just one building. Say ‘hello’ to Casa di Mazzaro. Casa di Mazzaro Once you have all those fabulous ingredients at Mazzaro’s, we want you to have the best in pots and utensils to cook with, and all the bowls and plates for a table as beautiful as your food.
before electricity. We have Japanese teaware made of classic Arita porcelain. Our English stoneware mixing and pudding bowls from Mason Cash & Co. haven’t changed in 100 years.
So we started hunting for ideas, old and new, from around the world and came up with so many useful things that Mazzaro’s would have to be twice as big.
However, a lot has changed in materials and design for cooking led by European companies like Bodum, Bosko and Joseph Joseph, and especially by Italian firms like Alessi. The Bialetti company, which created the moka pot, keeps on innovatng with clever ideas such as an aluminum pasta pot with a locking colander top in shiny, electric colors.
Now it is. Come next door to the green building we call Casa di Mazzaro, a kitchenware shop as big as the market but not as hectic. Visually, it’s still pure Mazzaro’s. You enter through the mouth of a huge gargoyle that Sam and Pat photographed in Rome and had recast here. Inside, statues of angels and gryphons watch over a multitude of kitchen gear in old ceramic-white, cast-iron black, cool neons and the latest LeCreuset rainbow. We should call it Casa di Cindy because the chief tastemaker is Cindy Richmond, our daughter who inherited Sam’s passion for design and turned it into a career as an interior decorator.
Some of Cindy’s biggest sellers are made of very modern silicone, a space-age plastic now used in everything from ovenproof loaf pans from Lekue in Barcelona to flowery suction pot lids from Charles Viancin in France. They’re not novelties, Cindy can attest: They work. To set your table, we have textiles of various styles, paperware with antique engravings and unique serving pieces such as trays cut from slabs of pink Himalayan salt.
She is constantly searching for the best for kitchens and tables. Her taste is wide ranging. She flirted with spare modern style in college, but now she’s more at home with European and especially Mediterranean looks.
If you want to mull over your selections, stop in the back for a spot of tea. Cindy was a tea lover before tea came into fashion. “I always loved tea. Me and my dad, we’re the tea drinkers in the family.”
They can be as old as the traditional ceramic platters, pitchers and bowls from Campania, outside Naples. We have them hand-painted in Cava de’ Tirenni and Vietri sur Mare by artisans whose traditions have been famous for centuries.
So she’s assembled a big choice of teapots, kettles and infusers. We have 60 some imported teas. Cindy’s favorites include mango and raspberry as well green, black and rooibos varieties. And local wild honey for a Florida sweetener.
Much of our Italian pasta-making equipment is made of wood and powered by hand cranks, as it was
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forms, sweet and savory. He has more than 40 bread recipes and countless cookie, cake and pastry doughs. Our staff comes from all backrounds and ethnic heritages, but share worldly expertise and a love of neighborhood spirit. The “cheese lady” in red pigtails, Hope, came from Tampa’s Pane Rustica; Italian wine expert Robert came from world-famous Bern’s Steak House; Robin, who runs the meat department, was a preschool teacher 15 years ago; Julie in produce is licensed in pharmacy and culinary; Anthony grew up in New York delis and salami packing, and is pure Italian-American.
Carlos is from Mexico. You’ll find them all in every corner of Mazzaro’s. Although we have defined departments and duties, most of our staff can sub in for other departments. In a rare hands-free moment, they may grab a mystery novel from the unofficial lending library that Dominic set up in an empty produce box in the store room. What really makes Mazzaro’s lovably crazy is all of you who make up our extended family. That’s the most important part of what we’ve built.
Not everyone is, though. Head barista Kirsten’s family comes from Croatia, while Fay at the bakery counter is proudly Greek, and sous chef
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CHAPTER 3
Pasta and gr ains From angel hair to cappelletti and all the shapes and sizes in between, pasta is a staple on every Italian family’s plate—for many good, delicious reasons.
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paghetti and macaroni have been on Italian-American tables everywhere for the past century. In the 1900s, every sizable city had its own “macaroni factory.” In Pittsburgh, there was Viviano Macaroni (a.k.a. Vimco) and the Sunseri Brothers (aka PennMac). In Tampa, it was the Ferlita Macaroni Factory in West Tampa and Ybor City. Today, Mazzaro’s Italian Market can import from a dozen Italian pasta makers, both the grand old names and tiny artisans from Naples to Bologna and Genoa, including some who have been in business for more than 200 years. All have their own parade of shapes, sometimes numbered as high as 100, and each with its own romantic name. Although a small number, like a No. 3 angel hair, for example, usually means the diameter is smaller than, say, a No. 6 spaghetti, each company has its own numbering system. Once you get into twists and short cuts, the numbers are nearly impossible to compare. Sorting them out is another example of the amazing diversity—and great fun—of Italian cooking. Or at least we think so.
fresh pasta is its own joy. mazzaro’s makes it daily, as do many home cooks in italy. More than 2,000 years ago, Etruscans first mixed water and flour to make pasta, with contributions from Greeks and Arabs along the way. Over the centuries, pasta was made by hand and took more than a hundred forms, each shape molded by hand differently in each village and then hung to dry in the sun. When cooked, each got its own sauce of local ingredients and tradition. You can still imagine those old hand motions if you look closely at shells, tortellini or strozzapreti. Since the late 19th century, pasta shapes have been carefully cut and pulled from bronze dies. The thickness, curves, ridges and ruffles—even the flattest linguine has a rough surface—determine the taste and texture of the pasta and its ability to hold a sauce or spice.
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m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 33
Annellini
P
A
seafood, vegetables, fresh tomatoes and citrus.
Corzetti Szgnerelli
Radozatori
Strozapreti
Farfelle
Pappadelle
fusilli From Naples, these corkscrews initially were made by wrapping the dough around a knitting needle like a spindle. Often served with tomato and ricotta, but also good with just olive oil, garlic and green vegetables. garganelli Egg pasta from Bologna that resembles penne, but the pasta is folded over and is not a perfect tube. Sometimes ridged. Always good with meaty sauces or prosciutto and peas. gemelli An intriguing shape called “twins,” but is made of just one noodle twisted around itself. Best for casseroles. Holds lots of flavor. Also good for light tosses
Name pasta
Gili
LUMACHE
linguine From the Genoa area, a wide, flat noodle. Good with tomatoes and herbs, anchovies, peppers, cheese sauces and seafood, especially clams. mafalda Flat, wide noodles with ruffled edges like lasagna, but thinner. Short cut or long. Good with creamy sauces. Also called “mafaldine.”
Tubatini 36 m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s
Linguine
manicotti Very large tubes like cannelloni that are designed to be filled, often with cream and cheese, and baked in tomato sauce. Dried or fresh, the way we make them.
mandala Contemporary high de-
a smooth surface; rigati are ridged; pennette are shorter and smaller, better with beans and vegetables; pennoni are larger and wider. paccheri Short, fat rings of noodles, often ridged. From southern Italy. Good with thick sauces. pici Long, thick noodles handshaped from Siena.
maccheroni Italian for “macaroni.”
racchette A novelty pasta shaped like a tennis racket.
mista corta A mix of short cuts from elbows and penne to fusilli.
radiatore Looks somewhat like corkscrew pasta, but squat and hollow. Engineered in the 1960s to look like an old-fashioned Italian radiator with fins.
mostaccioli “Little mustache;” another term for smooth penne. orzo Named for grains of barley, this small, tapered pasta was once
Large, twisted shells that look like snails. Good in chunky sauces or most recipes for shells or elbows.
and salads.
0recchiette
sign of ridged tubes rolling wavelike over each other. From French designer Philippe Starck and similar to the Marille by Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
ST I A AA ND GR
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Fusilli
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made by rolling it between one’s hands. It’s traditional for soups, but now is used in stews, salads and added to risotto and pilafs in Greece and the Middle East. orecchiette Sometimes called “little ears,” they also resemble broad hats worn in Puglia. Excellent with ricotta sauces. A favorite with broccolini and sausage. penne From Campania, a hollowed tube cut on the bias, like the end of a quill. Takes various forms: Lisci have
rigatoni From Naples, ridged, slightly curved tubes. Good with thick sauces and often baked. rotelle Also called wagon wheels, but look more like gears with a ridged outside surface. Good with cheese and cream sauce, or in soups. A children’s favorite. rotini From northern Italy, a 1.5-inch- to 2-inch-long corkscrew spiral with a tight twist. Great for catching light sauces, or served cold in pasta salads. Also called “scrotini.” sacchettini Sacks or purses stuffed with cheese and other fillings. Great in broths. sagnarelli Flat rectangles with a ragged edge. Good with cream sauces.
m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 37
ST I A AA ND GR
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9
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MAKE S 8 SE RVI NGS
NOTE For al dente pasta, cook for 9 minutes. Add some butter if ya want to. Be sure to salt the water.
Gorgonzola Ravioli
with White Wine Beurre Blanc Gorgon zol a a nd w a l nut s a re a c l a s sic com bi n at ion ; add m a s c a r p one, a nd it i s one of t he most i ng u lge nt f i l l i ngs we h ave, of te n u s e d i n m a n icot t i , c a n ne l lo n i or f resh r av iol i . M a k i ng you r ow n r av iol i i s e a sie r t h a n you t h i n k , a nd we h ave a l l t he to ol s you ne e d at C a s a d i M a z z a ro.
MAKE FILLING
INGRE DIE NTS
In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, place walnuts and parsley and finely chop. Add Gorgonzola and mix thoroughly. Add mascarpone and mix thoroughly once more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
GORGONZOLA FILLING 8 ounces toasted walnuts
Use as a filling for your favorite ravioli or manicotti.
MAKE BEURRE BL ANC In a sauté pan, sweat shallot in oil until translucent. Add vinegar and wine, then reduce liquid by half. Slowly add heavy cream, then add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over your favorite ravioli or manicotti.
2 sprigs parsley 8 ounces Gorgonzola dolce 16 ounces mascarpone cheese Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
BEURRE BLANC 1 tablespoon chopped shallot ½ tablespoon olive oil 1 cup sherry vinegar 1 cup white wine 1 cup heavy cream 4 ounces butter, softened Salt and pepper
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m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 43
CHAPTER 4
cheese fRESH & AGED
In Italy, cheese is as old as the first flocks and herds on the mountain. Turning their milk into cheese was a very early cottage industry in ancient farms and villages, each one different—delicious traditions we can taste today.
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CHEESE
Canestrato An amazingly complex table cheese from Moliterno in southern Italy. Made from 70 to 90 percent sheep’s milk and 10 to 30 percent goat’s milk and aged for at least 60 days. Very full-flavored with hints of grass and nuts in a dense, flaky texture.
sheep’s-milk cheese is a wonderful representation of the grasses and herbs that the sheep grazed on. Smooth and condensed texture, with sweet, herbal flavors. castelrosso A whole cow’s-milk cheese from Piedmont with three layers, ranging from smooth and creamy to firm and curdy. An earthy, almost toasty flavor with hints of citrus. A rare and ancient cheese we are very thrilled to have when we can get it. crescenza Also known as stracchino, a young, rindless cow’s-milk cheese from northern Italy. Soft and creamy with a mild and delicate flavor. Made from the milk of “tired” cows, which are said to produce higher levels of butterfat. Mostly eaten on its own and occasionally used as a filling for focaccia. crucolo From the Trentino-Alto Adige region bordering Austria
50 m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s
and Switzerland, this raw cow’smilk cheese is soft and mild with a rich and buttery flavor. Similar to Asiago fresco. fiore sardo DOP A raw sheep’smilk cheese from Sardinia that is the epitome of local cheese tradition. Aged for 4 months, this cheese is rustic, firm, piquant and sheepy. Similar to the manchego of Spain. fontal Mostly made in the Trentino province. A semifirm, mild, nutty pasteurized cow’s-milk cheese that melts like a dream. Much milder and less pungent than fontina val d’aosta. fontina val d’aosta A raw milk Alpine cheese from Piedmont near France. A semifirm, washed-rind, rich and earthy legend that never disappoints. The star ingredient in fonduta (Italian fondue) and one of our best-selling cheeses. ginepro Another raw milk pecorino, this time from Lazio outside Rome. Soaked in balsamic vinegar and rubbed in juniper before being aged for at least 4 months. A dark-brown, almost black rind gives way to a unique and unusual “gin” flavor. Very cool. gorgonzola DOP A blue cheese mainly produced in Piedmont and Lombardy. Made from whole cow’s milk, there are two different styles: piccante is compact and crumbly, strong and robust; dolce is soft, creamy and buttery with a mild sweetness.
grana A large class of hard, mature cheeses that are perfect for grating.
Monte Enebeo
Rabusano
gorgonzola cremificato Made from the morning milk of cows in Lombardy, this thick, rich blue is pungent and sweet with a heavy, ooey-gooey paste that caves in when you cut it! Very special stuff that we savor when we have it.
26-Month-0ld Gouda
grana padano DOP Extremely popular part-skim cheese is aged for at least 5 months. The name comes from grana, or grain, for its granular texture, and Padano for the Po Valley that stretches across northern Italy. Basically, a young Parmesan that is fruitier and less sharp than Parmigiano-Reggiano, more affordable and easy to grate.
Caciocavallo Avonlea Clothbound
il pastore A semihard sheep’s milk from Sardinia that’s aged for approximately 3 months. Nutty, buttery and full-flavored. Completely pleasant and satiating.
Avricchio 3 Year 0ld Provolone
mascarpone A buttery, rich double-cream cheese that’s really just curdled cream. Delicate, lovely and the key performer in tiramisu. Yet beyond that, it is a very versatile cheese. mazzaro’s fresh mozzarella Hand-stretched from curd every morning at Mazzaro’s by a skilled barella (stretcher). We sell it warm every day, when it is soft and buttery and ready to eat! A legendary item at our store. moliterno An aged sheep’s-milk
Grana Padano
0ssau Iraty Fermier
0rganic Manchego La Tur m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 51
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5
CHEESE
Fulvi Pecorino Romano
Fresh Mozzeralla
0ccelli In Chestunt
Delice De Bourbonne
The Perfect Cheese Plate The beauty of a cheese plate lies in the diversity, not the number of cheeses. The more the merrier, but three large pieces will be plenty if you offer cow’s-milk, sheep’s-milk and goat or soft, semifirm and aged. And give them something odd, bleu or stinky for fun.
Why so blu? Whether you call it mold or antibacterial medicine, Penicillium
roqueforti and Penicillium glaurum have made great cheese blue, bleu or blu for 2,000 years. The
Mimo Lette
Gorgonzola
Cave Aged Gruyere Rouge
first we know of came accidentally,
Paski Sir
when cheese was aged in French caves with the right temperature and moisture, then in Lombardy and the Piedmont region in the
Bica
ninth century. Smart farmers created more penicillin by leaving bread in the same caves. Today the bacteria is carefully cultivated and mixed in with the fermenting milk or curds, or injected later. In some cases, cheese makers spike the cheese to
Talebbio
let air in and create space for the mold to expand. Biochemistry at
Shropshire Blue Pecorino Il Pepe Niro
its smoothest—and discovered by peasants.
Ricotta Salatta 54 m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s
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APTE R 5
CHEESE
MAKE S 10 SE RVI NGS
Tortellini and Mozzarella Salad Su re , tor te l l i n i f rom B olo g n a a nd Mo de n a a re g re at i n brot h a nd s oup s , but t h i s re f re s h i ng, c h i l le d s a l ad combi ne s tor te l l i n i w it h g r ap e tom ato e s a nd c i l ie g i n i , t he s m a l le st moz z a re l l a b a l l s we m a ke . Wit h c he e s e -f i l le d tor te l l i n i , it ’s a g re at me at le s s s u m me r e nt re e .
MAKE SAL AD
INGRE DIE NTS
Blanch tortellini in boiling water. Drain and let cool completely.
1 pound fresh tortellini
Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add mozzarella, bell peppers, red and green onions, and parsley. Drizzle oil and vinegar over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
1 pound fresh ciliegini 4 ounces red and green bell peppers, diced 1/2 inch ounces diced red onion 1 stalk green onion, finely sliced 6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, chopped 3 tablespoons roasted garlic– infused oil 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar Salt and black pepper
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CHAPTER 5
Salumeria & the salumeri What started as a method of preserving is now an art form served alone, between pieces of bread or, really, any way you want. However you slice it, salami deserves its own chapter.
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Mortadella
LU M E RIA
Culatello nduja Peppery, spreadable salami, something like Calabria’s own liverwurst.
Felino Salumi
pancetta Italian bacon, cured but rarely smoked, usually rolled into a circular shape. Good as antipasta or to use in cooking.
felino salumi Medium- to fine-ground salami from Felino outsode Parma and considered one of Itay’s finest. Lightly fermented, ages well.
it has a semicircular shape. It’s stronger in flavor and melts better in stews and sauces. milano Finely ground and lightly seasoned, but peppery and slightly tart. mortadella The pride of Bologna is nothing like what was on your childhood sandwich. Finely ground pork cooked with milk and studded with lard and often pistachios. Traditionally formed in a salami almost 10 inches in diameter. napoletano As spicy as Naples itself, lightly smoked with lots of red pepper flavor. norcino Salami cured with salt and white pepper. Also the name for master pork butchers and for residents of Norcia in Umbria.
piccante Salami fired up with red pepper and paprika.
Breszola
porchetta The best a pork roast can be. Boneless pork wrapped around herbs and spices and cooked over a wood fire, making it moist and fatty. Originally from Rome, it’s popular all over Italy and big in Canada too. pepperoni American peppery sausage similar to calabrese, but in thin lengths, and popular on pizza. soppressata Coarsely ground and dry cured. Spicy or sweet. Made from ham or leftover meats. A proud specialty in both southern Italy and in Tuscany, where it’s spiced with nutmeg and cloves. A hot new topping on pizza.
Tuscano Salumi
speck An Alpine prosciutto that is both cured and smoked in Tyrolean Italy, especially in Alto Adige. Slice thin for snacks or cooking. three way A cooked cold cut invented in San Francisco combining mortadella, coppa and cooked salami. Turducken doesn’t even come close.
Porehette 68 m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s
T hree Way
Hot Capicola
Sweet Sopressata
Hot Sopressata
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APTE R 13
DE LI
what’s a deli? No matter what you call it, delicious food abounds at these food hot spots. When traveling, just look for these titles. Deli, of course, is short for “delicatessen,” one of many words for the kind of food shop we all love for sandwiches or take out. Delicatessen is half French, “delicat,” and half German, “essen,” and in Europe it generally refers to a store stocked with foie gras, truffles other gourmet delicacies. In the U.S., a delicatessen is a place for hearty eating with paper napkins and brown butcher wrap, nothing delicate. In this country, delis come in various flavors: Italian, Jewish, Polish and so on. Many other words are used around the world for places that aren’t quite restaurants. Here’s a sample. Appetizing An appetizing shop is half a Jewish deli. Following kosher rules for separating dairy and meat, it carries no meats, only dairy products, fish and pareve (neutral) dishes. If you want corned beef for your bagel, go elsewhere. Bistro A small cafe that originated in France with a limited sit-down menu and stand-up customers grabbing wine, beer, coffee or other drinks. Enoteca A modern Italian place for tasting a wide range of wines and small-plate eating, a bit like our Annata Wine Bar in downtown St. Pete.
94 m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s
Osteria An informal spot in Italy with limited menus and common tables. Salumeria An Italian shop specializing in salami and other cured meats. Some make sandwiches to go. Take-away The English term for a take-out store. Traiteur A French establishment specializing in prepared foods to take home. Trattoria An Italian term for a place like a traiteur, but with a few seats and maybe wine. A term widely abused in the U.S.
m e e t m e at m a z z a r o ’ s 95
In Meet Me at Mazzaro’s, the Cuccaro family takes you through their maze of a market that has become a regional destination for young culinary explorers, big city transplants and anyone hungry for the way America used to shop and eat. This handsomely illustrated guide captures the pazzo pazzo nature of shopping and eating at Mazzaro’s Italian Market, while identifying the hundreds of cheeses, wines, salami, pastas, breads, spices and sauces you can find in the shop. Each has its own proud story, whether made by hand here or imported from a small Italian village. We also have included favorite Mazzaro’s dishes from both the market and the family recipe box, including our secret Christmas sauce of baccala and prunes from Nonna. You’ll find this book essential for shopping in any Italian market and as much fun as Mazzaro’s itself until you meet us at Mazzaro’s.
$29.95 ISBN 978-0-9966038-5-0
52995>
9 780996 603850
