The Endrizzi Site

Nonna's cooking

"She Cooks from Memories"

     "I always told my kids to eat more," she said.  "I told them that when they eat, they're healthy.  They are all thin.  This food isn't that fattening."

     And the recipes that Endrizzi and her husband, Germano, brought from their homeland are much in demand from their three children, their children's spouses and their three grandchildren.

     Both Endrizzi and her husband were 17 years old when they immigrated to the United States from the Tyrolean region in Northern Italy.  Endrizzi's family came over five years later.  They met through Milwaukee's Italian community and were married in 1941.  They live at 4962 N. 57th St.

Julia Endrizzi cut a piece of polenta nera with a wooden knife from Italy.  She uses the Italian copper pot (right) to make the polenta.  The round pan, 150 years old, was brought here from Italy by her family.

No pasta in north

     The recipes Endrizzi is sharing with Journal readers are typical ethnic dishes from the Tyrolean region, she said.  These recipes are hundreds of years old, and were made by both her family and her husband's family.

     But do not expect to see any pasta in these recipes.  Pasta dishes originated in central and southern Italy and were not eaten much in the Tyrolean region where Endrizzi was growing up, she said.

     She makes pasta dishes now, however, including homemade ravioli and noodles from a hand-cranked pasta machine.  She also fixes a lot of American dishes.

     Endrizzi usually cooks from memory and without measuring.  When she was asked to share some recipes, she had to write down the recipes and measure the ingredients.  She seldom uses her many cookbooks, she said, except for "The Settlement Cook Book."

     "I don't follow recipes, I just feel it," she said.  "I don't measure.  When Rita [her daughter] asked how much of an ingredient I used in a recipe, I said I don't know, I just taste it.  I've been making this so long I just know [when it is right]."

Started when young

     Endrizzi, the oldest of three daughters, started cooking when she was a young girl.

     "My mother used to go work on the farm and I had to do the cooking," she said.  "We had to learn to do things.  We milked the cows, we fed the pigs, we went to the mountains for firewood.  We did the cleaning and washing."

     When she was growing up, her family did not often have canederli, a soup with meat-filled dumplings, because it was too expensive.  They usually had it on big holidays, especially during the celebration before Lent.

     Tyrolean cooking used very little meat, and her family usually ate meat only on Sundays, she said.  The family ate a lot of fresh vegetables from their garden.

     The Endrizzis have a large garden where they grown many things, including raspberries, zucchini, beans and garlic.  Endrizzi's husband, who is retired, does his part by taking care of the garden and helping her with preserving.  He also goes mushroom picking and makes sausages.

     Last year, the Endrizzis canned a total of 250 jars of peaches, pears, applesauce, plums, beans, carrots, beets, and pickles.

Garden supply for recipes

     They often use vegetables from their garden for their homeland recipes.  The recipe for patao, a vegetable dish with potatoes, zucchini, green beans and bacon, was eaten as a main course in Italy, but now Endrizzi serves it as a side dish.

     Another common dish in the Tyrolean region was polenta nera, which is like cornmeal mush.  Endrizzi said this dish could be a substitute for bread or potatoes.  When it is cold, it can be sliced and fried in butter.

     The recipe for torta di patate tastes similar to potato pancakes, except that it is baked instead of fried and is much easier to prepare, Endrizzi said.

     Originally, she made the torta in a 150-year old round pan that had been used by her grandmother in Italy and later by her mother in the United States.  Now, because the pan needs to be retinned, she substitutes a rectangular baking pan.

Sweets not in ethnic tradition

     The Tyrolean people ate fresh fruits for dessert because sugar was so expensive, Endrizzi said.  They still do not eat many sweets, and she often decreases the amount of sugar in recipes.

For special occasions

     A recipe for rum wafers, called grostoi, was made on special occasions.  Endrizzi made them for the weddings of her two sons, Raymond and Michael.

     Because the recipe makes a lot and the wafers are best when fresh, they should be served when a large group of guests is expected, she said.

     The Tyrolean region still is very special to the Endrizzis, who are planning their fourth trip there this fall to visit Endrizzi's 90-year-old father and other relatives.

Ready for the Festa Italiana

     The Endrizzis belong to the Trentina Society, a social club for persons who emigrated from the Tyrolean region.  For the last two years, they helped at the club's booth at Festa Italiana, and plan to help again this weekend.

     "You'd be surprised that a lot of people never heard of the Tyrolean region," Endrizzi said.

     Two years ago at Festa Italiana, the society had a booth that displayed polenta nera and torta di patate.

     "People would see the polenta and say, 'My grandmother made that years ago.  It brings back memories,' " Endrizzi said.

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