My Mom and Her Teachings

This article is very personal, I write it more for myself and for my children than for the blog, but I am also pleased to share it with you fans who follow our recipes, thanking you in advance for reading. (this article has been Google Translated. I will edit soon)

Mammma with Tre M

My wife Paola teases me for how I pronounce the word mama with lots of mmm.?Ah !!?Italian mothers and mum's children equally Italian.

Yes, I am a son of a mother, although I left home quite early by Italian standards and we have been living 10,000 km away since 1998.

As I said, if?my father?was the passionate leader of the family business, my mom was the engine that kept things going.

From preparing the shop from six in the morning for opening, to serving customers in the middle of the counter all day, to preparing focaccia, pizzas, bread, sweets, when needed, cooking for the family and employees who stopped by. noon or worked late at night.?I don't know how he found the time to cook but I don't remember ever having eaten a dish bought out in fifteen years of activity in the bakery, lunch and dinner.?And sharing it with employees was a bit like the model implemented by Google thirty years later and which caused such a sensation (Google employees eat free in the company's restaurants).

But the responsibilities didn't end in the bakery.?You had to close your accounts every night, bring the cash to the bank the next day, and make ends meet with the accountant at the end of the month.?At least sixteen hours of full work every day.

I have so many good memories and things that I learned in those years from seeing her work so hard….

At that time, like so many teenagers, I didn't realize it but over time I learned to appreciate the lessons not taught but lived in everyday examples.

The roots

My mother is the second of three sisters born and raised on a farm near Mongardino (Asti).?Their father, my grandfather Vittorio whom I have never met, and their mother grandmother Maggiorina were certainly not discouraged in having three females on a farm with fields to cultivate, vines to hoe and animals to look after.?From their earliest age, grandfather Vittorio counted on his three sisters as he would have counted on any other man factor.?The fact is that Renata, Laura and Rita have become real rocks.?There is nothing that scares them, they work with enthusiasm and a lot of passion and drive any towed or motorized vehicle.

Aunt Renata with her truffles and her simple and moving poems, Aunt Rita with her flowers and her love for animals, and Nonna Laura who is still active today at the age of 76, always around Asti, Genoa and California and when she has time, she helps her sister Rita in the flower shop.?Here she is all proud in the newspaper as a florist

Examples and Teachings

Of course it is not possible to collect in a couple of pages everything I have learned from my mom, but here are some of the main lessons that I am aware of.

Work hard, make a good impression and don't complain

It will be because of his past on the farm, always working hard, that I never heard my mom complain about work.?If there is anything to do, just do it.?Indeed it is done and she always tries to make a good impression, with a smile on her lips.

Curiosity and Enthusiasm

My mom has an incredible enthusiasm for all that is to create.?From cooking, to sewing, to the vegetable garden, to gardening, and everything that requires manual skills.?She likes to try, browse like others do, learn and perfect.?You should see her on the computer following our vicissitudes on the internet, talking with her American grandchildren using Skype (teleconference), or with her inseparable iPhone while she goes around the country to show Luca and Laura's videos on YouTube to relatives. and friends.?Every two or three months she calls me and asks me "but what I have is the latest model of the iPhone, I think I heard on television that there is a new one with more functions ???"?He he.?She wants to make sure she doesn't miss out on the latest news.

Or when you pass in front of a shop window of a pastry or bakery, or eat in a restaurant and admire the culinary talent of others.

Curiosity and enthusiasm in everything.

You will soon see her at work on this blog because I want her to record some video recipes of hers.

Leadership

I heard this phrase many times in the oven at the Soziglia slaughterhouses: “To make others work you have to work harder” “If you want to make them go fast, you have to accelerate”.

More than a sentence, a real way of pulling the team around him, a motto put into practice in all circumstances.

In other words, don't ask others to do what you are not willing to do.?This is a great leadership lesson that I still apply in my work.?Other than Masters in Business Administration ...

Thick Skin

My mom has thick skin (I think this is an American rather than an Italian saying, to have a thick skin).?It may be for what I wrote above, but my mom has learned in life not to be too angry.?As she says, “don't slap every fly that flies”.?Maybe she keeps everything inside her and we will never know, but this attitude helps her to pass tense moments or hard work without drama, without tension.?That's why I describe it as a diesel engine, a long-term, high-mileage engine that runs slow but with so much force.?These days we often behave like two-stroke engines, we want everything quickly, quickly, and we go too high.?My mom taught me by example to live life without too many anxieties and dramas.?Of course it is not always easy but by working on it consciously,

The Sayings of Mammma

Here are some of the fabulous phrases of Piedmontese origin that I have heard a thousand times in my life and that now also my children hear repeatedly:

Move Viarenghino that time is running out

A classic, but still very true, especially for procrastinators like me.?As I get older I am appreciating this saying more and more and I am gathering the deepest meaning and it helps me to live every day trying to give the best of myself, than to collect and take advantage of every opportunity so as not to have regrets in the future.

He who hesitates is lost

Work in bakeries is tough, especially during the holidays.?I have this image in the memory of my Mammma, my sister Marina and I who occasionally took a break, perhaps in the evening at eight after a full day of work while we waited for the tall Genoese panettone to rise and be ready for cooking.?The few minutes of pause were invariably interrupted by this phrase: "Whoever stops is lost" often accompanied by "come on, there's no time left at the end"

Doing the jobs well or doing them badly takes the same amount of time

When my sister or I did a job reluctantly or without passion, this was the phrase that reminded us that when we do things with care and passion, time passes faster, the results are better and give more satisfaction.?Again, it's about making a good impression and feeling better about yourself in the end.

Walk as long as you bring your ears

Speaking of doing the jobs without wanting ... when I behaved badly, I was forbidden to use a moped or a wasp with this warning.

"Se 'tpios nan at cousins da banda"

This is difficult to translate.?Even in Piedmontese it doesn't make much sense.?My mother says it when I don't like something.?Literally it means "if you don't like it, lie down next to her".?I think it's a bit like saying "Put a good face on bad luck" or something like that.

"Let 'tnabi"

Make it enough.?Enjoy it.?Consistent with the philosophy of not complaining.

"Oe dai el gir da cua"

When you ask her how she managed to cook such a good thing, the answer is “I'll give it a ride with my tail”… still today I don't know what it means.?I think she doesn't even know it, she heard it from her grandmother Ieta and repeated it to us.?I will start using it with my children.

Then there are an avalanche of when I was just a child.?These my American children can even pronounce them in Piedmontese.

"Arda ne !!"

Look at that ...

"An bit a boti"

Look what you take ...

"Sta citu '"

Be quiet

The address

After spending forty years in Genoa, now my mother lives again in Azzano d'Asti, my father's hometown where my sister Marina also lives.?My mom is also very active on Facebook what if

by chance you meet her in person or online, introduce yourself and ask her "Are you sure you have the latest iPhone model ???"?and then before saying goodbye remind her "to keep the hamster on the wheel in motion, not hibernating", she will understand.

Long live the Mammma

When my dad passed away I didn't have the opportunity to thank him for all he did for me and for what he taught me.?I think parents hear these things, but I still regret not having that last conversation, or the opportunity to write it to them.

So on this plane that takes me home from a long business trip around the USA and Europe I find myself a bit melancholy writing this page of pure affection between the moved and the amused.

Thanks Mom, I love you!

Vittorio