Articles by: Joelle Grosso

In the matter of just 30 minutes, the talented actors Fausto Paravidino, Iris Fusetti, Christina Toth, and Marco Calvani managed to grab the audience’s attention at the Italian Cultural Institute in NYC and get them involved in the strange, yet funny, story of two sets of neighbors. 

In the scenes that were reenacted, serious themes of religion and marriage were often interrupted with comedic dialogue about trivialities and the technicalities of language. A man, played by Paravidino, has trouble believing the things his longtime girlfriend says because she often seems uncertain of the words she chooses. He cannot decide whether she is giving him a reason to be fearful or whether he is just paranoid of a fear that stems from within himself. Upon the arrival of the new young married couple next door, all of these doubts rise to the surface and become exposed.

The work that Paravidino is aiming to do is much different than any other playwright. Starting in the beginning of November, Paravidino’s writing process will be tested out by other actors and artists over the course of a workshop following a concept he calls a concept he calls "international theater" for his upcoming work Looking for Abraham. He explains how according to the Bible, referring to Genesis 11:7, all of humanity was once able to understand each other because they were united under just one common language. That is until God decided it would be best to intervene and confuse their language so that the people could no longer understand one another, thus revealing how languages were born. Paravidino says that Abraham is the inspiration for this workshop because he is a figure that appears in all the sacred religious texts of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He wants others to put their say in his writing, he wants it to be a group effort that brings people together, a work of art that everyone can relate to and make a contribution to. The workshop starts in New York but it will make it’s way to other countries such as Italy, France, and Switzerland. This is Paravidino’s way of writing an international theater show with the hopes of symbolically inventing a new language that reunites us all once again. 

Paravidino has taken part in the Segal’s Center and Umanism NY’s Italian Playwrights Project, created and developed by Valeria Orani and Frank Hentschker, which aims to “raise awareness of contemporary Italian writing for the stage in the Americas and to foster the development of collaborative relationships between playwrights from Italy and American theater artists.” So if you are interested in an innovative approach to theater and playwriting, be sure to keep an eye out for Paravidino’s collective workshop coming up soon.

Despite being a native of the United States, Marchetti’s abruzzese heritage was very prominent in her upbringing. Her mother was born in Chieti, a charming hilltop town near the Adriatic coast and this influence would turn out to be more important than Marchetti could have ever imagined as a child. In fact, it took a while for her to realize that her passion for food should be her work. She studied Journalism at Columbia University and was a newspaper reporter long before giving into her culinary desires.

On September 15th at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, Marchetti told food blogger Jacqueline Monda and the audience about the amarene her grandmother would often make. Amarene are sour cherries which she would then preserve in grain alcohol and brandy over time. Even though her grandmother passed away when Marchetti was just eight years old, those preserved cherries still remained after her death. They were a direct link to her grandmother even though she was no longer around physically.

It was this particular memory that was the inspiration for her new cookbook. It was the realization of the strange ability to be able to hold onto tradition and pause time through the preservation of ingredients. Marchetti even added that those cherries had lasted even longer because her parents allowed her to eat one only when she had a “mal di pancia” so she admitted that she would make sure to get stomachaches often. 

Her belief is that “preserving is so central to the Italian table from the salumi and cheese to the digestivo.” This book doesn’t only explain and demonstrate this crucial concept but it serves as a trip through Italy as well. Throughout the book, Marchetti implements the typical Italian mindset of only using ingredients that are in season as well as using them in their entirety without any waste. Even though the idea of preserving in bulk may seem overwhelming, the process is actually quite simple. In fact the author says the only real challenging part for her is finding quality Mediterranean ingredients in the United States, like green walnuts for example. It is possible, however, to find good products and she says you can even find pretty decent olive oils at places like Costco and Wegmans!

Some of Marchetti’s favorite pages from the book are the green tomatoes preserved in salt and the spaghettini al limone which features her lemon infused olive oil recipe. She concluded that “cuisine is always moving” and that although she loves the idea of tradition and keeping traditions alive, there must always be room made for innovation. That special mix of innovation and tradition is laid out beautifully in the her cookbook, Preserving Italy.