The simplest of all peasant soups

[senior citizen]

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[applesoffh]

My mom still makes this soup when someone isn't feeling well! (no bread, though - just chicken broth, the egg, scrambled and cooked in the broth, and fresh parsley) - BTW - we're of Sicilian descent - Palermo, Menfi and Ribera, and most of the foods I remember from my childhood are vegetable and/or macaroni based, now that I think back on it, although we were big on fish, too.

[senior citizen]

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[graciegirl]

My mom still makes this soup when someone isn't feeling well! (no bread, though - just chicken broth, the egg, scrambled and cooked in the broth, and fresh parsley) - BTW - we're of Sicilian descent - Palermo, Menfi and Ribera, and most of the foods I remember from my childhood are vegetable and/or macaroni based, now that I think back on it, although we were big on fish, too.


Moms of German descent did that too and we called them " baby eggs" for some reason. And tea and toast was given to you when you didn't feel well. Warm sweet tea was poured over buttered toast.

Simple things but calming to your tummy.

[carm310]

I love this soup and my mom made it a lot when I was growing up. But there was always pasta in it. The best is with tiny pastina and I love it with grated parmesan, a little pepper sprinkiled on it, yum! A little crusty italian bread on the side is good, need to dunk it! I also used to make it for my kids when they were little. Now - I am sure I will be making this soup this week! It is a great comfort food. It is pretty warm in Chicago today but the end of the week is going to get colder!

[applesoffh]

We didn't do the bread part either......just like you mention above.

Although I never knew my Italian grandfather, I did know my Italian grandmother who was widowed for 50 years when she died at age 95.
Her eldest daughter married a neighborhood "boy" who was Sicilian, thus my cousins are Sicilian descent. When I think back now to much of my grandmother's cooking and baking, she did ADD many of the Sicilian type "dishes" that she must have enjoyed at her own daughter's table.

I've also read that southern Italy has a distinctive touch of Sicilian culture.
Could be from the sailors who came across to that region near Naples.

My mom, who was Ukrainian, learned to make her lasagna from my father and his sisters, mother, etc..........and they didn't just use meat sauce...they made teeny tiny meatballs to layer with the ricotta cheese and mozarella...........that was time consuming to roll those tiny meatballs.............they also mixed an egg or two with the ricotta cheese and parsley or basil.........I've since read that the Sicilians make the tiny meatballs..........so there is a connection.

My husband's favorite series of all time is THE SOPRANOS........we were nothing like them, believe me......but we enjoy watching the DVD's.

Ditto for the GODFATHER movie when he goes back to Palermo, Sicily.
My aunt's husband's family were from Sciacca Sicily.

I just remembered that my mom's Ukrainian brother also married a gal whose family roots were from Sicily and she was a great cook.

Did yours use a lot of fennel????

Sciacca is a fishing village on the northwest coast of Sicily. We have family living there. The road from Sciacca to Menfi goes through Ribera...it is beautiful, mountanous country, and there are vineyards in that region. Sciacca is known for it seafood (obviously) and has a cuisine much different from the interior of Sicily. Sicilian cooking is very heavily influenced by both the Greeks (who invaded) and the Arabs from North Africa (who invaded); hence the use of dried fruits and nuts in many of the desserts.

As for fennel - no, my family used fennel as part of a salad, never cooked, but there is a "famous" Sicilian dish made at Christmas with fennel and fresh sardines...certainly not my cup of tea.

[applesoffh]

I love this soup and my mom made it a lot when I was growing up. But there was always pasta in it. The best is with tiny pastina and I love it with grated parmesan, a little pepper sprinkiled on it, yum! A little crusty italian bread on the side is good, need to dunk it! I also used to make it for my kids when they were little. Now - I am sure I will be making this soup this week! It is a great comfort food. It is pretty warm in Chicago today but the end of the week is going to get colder!

Pastina with chicken broth and cheese...AHHHHH. Sometimes, the best treat was pastina with butter and cheese.

[mac9]

Our family soup was stratiatella...chicken broth with strips of basil. She would then take some home made bread crumbs mixed with romano peccorino cheese, a beaten egg and lemon zest. Bring broth and basil to a boil, add the breadcrumb mixture and cook until the egg is set. Add some crusty bread and a fennel salad.

[jblum315]

Maybe the bread in the soup was like our modern habit of breaking up crackers into soup or chili, not a part of the soup but an addition at the table?

[senior citizen]

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[applesoffh]

Thanks for sharing the "vision" of that village. Small world.
No sardines for me either.

I do remember my grandmother having baby octopus in jars !!!!!
Unless it was squid for calamari?? We lived in N.J. so I didn't get to see her daily as my other cousins* did.........(hose who lived nearby, in N.Y.C.)

I discovered doing my own Italian genealogy , after making wonderful cousin connections from the same lines dating back 8, 9, 10 generations, that we also had Greek ethnicity in both my grandfather and grandmother's family........the Greeks had come to Laurenzana originally and settled.
Back then it was called Lucania...........

My dad always made codfish....... I never saw him "bread and deep fry any fish" such as is done in New England.

He topped his cod with some crushed tomatoes, garlic cloves and oregano, basil and put it briefly under the broiler.

He made his steak the same way. Steak Piazzola?
Not sure of the spelling......did that in a saute pan.

I found out most recently that all Italian mothers taught their sons how to cook. I always wondered why my dad was the only one in the neighborhood that cooked. We lived in a German / Irish neighborhood in N.J. with only a handful of Italian friends.

Fennel seed was used in cooking....or making sausage, but yes, fennel was for salads or appetizers.

You must remember the easter braided breads with eggs on top, under the braided dough? The honey balls (dough balls drizzled with honey and sprinkles on top)??????

Thanks for the blast from the past.


We still make fish the way your dad did!

My mom still makes "strufoli" the honey balls, every Christmas, as does my sister. My grandmother made the Easter Bread, braided with the colored eggs in between the braids...mom made it and I do, too. I also made the Easter Pie (Pizza Rustica) - with ricotta, hard cooked eggs, salami, etc. It was more like a heart attack on a plate, and I stopped making it a long time ago. It must have weighed close to 8 or 9 pounds when finished!

We also bake the fig cookies at Christmas - better than a Fig Newton, and my mom still makes the honey/almond candy. Really, she's amazing!

[Whatever]

When a poor man kills a chicken, one of them is sick. The wisdom of Chelm.

[senior citizen]

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[2BNTV]

Good memories of:
1. Pasta Fagioli.
2. Steak Piazzola.
3. Poato and Egg Wedges with ketchup.
4. Bacala.

the best was Easter Bread with ricotta and tiny pastina. My friends asked for it every year as they looked so forward to it. I'm gaining weight as I think about it.

Mom didn't make the soup with the egg but is sounds delicious. Of course with bread to dunk is a no brainer. :smiley;