On Mother's Day, my auntie Vi, (b. 1925, Milwaukee), who emails me every day, wrote that she'd made garlic bread soup, in memory of her mother, my grandmother Rosaria––I called her Ama (née DeNicola, 1900, Monreale, Sicily).
"My mother made it for us on schooldays," Vi wrote, "when we came home for lunch during the Depression.
I don’t know where she got olive oil and cheese when she didn’t have three cents for yeast nor a nickel for a bag of salt. Perhaps grandma DeNicola brought it to her."
I wrote back asking for instructions, and she replied, "There are no instructions for garlic bread soup".
Then she told me how to make it.
Garlic Bread Soup
"My mother made it for us on schooldays," Vi wrote, "when we came home for lunch during the Depression.
I don’t know where she got olive oil and cheese when she didn’t have three cents for yeast nor a nickel for a bag of salt. Perhaps grandma DeNicola brought it to her."
I wrote back asking for instructions, and she replied, "There are no instructions for garlic bread soup".
Then she told me how to make it.
Garlic Bread Soup
Warm up garlic (chopped,
sliced or grated) in olive oil.
.
.
Add torn pieces of stale or dried
bread. Hopefully baguette or Italian. The crusts are the best as I
like the solid chunks.
Add water to cover and cook 5 or 10 minutes. (If you want more flavor, you can use chicken or vegetable
broth.)
Bread soaks up lots of water. You may need to add more as it
cooks.
.
.
More oil for taste? Salt and pepper.
Serve with lots of Parmesan
and fresh-ground pepper.
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Me in Palermo, Sicily, April 2007 (trip sponsored by Uncle Tony), outside the Dante Bookstore.
Tutta un'altra storia is a saying meaning variations on "a whole other story".
Tutta un'altra storia is a saying meaning variations on "a whole other story".
An article about this pan-Italian (and Spanish) soup, called pancotto (cooked bread):