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  • Presenting: Nonnas of the World

    At Enoteca Maria we celebrate cultural diversity by serving cuisines from around the world, but we do it in the most uniquely authentic way possible. Real grandmothers from every country across the globe are invited and hired as chefs to cook the recipes handed down to them that they cook at home for their families, that make up the fabric of the culture they were born and raised in. We aspire to build cultural connections through the universal language of cooking, and one way we can do that besides eating it, is teaching it! We hold classes where aspiring chefs can get the opportunity to learn from the nonnas in the kitchen.

    Culture is a resource worth preserving. After all a tree can’t grow and change without its roots.

     

    See the Nonnas in Action!

  • Food Porn from Deadspin!

    Follow this link for the full episode: http://deadspin.com/we-have-made-food-porn-for-you-the-hungry-people-1787657561

    Whoa, hey look at that … it’s a Foodspin TV show. That’s right, folks: Albert Burneko and I and the crack Deadspin video team have made our very own food porn, in which we go across the country to watch master chefs cook their signature dishes, then try to cook our own versions of those dishes and fuck it all up. And yes, I wear a dumb shirt the whole time.

    This week, we’re in Staten Island at Enoteca Maria, the fabled Italian restaurant that brings in grandmas (“nonnas”) from all over the world to have them cook every night. That’s where Albert and I learned to cook Sri Lankan seafood curry. (I know that’s not Italian … roll with it.) Want to make some yourself? Here’s the recipe for our version:

    Sri Lankan seafood curry

    1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

    1 pound scallops

    1 tomato, chopped

    1 red onion, chopped

    2 teaspoons Sri Lankan Chili powder

    ½ teaspoon turmeric

    ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

    2 green chiles, sliced

    1 cinnamon stick

    ½ cup water

    Handful of curry leaves

    1 cup coconut milk

    Oil

    Salt

    • Soak the shrimp and scallops in a bowl filled with water, salt and turmeric. Set aside.
    • Heat the oil in a skillet. Toast the fenugreek seeds and cinnamon for a minute, and then add the onion and garlic. Once those are soft, add the chiles, curry powder, and curry leaves and stir them around for another minute or two. Add the tomato and let everything meld together. Then toss in the coconut milk, and water. Let it reduce down to a nice thick sauce, then take the shrimp and scallops out of the turmeric wash and put them in. Remove the cinnamon stick. The shellfish should cook through quickly, in a couple of minutes. Serve over rice or noodles.
    • Enjoy, motherfucker!
  • Fox News Coverage!

    See it here: http://www.fox5ny.com/news/210324638-story

    – “Just like grandma used to make” isn’t just a clever slogan at one Staten Island restaurant. Grandmothers are using home-style recipes to keep foodies coming back for more.

    Meet Nonna May Joseph. She is making hoppers along with an egg, curry king fish, and onions — a traditional dish from her native Sri Lanka.

    “Nonna” is Italian for grandmother. But these nonnas and nonno are from all over the world. Most of them work at least once a month at Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria to cook dishes from their home countries. Owner Jody Scaravella implemented the idea at his restaurant about a year ago. He says one kitchen is always staffed by an Italian grandmother and a second kitchen rotates every night.

    Nonno Giuseppe makes the pasta. He has been cooking for over a half a century. After the pasta course, there is the main dish: roasted chicken. It’s cooked by Nonna Adelina. To say all of this food made me hungry may be an understatement. The nonnas aim to make you feel like you’re at home no matter how far away that may be. Enoteca Maria also has nonnas from Russia, Greece, Mexico, Venezuela, and Turkey.