If there is one specific food that really hits close to home, is a soup my grandmother used to make for the holidays and special occasions such as Easter dinner and Christmas Eve. In my family we call it Passatelli but I believe the official term is Passatelli Dei Nonni, which translates from Italian into Bread and Parmesan Cheese Soup! All 14 of my mixed generational family including myself would ask my grandmother, Lucy Gabucci, how the pastatelli was coming along and if she’d be making enough for both Christmas Eve and Christmas and my grandmother never disappointed us. I remember being such a picky eater and it took me some time to even enjoy an entire bowl of this warm, unique and well prepared pasta. My uncle Jason or uncle Jay for short brought me into the kitchen where he was getting another bowl of soup. He then went into the refrigerator and brought out the Tabasco sauce, I looked at him like he was crazy but my uncle swore by it. He said to me “dude you gotta give this a try! Especially if you find the taste of the noodles a little bland.” I personally didn’t even like tabasco sauce and or any type of hot sauce back then but I’ve continued to use my uncle Jay’s advice ever since.  My grandmother has been gone for almost three years now. The tradition of making pastatelli has not left the family and my father has made it every Christmas since her passing. I hope to one day learn the recipe and the process of making this perfect soup to pass it down to my children as well. 
 

– Christian Gabucci

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant