History and Cuisine of My Ancestral Hometown
The church of San Flaviano honors Giulianova’s patron saint, who was the bishop of Constantinople.
Giulianova in the Province of Teramo in the Region of Abruzzo, is a seaside/seaport town of 23,000 along the Adriatic coast whose histor y dates back to the Romans. It is also the town from which my family emigrated in the 1920s, making their way to the United States. Flanked to the West by the Apennine Mountains whose height rivals the Swiss Alps, Giulianova has remained an isolated area which ser ved to preser ve old traditions. T he town’s patron saint is San F laviano, bishop of Constantinople. The ship carr ying his remains ran aground on the town’s coast and the residents saw this as a sign.
T he town itself is named for Duke Giuliano Antonio Acquaviva who controlled the town long ago and who built eight towers and a moat (now gone) circling the cit y, which provided securit y. The town is perched on t wo elevations, one of which, the lido, is the coastal plain. This is the resor t and seapor t par t of the town today. The second, the paese, is the higher inland elevation near the mountains which was the site of the original medieval town. The main feature that struck me on visiting Giulianova was the Piazza della Liber ta at the coastal end of the town on its main street, the Corso Garibaldi. It features a ver y large statue of King Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Italy, which commemorates his visit in 1860 on his way to a meeting with Giuseppi Garibaldi. The statue was designed and sculpted by Raff aeto Paglicet ti, who was born in Giulianova and famous throughout Italy at the time.
There are many churches in Giulianova, the most striking of which is Sanctuar y of the Madonna della Splendora, featuring clusters of mosaics highlighted with gold leaf. There are stories of the Virgin Mar y appearing to a peasant at the spot that is now the location of the Sanctuar y. Today, Capuchin monks maintain a monastery there.
Sitting astride the Adriatic Sea, Giulianova is a popular summer beach destination for tourists. Photo courtesy of Italian Tourist Bureau.
Fishing is a major pursuit in Giulianova and the boats venture out almost ever y day, mostly in pursuit of the larger fish that populate the Adriatic. Their nets hang to dr y along the seaside promenade. There also are traditional fishing huts along the water f ront which are home to the big rigs which pursue larger catches. Fish stews, grilled fish and other simple seafood dishes are mainstays of the local diet. Due to the nearby mountains, shepherds continue their traditional prac tices, and lamb dishes prepared by them are another main culinar y component. Wine produc tion is also a hear t y local pursuit, as Giulianova has an ideal climate for the area’s three sig nature wines, Trebbiano red and white, and the Montepulciano varieties. Cuisine povera featuring fresh ingredients is the hallmark of cooking in Giulianova, but the dishes are elegant enough to ser ve to guests. The local cuisine has three parts, cuisine of the sea, the Gran Sasso heartland and the Apennine mountains.
The famous pasta of the town is Pasta alla Chitarra, named because its long square edged strands are made using a device that resembles the strings of a guitar. The resulting pasta is ser ved with tomato sauce and meatballs. Few cookbooks featuring the local cuisine exist and people mostly have collected and shared family recipes as a way of passing down traditions. My own family came to America with those recipes embedded in their heads, and I was lucky enough to have my grandmother show me how to make her favorites.
I’m very proud of my grandparents for making the voyage to an unknown countr y, especially my grandmother who travelled solo with a baby. I’m also proud that they refused to Americanize our family name, holding on to Branciaroli when so many other relatives who also came to the U.S. became “Branch.” Since most of us don’t have a chitarra device, I’m sharing our family recipe for Pizzelles, which requires a device resembling a waff le iron which may be easier to find. A waffle iron can substitute but the wafers will not be as pretty.
Pizzelles:
6 eggs
4 cups f lour (approx.)
1 1/ 3 cup sugar
1 cup melted but ter
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbl anise Juice of 1 orange
1 tbs lemon juice
Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Add sugar gradually & beat until smooth. Add cooled but ter, anise. Add f lour, baking powder gradually to beaten egg mixture & then f ruit juices. Dough will be stick y. Drop by spoonful onto a heated pizzelle iron & close lid. Cook till lightly browned and remove f rom iron to a dr y towel to cool.
Sources:
Photos are f rom Italy Histor y Inc. Cathy Branciaroli is a Delaware-based, award-winning food writer and a member of the AMHS. Her website, Delaware Girl Eats, has been honored nationally for its enticing posts and its narratives about the stories behind the dishes being featured.