Erasmo and Pearl Street
Erasmo Figliola was born in San Martino in Pensilis, a hill town in Molise, and he made his living as a carpenter. By every account he was restless.
The family stories have him building a raft in Canada and floating it down to St. Louis, because Canada was too cold. They have him in Buenos Aires with his brother Francesco. They have him crossing the Atlantic and going home to Italy more than once, and setting out again, with very little money.
In the end it was Pearl Street, in Port Chester, New York, that held him. It is where my father, Rudy, was born and grew up. He was named for Rudolph Valentino, and he was the one who passed the stories on to me and my cousins.
I never met my grandfather. I have pieced him together from those stories, from old papers, and from a family tree that keeps growing. This kitchen is one way I keep him in the room.
Erasmo's Sunday Sauce is not his recipe. It is a place at the table, set for him.
Mangia bene.
Patty