Nonna's Biscotti

Crunchy. Brittle. Nutty. These are a few words that described my Nonna's amazing biscotti. Nonna, my Italian paternal grandmother, emigrated from Italy in 1960 when she married my grandfather, Lino Milano. Speaking no English or Spanish, and being plunged into a completely diverse culture and language, Nonna resorted to food as a source of communication. She exemplified hard work, determination, and love in the Rio Grande Valley. My grandparents introduced Italian cuisine to the Texas-American boarder by opening Milano's Italian restaurant.

Italian biscotti in my family represent unity. After every dinner, Nonna would walk out with a plate full of biscotti for each of us to enjoy. We would each grab one, and pass along the plate. Being able to enjoy and share in that enjoyment with the people that you most love creates a family. Either with a glass of red or white wine, an espresso, or a tea, each one of us would then proceed to dip our biscotti into our drink. At the young age of three I clearly remember running over to my father with a biscotti in hand and plunging my biscotti into his glass of red wine. The bitter flavor of the wine compliments the sweet and nutty flavors of the biscotti, creating a homey dessert.

My grandfather died in 2012, and my Nonna died in 2017; even though they are physically gone, their spirit remains. After 2017, the restaurant changed. My father yearned for his mother's biscotti. So, it became my goal to take what I had learned from Nonna as a child and to make these delicious cookies. Of course I failed many times: the biscotti would come out rock hard, undercooked, too sweet, lacking enough almonds. But I continued to learn from my mistakes.

So three years after Nonna died, I continue to make her biscotti. Although they will never be her biscotti, I have taken the legacy that she left for us and made it my own. When I bake them, I remember how she would grab a fist full of flour and toss it into the mix; I admired her ability to know when the dough was just right for baking. She gracefully cooked with such an elegance that I aspire to. Her pearls dangled over the pan and she never lost her beautiful Italian style.

Nonna, grazie per l'amore. Tu sei la mia inspirazione, non solamente nella cucina, ma nella vita. Hai creato una famiglia che ama la cultura che tu ci hai portato. Ci manchi tantissimo Nonna!

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