Cooking With Courage

Hi, my name is Melissa and this is my ItaliaRican Kitchen. The name comes from my Italian (Sicilian to be exact) and Puerto Rican heritage, which is reflected in my cooking. Those who are familiar with Italians and Puerto Ricans know that they both come from very family-oriented cultures. So it should be no surprise that helping with family meals was how I discovered my love for cooking as a child. My mother, aunts and cousins would enlist me to pour this and mix that, stir this and measure that until the meal was fully prepared to be enjoyed by everyone.

It was in the kitchen with my family, not a cookbook where I learned and came up with so many recipes for delicious meals. My family also taught me that that cooking is not cooking unless you get your hands dirty. Growing up in the Bronx, we didn’t always money to buy all sorts of different ingredients, so I had to use my imagination to come up with creative ways to prepare meals, especially meals without meat or other expensive ingredients.

Cooking is also like therapy for me. It soothes me after a stressful day and allows me to be in total control in a world where so many of us feel out of control. It also pleases me to watch others enjoying what I’ve created. Anyone who’s ever eaten my cooking asks me, “Can you give me the recipe?” or “Can you make this for my party?” There’s nothing like a cascade of compliments to make a girl feel better.

My Sicilian mother and her family taught me all the delicious sauces, gravies and pasta recipes which graced their dining table. With the large Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in the Bronx, my neighbors and friends shared their recipes and culinary traditions with me over the years. My father, a Puerto Rican Jew, was not really into cooking and therefore did not share any recipes from either aspect of his own heritage. But I can whip up a mean latke and matzo ball soup.

I want to make this blog an encyclopedia of my best recipes, ideas and tips. People are also surprised how inexpensive and quick my cooking is to make. Once in a while I’ll throw in a cooking anecdote from my past, little experiences which have contributed to my wisdom in the kitchen.

My motto is "cooking with courage" because I believe too many people are afraid of cooking. They're too scared of what might happen if they turn on the stove and put together a few ingredients. I don't believe you're really cooking unless you get your hands dirty. No one should be afraid to cook, and more important, no one should be afraid to get their hands dirty. Whether you get your hands greasy, sticky, or gooey, just remember two things: (1) soap and water will always wash anything off your hands and (2) it's just FOOD!! It's going to be eaten eventually so how horrible could it possibly be to get on your hands?

With that said, let's get cooking!