On June 9th, Maria Filice, author and food stylist of Breaking Bread in L’Aquila, will make a donation toward the construction of a playground for primary and secondary school students in Rocca di Mezzo. Using the net profits of her cookbook, Filice will donate $5,000 to build that playground for the children of Rocca di Mezzo. The playground will be dedicated to the memory of Filice’s late husband, Paul Piccone.
The official ceremony for the donation will take place at 11am in Viale Giovanne Minozzi, where Filice will present her donation to Emilio Nusca, mayor of Rocca di Mezzo and the coordinator responsible for reconstruction among all mayors of the areas surrounding L’Aquila, and the school’s principal.
A small town 15 kilometers from Celano, Rocca di Mezzo is a town of about 2,000 inhabitants, though the population swells to 10,000 at the height of the summer tourist season. The town is situated atop a beautiful plateau among the highest mountains of Abruzzo and Appennini, about 30 kilometers from L’Aquila. As a smaller town, somewhat removed from the main destruction of the April 2009 earthquake in Abruzzo, Rocca di Mezzo has not received much help with reconstruction. Though the Protezione Civile rebuilt the school that is home to the primary and secondary students of Rocca di Mezzo as well as the nearby villages of Ovindoli and Rocca di Cambio, the playground has not yet been restored.
Piccone’s love of the region was the inspiration behind Filice’s cookbook. Together, the couple travelled throughout the Abruzzo region, experiencing its delicious food, lively culture, and beautiful music. The recipes found in Breaking Bread in L’Aquila celebrate the cuisine of the region, both classic and contemporary. The cookbook was published on April 6, 2010, on the first anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the Abruzzo region. Releasing the book on the earthquake’s anniversary was a message to the people of the region that “we have not forgotten.”
First-time author Filice considers herself an honorary “L’Aquilana.” Her book has received abundant praise from print and online reviewers, including the Library Journal, i-Italy, and Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts. Breaking Bread in L’Aquila is available directly from the publisher at www.foodandfate.com or from Baker & Taylor, Follet, Coutts, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Midwest, or YBP. For more recipes and tips, visit Maria Filice’s blog
