Transcript: I think collectively we should be all together at the table much more often than we are. Because I think that the table is such a magnet for interaction. From the family on to world issues. It’s . . . Food is a conduit, a venue that we can sort of permeate each others’ thoughts. So at the table beginning with the family and the family eating together; to the leaders eating each others’ food at the table and maybe discussing the poignant issue over a nice bowl of pasta.

I think individually, we should have a consciousness of ourself, of our body, of living well, and using food to get there in a positive fashion. You know using food to give us pleasure. Using food to lose those few pounds enjoyably, not in a negative negation. Because I think today food is negated a lot. You know, “No, no, no.” It’s that food is, “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s the right food, it’s the right amount, at the right time.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: I think this age will be remembered as an age of unrest. I think an age of the cultures really coming closer through technology, through cyberspace, through travels. You know we have never invaded each others’ space so quickly so much as we have now. So we have to adjust; but I think that this sort of invasion will turn out into expansion of knowledge and acceptance soon. I think this age will be remembered as almost a turning point to real . . . wanting to understand, and appreciate, and enjoy, and get involved in food the way it’s supposed to be in its natural state, tasting well, socially meaningful rather than just something that you eat to live; but rather the enjoyment, the pleasure of eating.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: You know I get asked that question a lot. I think that I . . . I . . . That superstar chef did not take over Lidia. I can look at the superstar chef almost from the outside and still be Lidia. And therefore I think that it has not changed me or my values all that much. What it has done, it has given me an opportunity, a platform to maybe predicate some of my philosophy and act upon it – whether it is to work with UNIFAM on helping the women of the world; or whether it is with the war in Bosnia to help the children. So you . . . your stature helps that. That’s, you know, quite . . . quite . . . quite a positive. And being . . . Having the stature, there’s also a responsibility. There’s a responsibility of the people that watch you, that follow you, that imitate you – that you deliver the right thing to them; that you continue to . . . to deliver things that will stimulate them rather than just make it a personal sort of collecting ground.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: I think certainly climactic forces; the mobility of everything; and my least favorite is, of course, industry in the sense that they’ve taken food and, again, done with it some inventiveness, and packaged it and marketed it. And something that’s absolutely . . . might not be necessary now is deemed a “must have”. And I have problems with that.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: The measure of a good life is really to be contented with yourself; to . . . to . . . to be happy in what you are doing; to be happy in the relationships that you’re in; and . . . and darn it if you’re not, then have the energy, the decision to change and make it happen.

Transcript: I think that to create, I first need to take in, and learn, and assimilate. And on that basis then, I have to give myself a place or a situation to create. For me, I think time with myself, with nature – specifically the sea, the water – classical music. Music really sets me in a great state of creation. Traveling. Traveling. Different cultures will stimulate creativity in the basis of information that I have. So I see something, “Oh I can do this. Or this will be better this way.” So I think it’s taking time to nourish oneself physically and mentally. One is able to reproduce . . . produce ideas.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: Oh my goodness. Yes. A visit to China – and I’m talking about several years ago. China was still – and to the market of China. One of the things that I do when I go visit a different culture is go to the markets. But the . . . the . . . the amazing of the diversity of . . . of meats, vegetables; but the meats were particularly every form and shape. Whether they crawl. Whether they had 10 legs. Whether it had a long tail or short tail. Every imaginable animal was hanging somewhere in that market. And every part on that animal was dissected someplace hanging ready to be eaten. So I was just mesmerized me that this culture – the oldest culture . . . You know and there’s something to say there about respecting the food chain and maybe eating everything. Respecting when you kill an animal, whatever that might be, that you eat everything from it.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: Kitchens have changed tremendously in the sense of the sort of the exclusive role of a male dominant chef.  Kitchens have opened much more to younger people . . . opportunities to younger people to really reach certain levels.  It certainly has opened up opportunities for women evermore.  There’s a tremendous consciousness in respect for products rather than just for an exposition for the chef, or for his sort of creativity.  Not that that’s not necessary.  It is.  But I think in a lot of the . . . the older __________, that’s what you expected. Actually you expected almost the product not to be recognized, to be transformed into something.  That has completely changed.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question:  What ingredients do you always have on hand?

Transcript:  Again I’m talking from an Italian point of view.  And an absolute is olive oil, garlic, some onions, _________ or parmesano, cheese, pastas or some . . .  Either the elements to make some fresh pasta or dry pasta, a lot of legumes, and vegetables, and of course the herbs.

Question: What is your least favorite ingredient?

Transcript: It’s not that something is not favorite.  I am maybe unfamiliar with them.  And I haven’t yet kind of warmed up to cilantro.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript:  I think what should go on the menu, again, should reflect, certainly, the seasons.  That’s number one; should reflect the philosophy or the culture of the chef or whomever is running the restaurant.  In our case of course it’s Italian, and there’s usually a consultation with the chef and the sous chef as a whole; and a monitoring of what are the trends.  What are people looking for?  So well-balanced, certainly.  And vegetables.  So if it’s winter, some soups.  The fish element, the red meat, the white meat, the legumes.  It’s a balance between all of that.  Besides, it’s just _________ put lobster on the menu.  The whole orchestration.  It’s a symphony of things that has to happen.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question:  What is the joy in what you do?

Transcript: There’s a tremendous joy in what I do because it is a gift of giving.  And it’s a gift of giving almost of yourself or your talent.  But I think that any talented individual – be it a composer, be it a painter – they are giving of themselves to touch other people.  And when the other people are touched, this is the most tremendous reward that you can get; that you’ve made a difference, even a small difference; that you’ve contributed to somebody’s existence – the well existence. That gives you the great reward that I sense in cooking.

Question: What is the struggle in what you do?

Transcript: The challenge is, I think, really dealing in today’s world with the products that have been manipulated.  And products that are taken in its pure form from nature and belabored into something that is invented . . . that is by marketing deemed necessary that really is not.  So as a chef, when I get these products I am very upset.  It confuses me.  I need straight products from nature.

Question: How do you cultivate the joy of cooking in someone else?

Transcript: The joy of cooking certainly can be acquired at any age, I think.  Because your palate does not steer you wrong.  It does not lie to you. Something looks good, it really is good.  And it’s sort of . . . It’s beyond almost . . . You can’t block it personally.  It just goes directly.  So therefore I think that exposure to that is absolutely necessary.  As parents, in cultivating that, it begins at the . . . as early as you can at an early age.  And that is having the aromas around children as they grow up.  Cooking around them so that in the house, that happens, and the children get used to the smell.  They become friendly with the smell of broccoli.  They become friendly with the smell of cabbage.  And when they begin to . . . or the mother puts it in front of them at the age of four, five, six, it’s not a complete stranger.  So this familiarization with food needs to happen immediately as one is born, not . . .  There is a lot of alienation.  Everything is packaged.  Everything is sealed.  You don’t smell anything.  You buy pre-cooked food.  It’s tough.  It’s tough out there

Question: How do you teach someone to cook?

Transcript: I think just to relax and have confidence in themselves.  I think that everybody can cook on a certain level.  You don’t have to be a master chef; but I think it’s part of our survival mode, the nourishment mode.  So I will just say relax, be mentored.  Certainly try to learn things from . . . whether it’s your mother, your grandmother, whatever; from books, from television.  And just attempt it.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: What makes a great dish?

Transcript:  The elements in a great recipe really vary, again, according to culture.  And each one will give you a different answer.  But I think it’s, again, the prime product.  You need to have as a chef . . . I need to have the best that I can – the best that nature can give me in the product.  Then my work as the chef is not to alter that or to change, but to exalt it.  So in doing that, I might need some condiments, which is olive oil, or butter, or whatever.  I might need some seasoning to enhance it, whether it’s salt, spices, or herbs.  But basically give me a good product from nature, and mostly my work is done.

Question: What is your favorite dish?

Transcript:  You know it’s difficult.  It’s difficult to isolate, I think.  What I would like to say is that I love cooking and eating seasonally.  Therefore following the season.  What does the bounty of the season bring?  And I enjoy that at that given time.  I think if you . . .  If I were to really choose one, I must say pasta and vegetables would have to be.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question:  What makes a great chef?

Transcript: I think what makes a great chef, first and foremost, is passion.  Secondly, dedication.  Thirdly, education.  Fourthly, practice and being mentored by the right people.  And I think an important element to really round the chef – make it complete – is the travel.  The travel to understand different cultures and their different food cultures.

Question: Who are today’s great chefs?

Transcript:  Oh there’s . . . there is many great chefs of today.  Certainly in Italy there is _________.  And then of course there’s _________.  There’s __________.  There’s _________, and so on.  There’s a lot.  It is not . . .  It’s . . .  It’s a field that’s been blessed with a lot of talented people.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript:  My initial understanding maybe of food and ultimately falling in love with food and production of food was in the courtyard where my family lived with my grandmother and my great aunt.  And so these little pockets of houses surrounding this courtyard were . . . chickens and geese ran freely.  We had ducks.  We had rabbits, goats.  The gardens were in the back.  So to grow up in a situation where the primary elements of nourishment are actually being raised and produced . . .  We had olive groves, and remember we made olive oil.  We had wine . . . wine . . . okay.  We had grapes growing.  And ultimately in September wine was produced.  We grew our own products, but also animals like the pig.  And again November the slaughter, the drying and curing of prosciutto.  So all of these elements I grew up with.  I grew up with the pristine flavors – the real flavors – of nature in its most simplest form.  And that is, I think, my palate for everything that followed.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Transcript: I think that my origins had a tremendous shaping of my . . . who I am, my personality, my career and so on. ___________ is a city in Istria. Istria is a little Peninsula that ________ Adriatic which is part of Croatia now. But World War II kind of changed the whole demographics there, or the whole . . . __________ and Istria, being Italian, were given to Yugoslavia as the spoils of World War II. And therefore being ethnic Italian, where the government that came in was Communist, was a tremendous change. And those were my formative years really, because we ultimately . . . My parents ultimately decided to escape. Because once it was a Communist state, we literally had to escape back to Italy. So that . . . Those years really did shape me and sort of created my philosophy of life.

We escaped from . . . from Yugoslavia, then back into Italy. I was around 10. For two years in the aftermath of war, Italy we . . . my parents, I guess, tried to get a decent job. And so it was kind of difficult, so we entered a political refugee camp for two years. And in three years, we . . . We stayed for two years awaiting a visa to travel on. And in 1958, the United States at that time – Dwight Eisenhower – made provisions for visas for political refugees . . . people that were escaping actually Communism, which we were. And we came into the United States in 1958.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: Whom would you interview, and what would you ask?

Transcript: I think I would like to talk to Gandhi. And that inner peace – how can we sort of make an epidemic of it? If at all, how can that spread throughout the world? Because I think when people are peaceful with themselves and understand, then they’re much more accepting of everything else.

Question: What should we be asking ourselves?

Transcript: I think the question that we should ask ourself, again, is, “Am I happy with myself?” Just take . . . Go outside yourself for a moment and say, “Is this the person that I wanna be?” If yes, then continue. What is no, then try to correct.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: Collectively, what should we doing?

Transcript: I think collectively we should be all together at the table much more often than we are. Because I think that the table is such a magnet for interaction. From the family on to world issues. It’s . . . Food is a conduit, a venue that we can sort of permeate each others’ thoughts. So at the table beginning with the family and the family eating together; to the leaders eating each others’ food at the table and maybe discussing the poignant issue over a nice bowl of pasta.

Question: What should we be doing as individuals?

Transcript: I think individually, we should have a consciousness of ourself, of our body, of living well, and using food to get there in a positive fashion. You know using food to give us pleasure. Using food to lose those few pounds enjoyably, not in a negative negation. Because I think today food is negated a lot. You know, “No, no, no.” It’s that food is, “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s the right food, it’s the right amount, at the right time.

Question: How can we eat better?

Transcript: I think we need to begin with a better understanding and try to educate ourselves. But also not everybody is available to have access to that; but everybody does go at some point and shop. So I think that we need to make the purveyors – whether it’s the shopping markets or the small bodegas – to be more responsible, and to bring, and to ask, and demand for good food. I always tell my audiences, “Do not accept something. You are the customer. Demand something – something that is good.” So it’s the accessibility of all these good products that we are talking to the mass.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the way the world is headed?

Transcript: Oh I am very pessimistic. No, no. The other . . . quite the other way. I am very optimistic. I think that as the world, as human beings we are very positive. And really all of us would like the best for ourselves, for our families, and even for our neighbors – absolutely. So there are those exceptions; but I have optimistic hopes and views, and almost assured that we will optimistically prevail.

Question: How will this age be remembered?

Transcript: I think this age will be remembered as an age of unrest. I think an age of the cultures really coming closer through technology, through cyberspace, through travels. You know we have never invaded each others’ space so quickly so much as we have now. So we have to adjust; but I think that this sort of invasion will turn out into expansion of knowledge and acceptance soon.

I think this age will be remembered as almost a turning point to real . . . wanting to understand, and appreciate, and enjoy, and get involved in food the way it’s supposed to be in its natural state, tasting well, socially meaningful rather than just something that you eat to live; but rather the enjoyment, the pleasure of eating.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: When you read the newspaper or watch the news, what issues stand out for you?

Transcript: Well certainly the big issues are hunger, environmental and peace.

Question: What is the world’s biggest challenge in the coming decade?

Transcript: The biggest challenge are to respond to hunger and make sure that the whole world is fed. Peace is the understanding, and appreciation, and acceptance of each other’s cultures, beliefs, and individualities. And of course to work together and to make sure that we do not destroy the hand that feeds us.

Question: What should be the big issues of the 2008 presidential election?

Transcript: The major issue of the election, and what is sort of concentrated in the United States, I think is our role in the world peace. And maybe focus more on alleviated . . . alleviating some of the hunger and some of the hardships of people around the world. And also internally – the nutritional issues, children, and eating right, and obesity, and understanding; and the production of food – that it is real food.

Question: What is America’s place in the world?

Transcript: I think America is unquestionably the number one country, leader. The whole world is looking at us for ideas, help. And so unquestionably we are the dominating force in the world, and it’s a responsibility that really sometimes cannot be taken . . . not sometimes. It cannot be taken lightly, and we need to work at it all together.

Question: What region has the best food?

Transcript: Of course for me, I think that Italian food is just the perfect food. Second to that I think that Chinese or Oriental – now that the small, individual cuisines have opened up, whether it’s Thai; whether it’s Vietnamese – is the second. Now Italian is maybe because I know it the best. But I think it’s . . . nutritionally just makes sense. Flavorful. It’s a cuisine of . . . of joy, and pleasure, and positive, and communicating, and collaborating in the family. It just is all that food should be.

Recorded on: 10/4/07

Question: What forces have shaped humanity most?

Transcript: I think if you look very, very way back in history, food has been a big determining force in . . . from the Venetians and their spice trades to the Orient, and bringing back and making actually ____________ one of the richest sort of city state; which in turn with its money created Florence and the salt trades; which in turn fueled the Renaissance or whatever. So food is potent. You know the travel of Columbus was to find the new . . . yes, was to find the Fountain of Youth; but also it was to find new foods and new ideas. So food is extremely important in the evolution of what happens in the world – happened and it continues to happen.

Question: What forces have shaped the way we eat?

Transcript: I think certainly climactic forces; the mobility of everything; and my least favorite is, of course, industry in the sense that they’ve taken food and, again, done with it some inventiveness, and packaged it and marketed it. And something that’s absolutely . . . might not be necessary now is deemed a “must have”. And I have problems with that.

Recorded on: 10/4/07