Grandma in Louisville

Delicious Memories Recipes: Mom’s Spinach Ravioli, Mom’s Meat Sauce, Homemade Tomato Paste, Italian Turkey, Pork Tenderloin with Diced Turnips and Greens, Italian Garden Salad, Tuna Salad, Mom’s Beef Broth and Boiled Dinner, Stuffed and Fried Zucchini Flowers, Raisin Nut Breads, Fresh Fruits , Antipasto, Tortas and Ciambella.

While watching the popular Netflix show “The Crown” my Grandma in Louisville came to mind. The “Crown” scene that triggered the recollection reads as follows:
“Queen Mary: To do nothing is the hardest job of all. And it will take every ounce of energy that you have. To be impartial is not natural, not human. People will always want you to smile or agree or frown. And the minute you do, you will have declared a position. A point of view. And that is the one thing as sovereign that you are not entitled to do. The less you do, the less you say or agree or smile…
Queen Elizabeth II: Or think? Or feel? Or breathe? Or exist?
Queen Mary: The better.“

My grandmother used every ounce of energy to just be present in her life and that of her family. She never appeared to have a past or a future. She had no opinions or thoughts as far as I could discern. My mother told me once that she ask her mom for advice and was told no advice would be given. My grandmother reasoned that if her advice turned out bad she might be blamed. When I was 19 years old and first approached my grandma about her childhood, her parents, and her life experiences, she said NOTHING. She not only said nothing, she immediately waved her hand in my face, just as Queen Mother may have, stood up and hustled into the kitchen. I sat there in the living room of my Aunt Bernice & Uncle Dominic’s house dumbfounded. This, of course, made me even more curious than ever about her and her life which will unfold as I continue to share our family history.

In the deepest sense, Maria Amerisa Mattei, was a woman of duty. Born into a noble family, of sorts, as we know our branch of the Mattei family lost it’s glorious aura once they settled in the remote village of Gromignana, Italy in 1497 (more to come later on Gromignana and our ancestors). Mary, as she was called, was the second of eight children to David Mattei and Armida Gristanti. She and her siblings grew up in a small house hugging a Gromignana mountainside called Casa de Sota. Quiet, unassuming and generous, everyone loved Mary. Only through my mother and a great aunt, after grandma died in 1971, did I get a glimpse of her life.

In my research I learned that Mary arrived in America on February 1, 1920, one hundred years ago today. A lovely 5′ 10″ brunette with sparkling blue-green eyes, she had a presence she herself ignored. Her first cousin and good friend, Pellegrino Mattei, encouraged Mary to come to Louisville to be his wife. Initially, Mary lived for a brief time with her Uncle Pacifico and his family. Pacifico and Pellegrino both worked for Zeffiro (Jake) Grisanti, Pacifico’s older brother and also Pellegrino’s uncle. On April 30, 1921 Mary and Pellegrino were married at St. Martin of Tours Church. Mary would become the silent partner to Pellegrino as they opened GCJ Mattei , a plaster and novelty business at 927 Madison Ave in Louisville. They lived in the apartment above “the shop” as we called it as kids.

Interestingly enough, Mary had another good friend and distant cousin who immigrated from Gromignana a few months later. Giovanni Mattei, who was Mary’s age and attended school with her, would move to Cincinnati, Ohio. He boarded with an uncle and eventually married my other grandmother, Ida Liva. This will become important later in our story as Mary encouraged her daughters to visit the Cincinnati Matteis after WWII. Mary and Pater (as he was called) had four children: Jack (1922), my mother, Mary Della (1924), Louis Dominic (1925) and Mary Margaret (1929).

The Pellegrino Mattei family would live on Madison Avenue until Pater and Mary retired in the early 1940s. They moved out to the “country” in an old bootlegger’s house on property directly across from the Oxford Estate on Shelbyville Road. This is the house I remember from my childhood and the place where many delicious memories were cooked and baked up for family and friends. Next week’s BLOG will feature the house on Shelbyville Rd and Mom’s Spinach Ravioli which is a recipe that comes down from Louisville Matteis.