Esposito, Mary Ann 1942-

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ESPOSITO, Mary Ann 1942-

PERSONAL: Born August 3, 1942, in Buffalo, NY; daughter of Roy J. (a chemist) and Louise (a dietician; maiden name, Galasso) Saporito; married Guy M. Esposito (a physician), 1968; children: Elizabeth, Christopher. Education: Daeman College, B.A., 1964; University of New Hampshire, M.A. 1991; graduate of Cucina della Campania (Sorrento, Italy) and Italianissimo (Perugia, Italy). Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, foreign-language study.

ADDRESSES: Office—Mary Ann Esposito, Inc., P.O. Box 891, Durham, NH 03824. Agent—Michael Jones, P.O. Box 397, Pelham, NH 03807. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), host and creator of "Ciao Italia" (televised cooking show), 1989—; Mary Ann Esposito, Inc. (production company), Durham, president, 1996—. University of New Hampshire, Portsmouth, instructor in Italian cooking, 1985-90; European Heritage Institute, Richmond, VA, lecturer and cook, 1990-91. Visiting and guest chef to numerous culinary institutes, including Boston University; guest cook at Tre Vaselle, Torgiano, Italy, and La Cucina d'Edgardo, Montalcino, Tuscany; Strawberry Banke, Portsmouth, NH, president of board of trustees, 1980-84.

MEMBER: International Association of Cooking Professionals.

AWARDS, HONORS: Columbus Foundation Literary Award, 1993, for Ciao Italia; Pirandello Lyceum Award, 1995, for educational and entertainment contributions made by an Italian American.

WRITINGS:

cookbooks

Ciao Italia: Traditional Italian Recipes from Family Kitchens, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.

Nella Cucina: More Italian Cooking from the Host of "Ciao Italia," Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

Celebrations, Italian Style: Recipes and Menus for Special Occasions and Seasons of the Year, illustrated by Tomie de Paola, Morrow (New York, NY), 1995.

Easy Book of Yeast Dough, Morrow (New York, NY), 1997.

What You Knead, Morrow (New York, NY), 1997.

Mangia Pasta!: Easy-to-Make Recipes for Company and Every Day, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

Ciao Italia—Bringing Italy Home: Regional Recipes, Flavors, and Traditions As Seen on the Public Television Series "Ciao Italia," St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Ciao Italia in Umbria: Recipes and Reflections from the Heart of Italy, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Ciao Italia in Tuscany: Traditional Recipes from One of Italy's Most Famous Regions, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Beginning in 1989, Mary Ann Esposito has hosted the weekly PBS cooking show "Ciao Italia," on which she instructs viewers in preparing a variety of authentic Italian dishes, and educates them about Italian history and folklore. "Ciao Italia" has been carried by over 250 public television stations, and in the wake of its popularity Esposito has written several best-selling cookbooks containing Italian regional recipes.

Esposito learned a great deal about Italian cooking from her Sicilian and Neapolitan-born grandmothers, but she also attended cooking schools in Italy and earned a master's degree in Italian Renaissance history from the University of New Hampshire. Michael Schrader in Nation's Restaurant News recounted: "As a child, Esposito wished her extended family would cook more American meals, and she embarked on a career in teaching that had no relationship to the cookery that surrounded her in her youth. With the passage of years, she turned back to the food of her heritage with an enthusiasm that would lead her to make cooking her vocation and the rediscovery of forgotten dishes the object of many trips to Italy."

In her first cookbook, Ciao Italia: Traditional Italian Recipes from Family Kitchens, Esposito "concentrates equally on technique and history," according to a critic for Publishers Weekly. She has continued this approach in all of her later books as well, mixing traditional Italian recipes with information about Italian history, her own travels, and family stories. Speaking of Mangia Pasta!: Easy-to-Make Recipes for Company and Every Day, Judith C. Sutton in Library Journal explained that Esposito's book "features favorite pasta dishes, both classic and contemporary, along with chatty reminiscences about her culinary travels throughout Italy." Reviewing Ciao Italia: Bringing Italy Home, a critic for Publishers Weekly noted that "Esposito's travel stories, family memories and tips … infuse the recipes with a warm and personal touch." Mark Knoblauch in Booklist summed up her popularity: "Esposito's personality and enthusiasm for her subject shine through her work."

Esposito's cookbooks are also known for introducing Italian regional recipes not widely known in America. Her Ciao Italia in Umbria: Recipes and Reflections from the Heart of Italy, featuring recipes from the mid-section of the Italian peninsula, for example, contains "simple, rustic fare not overexposed in other Italian cookbooks," as a critic for Publishers Weekly explained. Celebrations, Italian Style: Recipes and Menus for Special Occasions and Seasons of the Year contains recipes for all the major holidays and family celebrations, as well as for local festivals found throughout Italy.

On the Ciao Italia Web site, Esposito explained what she hoped to accomplish through her television series and her cookbooks. She noted: "I try to share my love for my heritage with all of you. I feel like I am really accomplishing my goal when I get wonderful comments and letters from you. Of course, like a good teacher, I learn so much from you as well."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, November 15, 1995, Barbara Jacobs, review of Celebrations, Italian Style: Recipes and Menus for Special Occasions and Seasons of the Year, p. 524; November 15, 1998, Barbara Jacobs, review of Mangia Pasta!: Easy-to-Make Recipes for Company and Every Day, p. 555; May 15, 2001, Mark Knoblauch, review of Ciao Italia—Bringing Italy Home: Regional Recipes, Flavors, and Traditions As Seen on the Public Television Series "Ciao Italia," p. 1720.

Entertainment Weekly, January 24, 1992, Sada Fretz, review of Ciao Italia: Traditional Italian Recipes from Family Kitchens, p. 53.

Library Journal, May 15, 1993, Judith C. Sutton, review of Nella Cucina: More Italian Cooking from the Host of "Ciao Italia," p. 92; December, 1995, Judith C. Sutton, review of Celebrations, Italian Style, p. 150; October 15, 1998, review of Mangia Pasta!, p. 91; April 15, 2001, Judith Sutton, review of Ciao Italia—Bringing Italy Home, p. 127; November 15, 2002, Judith Sutton, review of Ciao Italia in Umbria: Recipes and Reflections from the Heart of Italy, p. 95.

Nation's Restaurant News, February 12, 1996, Michael Schrader, review of Celebrations, Italian Style, p. 76.

Publishers Weekly, August 23, 1991, review of Ciao Italia, p. 58; December 4, 1995, review of Celebrations, Italian Style, p. 59; April 2, 2001, review of Ciao Italia—Bringing Italy Home, p. 59; October 7, 2002, review of Ciao Italia in Umbria, p. 69.

Yankee, December, 1987, Stephen O. Muskie, "Overlooking the Oyster River," p. 122; April, 2000, Kelly Horan, "Ciao Italia's Recipe for Success," p. 102.