Archive 
Photos Edward Biamonte
With Chef Nicola Gilardi
For Nicola Gilardi, owner of Gilardi's Restaurant, Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, evoking memories made both here in the U.S. and at his home, in Italy. “Christmas is always with the whole family, everybody gets together. We try to make it spiritual, not only about the gifts, not only materialistic. The spiritual part of Christmas is fading out.”
Nicola is originally from Italy, and there, in his family’s own restaurant, he found his desire to become a restauranteur and his passion for the culinary arts.
Nicola was accepted to a culinary school in Italy, and from there he gained experience in the industry in locations from Sardinia Island on the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean Islands. When life offered Nicola the opportunity to become part owner of a restaurant in Springfield, Mo., he made the grand move from his then-home of Chicago to the Ozarks. There, Nicola met his wife, Monica, and her son J.R. In October of 1998, together they opened Gilardi's Ristorante.
To Nicola, a commercialized Christmas has often taken the place of the meaning of Christmas. He believes to many parents the holidays are
more of a stress than a time of joy. But, he added, “I think of Christmas, and the real value is in getting together with family and friends, not worrying about what to buy.”
Italians are spiritual as a culture, with nearly 90 percent identifying themselves as Catholic. Nicola Gilardi’s family is no different. “On Christmas Eve we go to church at midnight, and after that we usually go to somebody’s house and eat panettone, (a tall, fruit-filled sweet bread,) and usually drink a bottle of moscato spumente... and then everybody goes home. Christmas morning, Nicola remembers, was much like every family’s celebrations. “Everybody wakes up about 7 a.m., and there are presents under the tree for you, if you’ve been good. If not you only find charcoal. Everyone opens their presents, then the children play around with their new toys and the mothers and sisters prepare for the lunch.”
Nicola said he always loved Christmas as a child, and Italian Christmas celebrations were nothing short of feasts. “For Christmas Day, for lunch, there will be a lot of courses,” he noted. Popular menu items he remembers included boiled veal loin, stufatino, a lean veal stewed with tomatoes and spices, vitello, which is veal in Italian, and vitello tonatto, thin slices of veal covered with a tuna, capers and anchovy sauce.
Nicola said this vitello tonatto is a very popular appetizer.
“The veal would be boiled or baked, but usually boiled in milk. Then you cover it with sauce made out of capers, it’s very, very good.” Also found on the table would be cold meats like prosciutto ham, cheese, salami, mixed salami meats. “And usually we do eat a baked pasta, a lasagna... that is a special treat. And, we usually cook cappone, a younger turkey, as our baked bird.” And then there’s tiramisu. “Tiramisu is really a special occasion something,” Nicola said. And, he noted, there’s always cheese at the end.
Nicola acknowledged, that in Italy, as in America, the family’s Christmas dinner menu would depend on the income of family. “But,” he said, “usually on Christmas, the poor or the wealthy will have much the same kind of menu.”
Today Nicola’s Christmas is very similar to how it was for him as a child in Italy. “I always try to go to my midnight mass. For Christmas, I do celebrate the way we do it in this country, we usually wake up in the morning and I spend the day with my kids and my wife, and we’ll invite my mother along. We do presents, and have family over for dinner at the house.”
For us, Christmas Eve was not really as much about eating as it was preparing for the midnight mass. “I always had to laugh on Christmas Eve; you knew who’d cheated and opened a present early, because they’d have on the brand new sweater. I’d laugh, they couldn’t handle it,
they cheated and opened their presents early.”
Nicola says his best Christmas memories of late are with his children. “The most beautiful memory is really looking at their faces as they open presents. They’re looking at me, believing in Santa. That, and the family just being all together. Growing up, playing with my brothers. There are so many good memories.”
Nicola’s family extends the kindness of the Christmas spirit to their patrons at their restaurant, Gilardi’s Ristorante. His wife, Monica, works at the restaurant. Together they have three children, Nicola’s “embraced - son,” J.R., or John Robert, his oldest son Nic and his youngest son,Tomaso.
A Recipe for Panettone From Nicola Gilardi
Ingredients
* 2 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
* 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoon grated lemon zest
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup dried currants
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 2 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoon butter, melted (optional)
Directions
1. In a medium bowl, combine yeast, water and sugar. Cover and let stand 10 minutes, or until foamy. Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Mix well. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms into a manageable ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until dough is soft and pliable, but not sticky. (May need up to 5 cups flour.) Place dough in a large, lightly pan-sprayed bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and spray a round 8-inch cake pan with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, toss dried fruit
with confectioners' sugar. Punch down dough in bowl, transfer to floured surface, and knead in the fruit.
3. Form dough into a ball, place in prepared cake pan, cover loosely with dish towel, and let rise 30 minutes. (Loaf will rise above the pan sides.) Brush with melted butter, if desired. Bake for 45 minutes, or until loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 20 wedges.
