FEAST AND FAMILY
Mary Contini, author and co- director of Valvona & Crolla, tells Barry Shelby why she wrote her family history, Dear Olivia.
What’s the genesis of Dear Olivia?
Jamie Byng tot Canongatei came to see us two years ago and wanted to do the Valvona & Crolla cookbook. Jamie had asked us to do it 1:3 years ago. We said no then. But he started persuading me. ‘Come on, it's time to do it.' So we said. 'Okay. we‘ll do it — but first that l have to tell this story. And he said. ‘What's the story?‘ "It's about my father. when he was lifted iduring WWlli and put in the internment camp and he had a bit of cheese in his pocket to give to his father. But he never saw his father.’ And Jamie said. ‘You have to do that.‘ Writing about family must be a delicate job?
Different parts of the family were worried about wnat the others were saying to me. I didn't really talk to my brothers and sisters at alt. because the book was abOut the previous generations. They were :ntrigued. however.
Did you need permission from the family patriach, the late Vittorio Contini, who ran Valvona & Crolla for so many years?
I took six months off to write the book. I knew I wanted to do this book. So I had
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been reading and thinking, plus my husband Philip is a great one fOr collecting things. A lot of the research had been in the back of my mind. Then I went to Uncle Victor and asked. ‘Can I do it?
You needed his blessing, although he himself didn’t want to talk about the past?
It was very traumatic for him. I don't think Uncle Victor COuld have faced the pain of it. But he said. ‘Talk to anyone you want.’ Then he died quite SOOn after that. He was 94. We had a huge funeral for him. It was quite beautiful and humbling. There were very prestigious and important people from British society and Edinburgh society at Uncle Victor's funeral.
Were others quite willing to delve into the past?
My uncle Alex, my father's brother. wanted to talk. I had never spoken to him abOut the past. He was lifted when he was only 16 and (after internment) ended up in the RAF because he was a British Citizen. He told me things that none of my famin knew — things even my mum didn't know. Philip's Aunt Gloria told a lot of the surface gossip; who did what and all the lovely juiCy women's things. But she wouldn't talk abOut the personal side of what happened. But then yOu can do research and see what really happened. So your research complemented the more personal stories?
There was a lot I didn't know until I started domg the research. Desiderio Coppola. who is in the acknowledgments but not detailed in the book. was in the camps with my father. My father never spoke to me about it. But he. Uncle Dominic and Joe Pia have done oral histories that are in the Scottish Studies library up at the university. I knew them well and they had been dead ten or maybe 12 years. I put the headphones on to hear their version of what had happened to them. and it was mowng.
I think the story is of a community maturing and coming of age.
You see the work ethic and the determination to succeed. The fear of failure was a huge driVing force. because there was no gomg back. YOu cOuIdn't return to Italy and say. ‘I've failed'.
Why did they settle in Scotland? London was already taken up. If you really had the urge to do it yOur own way. you would get out of the way of others. My family -- the DiCiaccas — came after the Crollas. While the Crollas helped. they also Suggested that we go down the coast. We ended up in CockenZie and the shop is still there. What book’s next?
When I wrote Dear Francesca. half the people said I love your reCipes and cook them all the time. and half said I love your stories and want more of that. We are geing to do a Valvona & Crolla 'r‘fith anniversary cookbook. But what I would really like to do is test myself, go to the next stage and write a real novel. I See revrew. left.
& Side Dishes
News to nibble on. . .
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I Zonker Organics in Edinburgh hosts a Christmas wine tasting on 15 November at Amber Room Contemporary Art, across the street from the New Town Shop. Three red and three white wines will be sampled, with comments from Linda Ward of wine supplier Wntage Roots. The tasting begins at 7.15pm and tickets are £7.50, available from Zonker Organics at 66 Cumberland Street, or at www.zonker.co.uk.
I Bistro Julienne has been launched in the Merchant Square development in Glasgow‘s Merchant City. The new venture serves classic French dishes, such as coq au vin. steak frites or confit de canard. Open from 10am, the bistro will also offer a late supper menu after 10pm. Call 0141 552 0139.
I Cosmo has closed in Edinburgh’s New Town. Apparently a major change in concept last year, which turned the long-standing classy Italian operation into a French-oriented fine-dining restaurant, didn’t work. Rumour has it that the place may re-open. Stay tuned.
I Manna has replaced Papingo in the Glasgow city centre. While still in the hands of restaurateur Alan Tomkins. the re-branding has introduced a new look and menu, featuring dishes such as baby spinach with fresh crab and crayfish and a selection of beef. including chateaubriand for two. Call 0141 332 6678.
I And congratulations to Andrew Fairle (pictured) who was named ‘Chef’s Chef of the Year’ - as voted by other AA rosette-holding chefs throughout the UK - at the AA awards in London this autumn.
2- 16 Nov 2006 TI‘IE LIST 101