June 2005
La Nonna’s
Remembrances of Biscotti Past
by Sara Nuss-Galles
Dunk an orange-almond biscotti in your afternoon tea or coffee and reverie away. Nibble a lacey pizzelle with its hint of anise or an angelletti redolent of plucked off-the-tree lemon. Lingering over La Nonna’s Italian Bakery’s old-world pastries is comforting, like the caress of a grandmother, whether she is Nonna, Bubby, Nana or Gran.
Tucked away in Laguna Hills, Theresa Barnett’s pastry shop pays homage to her Sicilian grandmother. It was Nonna Josephine Rullo’s 60-year wealth of baking knowledge and creations that first inspired Barnett. “This has been my dream, my heart and soul, since I was a little girl,” Barnett says, as her shop nears it’s first anniversary.
Barnett recalls being awestruck as her Nonna made hundreds of Christmas cookies for the family each year. “Every movement, the way she shapes the dough, it’s artistic and graceful,” she says. “I have total respect for her… everything she does is natural.” Barnett began by first watching and eventually baking with her Nonna, learning to knead, to mix, to flavor, coming to understand the chemistry of baking, which Rullo calls “tricks and quirks.” Before opening La Nonna’s, Barnett studied under her Nonna for two years, baking with her weekly, honing her already formidable culinary skills.
The granddaughter insists that no one bakes Italian like her Nonna; from cannoli to dodos to fig cookies, Rullo has the gift. “When we bake, sometimes we measure the same, we do everything the same, but something happens along the way and it doesn’t turn out exactly the same.” So Barnett calls Rullo, whose answer to this complex process is simple. “You’re dealing with nature—it’s all natural and you [do] the best you can. But, look around you… in nature nothing is the same. You’re not a machine.”
"I love to bake and cook but I can’t do what I used to do,” the 89-year-old Rullo says, even as she helps Barnett with special baking. Delighted to have her granddaughter carry on the family recipes and tradition, Rullo says, “It’s hard work and I pray to St. Joseph and St. Jude to give Theresa the strength and grace to carry on."
Barnett is, herself, a stickler for quality. At her bakery, “nothing is frozen,” she says, “and we use organic fruit, eggs and butter whenever possible.” The lemon curd is made of lemons from Barnett’s organic tree, the Italian cinnamon is hand-ground by Rullo, the fresh fruit for tarts is cooked in small batches, and the nuts, too, are hand-chopped.
It is arduous, Barnett admits, adding, “If I don’t work hard, the recipes won’t stay alive.” In teaching her granddaughter, Rullo had one caveat: that her recipes not be given away. “I got some from my grandmother and the rest I made myself. More than 60 years of baking, and if someone else gets them, they’ll start using machines, and…” her voice trails off, avoiding the unthinkable.
Visit La Nonna’s immaculate glass-cased shop, and you’ll swear you are in your grandmother’s kitchen—if grandma was a wonderful baker, that is.
La Nonna’s
26548 Moulton Pkwy, Laguna Hills
949.362.0648
www.lanonnasitalianbakery.com
Sara Nuss-Galles’ work has appeared widely including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
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