Live Cooking Demonstrations
If you enjoy cooking Italian food, you have come to the right festa. We are excited to announce the third year of our food showcase demos: a series of short, master culinary demonstrations on preparing several Italian classics, and featuring accomplished Italian capocuochi (chefs) throughout the day. Be prepared to learn how to prepare items such as Quattro Formaggio Gnocchi Bake, Penne Pasta with Shrimp in a Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce, Ricotta Meatballs, Ricotta Cavatelli and of course the culinary perfections of our celebrated Chef Marco!
2023’s Festsa North Carolina cooking demo schedule included the following dishes in our La Cucina Galbani:
Sponsored By
Chef Marco:
Headlining the audience-engaging culinary demonstrations for the second year in a row will be Mark “Chef Marco” Sciortino from Buffalo, NY. Owner of “Marco’s Italian Restaurant “and “Marco’s Italian Deli,” both in Buffalo, Chef Marco has been creating and serving traditional, family-favorite, Italian dishes for over 30 years.
Chef Marco is also a successful television personality since 2008 appearing on national television shows and at community festivals celebrating authentic Italian cuisine. Currently, Chef Marco is hosting his ninth season of “Come Dine with Me WNY!” and “Winging it Buffalo Style.” Chef Marco is in his thirteenth year as a creative representative for Galbani, a historic Lombardian specialty cheese enterprise, founded in 1882, and now a subsidiary of Lactalis Italia.
At Festa, he will be preparing Spinach & Berry Salad, Stuffed Hot Pepper Dip, Pomodoro Formaggio Spaghetti, and “Leftover” Ricotta Toasts.
To learn more about Chef Marco, you can visit https://galbanichefmarco.com
11:30 - Carmine Di Grande, Triangle Italian American Heritage Association
Quattro Formaggio Gnocchi Bake - Soft pillowy handmade gnocchi coated in a creamy sauce made with four different types of cheese. This is heaven for cheese lovers.
Carmine was born in Sicily, raised in New York, employed by IBM, living in many cities, including 2 1/2 years in Rome, Italy. He retired in 2002 and lives half his time in Raleigh and the other half in Palm Springs Florida. Carmine is a member of the Triangle Italian American Heritage Association (TIAHA) which is dedicated to preserving Italian culture and food in the Triangle as well as giving back to the community. They are a major sponsor for the Oxford children’s home, they provide a yearly scholarship, and they support our troops with meals and holiday meals at RDU. Pork Pesto Ball
12:30 Don Cimorelli (TSDOI)
Penne Pasta with Shrimp in a Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce - Who says that you can’t mix cheese and fish. This dish combines ricotta cheese, creamy shrimp pasta and sun-dried tomatoes for a delicious, quick and easy meal that is easy to make. The perfect elegant dinner for company or just a delicious weeknight dinner.
Don Cimorelli is a second-generation Italian American whose grandparents immigrated to the USA from the Campania & Molise regions of Italy. He grew up in a traditional Italian American home where classic Southern Italian cuisine was a staple ranging from pasta, vegetable, meat, and fish dishes. The typical weekly Sunday Dinner and endless courses of food on holidays were a trademark of his upbringing. Primarily inspired by his mom, Anna Cimorelli, his approach to cooking is best described as Italian American Family Style. Enter Don’s home and you will quickly learn that there is no such thing as cooking for one person or only for one meal. Preparing meals for family and friends is his passionate hobby along with sharing recipes and foodie photos. Don refers to himself as “The Family Style Italian Cook”. Don currently serves as President of the Triangle Sons & Daughters of Italy.
1:30 Rosemarie “Ro” Aguanno DeMattia (Georgina’s Pizzeria Restaurant)
Meatless Ricotta Meatballs - "Polpette di ricotta al sugo", as these are known in Italian, are meatless meatballs made out of ricotta cheese and breadcrumbs. Think meatballs, but without the meat! The soft balls are then simmered in a simple homemade tomato sauce. Throw them over some spaghetti for a hearty meal.
Rosemarie “Ro” Aguanno DeMattia was born and raised in Queens, NY and her grandparents were from Palermo Sicily. Ro learned to cook from her aunts and uncles who were wonderful Sicilian cooks. They gave her the recipes and they also walked her through making the dishes to make sure she was doing it correctly. Ironically, the restaurant opportunity came about while visiting North Carolina with another couple to look at schools. Opening a restaurant was always a dream of her husbands. They decided as a family to move to North Carolina and open Georgina’s Pizzeria Restaurant in 2006 in Morrisville. She owes her success to fifteen years of hard work, wonderful customers, and staff.
She has been inviting her guests to mouthwatering homemade Italian dishes, pizza, calzones, Stromboli’s, seafood, and other Italian food favorites at her family-owned and operated Italian Restaurant. She features recipes passed down from family and friends throughout the years and only uses the finest quality ingredients to provide you with the ultimate dining experience www.georginasrestaurantnc.com.
2:30 Cheese Building Contest
How high do you think you can stack string cheese? Children between the ages of 5 and 12 years will be able to test their skills at building a tower of string cheese. The child with the tallest tower of cheese wins a prize. Participants must sign up at the Galbani tent prior to the contest to participate. Space is limited so sign up early. Watch out for Chef Marco, he can be tricky!
3:30 Chef Marco (Galbani)
Mark Sciortino “Chef Marco”, owner of Marco’s Italian Restaurant in Buffalo, NY, has been creating and serving traditional, family-favorite, Italian dishes for over 30 years. He also owns the locally famous Marco’s Italian Deli, tagged as “Home of the Original SANGWICH!” which is a term used by many Italian communities in place of “sandwich”.
Spinach & Berry Salad, Stuffed Hot Pepper Dip, Pomodoro Formaggio Spaghetti, “Leftover” Ricotta Toasts
Lactalis American Group, Inc., headquartered in Buffalo, NY, is part of Lactalis Group, the world’s leading dairy company, a French family business founded in 1933 in Laval, France. They hired Chef Marco in 2008 to be their spokesman for Sorrento® and Precious® Cheese. He demonstrated creative and fun cooking tips using their products for three national TV shows. His humorous, easy-going nature helped grow his success as a TV personality. 16 years later, Chef Marco continues to host the La Cucina Galbani® Cooking Stage and performs cooking demos at Italian Festivals across the country as spokesperson for Galbani® Cheese, their new brand name. He is also featured as their celebrity chef on Galbani’s Online Cooking Series. Over the years, Marco has appeared on numerous morning shows in Los Angeles, South Florida, and New York and was the featured chef for many years on “Come Dine with Me WNY!” and “Winging it Buffalo Style,” local shows in Western New York. To find out more information about Chef Marco visit www.galbanichefmarco.com. Galbani® - Italy’s #1 cheese brand. Celebrating 140 years of Italian Craftsmanship.
4:30 Laura Delgado – Laura’s Italian Kitchen
Ricotta Cavatelli - Ricotta Cavatelli are a soft and pillowy-light pasta that is traditionally hand rolled and shaped. While the original cavatelli are made with just flour, water and salt, this recipe contains ricotta. Ricotta creates a tender dough that just melts in your mouth and is super easy to work with. They are perfect with chunky sauces like ragu or pesto.
Being brought up Italian, Laura always had a passion for Italian food. Laura has turned her passion into Laura’s Italian Kitchen in Wake Forest. She has been cooking Italian food her whole life and now she can share it with other food lovers. She makes and sells authentic Italian sauces, handmade pasta’s, fresh homemade ricotta cheese, handmade semolina bread and more! Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/laurasitaliankitchen.
05:30 Lasagna Love
