Christmas 2011 brings together two chefs … two worlds … and a common bond of food and hospitality in the Baltimore community of Little Italy at Da Mimmo. But there’s more to the story … it's about friends, family and the human connection that is more than just business as usual. The two chefs, Masood Masoodi and Pasquale Amendola, are top toques at Da Mimmo and Scirocco … Balitmore, USA and Positano, Italy respectively.
They arrived at their current friendship stage in their lifework journeys along rather diverse paths. After working at Da Mimmo for 14 years from 1989 to 2003, the passing of chef/proprietor Mimmo Cricchio meant that Masood Masoodi was next in line to become the executive chef of one of the leading destination dining locations in Baltimore. Before taking that monumental leap forward in his career, Masoodi asked Da Mimmo proprietor Mary Ann Cricchio if he could get a hands-on immersion into the world of Italian cooking. Cricchio arranged for Masoodi to take a working sabbatical to work at one of the Leading Hotels of the World, Le Sirenuse Hotel in Positano, Italy. There he met chef Pasquale Amendola.
As the two chefs worked together in Italy they would take their breaks and walk down to the Mediterranean Sea. Chef Amendola had to take those opportunities to relieve the pain in his ankle by soaking his foot in the cool sea ... so that he could manage to complete his 18-hour work day. His ankle had been seriously injured in a car/Vespa accident ... the car had pinned his ankle and subsequent surgery locked the ankle in one position. Later as he advanced his career, Amendola left Le Sirenuse and opened his own restaurant Scirocco, but the ankle pain became a daily burden.
In March, Amendola visited the United States for the first time to cook with his good friend, Masoodi at Da Mimmo. The two planned an Amalfi Coast dinner and Amendola brought authentic ingredients from his local producers. However, the two did not know if this dinner would come to fruition because the Italian chef was in such pain. He could not stand on his long-injured ankle.
Mary Ann Cricchio remembered whenever her late husband had trouble with his feet they turned to Mark S. Meyerson, M.D., one of the world's foremost experts on foot and ankle reconstruction and injury at The Institute for Foot and ankle Reconstruction at Mercy Medical Center. Meyerson told Amendola that he could operate on his ankle, giving him mobility and most importantly, relieving him of his pain ... something that doctors in Italy and Germany told him they could not do. He gave him temporary relied to allow the March dinner to go on. Plans were placed into motion for the December operation to improve the quality of Amendola's life.
Fast forward to tonight's "cooking class" at Da Mimmo and Masoodi and Amendola are working together again ... only 13 days after a successful American operation on the Italian chef's ankle. He is continuing his "working" recuperation in Little Italy with his Da Mimmo "family" until his final release by Meyerson and his return to Positano in the second week of January.
On this evening, a week before Christmas, an overflow gathering of friends of Da Mimmo gathered in the upstairs dining room for a dinner class with the two chefs conducting the culinary tour. With Massodi taking the lead, the two worked through a menu and demonstration of cooking techniques /ingredients for Tuscan Onion Soup, Penne Amatriciana, Veal Spiedini with Polenta and Grilled Pear and Banana with Almonds and Mascarpone Cream.
Amendola's daughter Veronica assisted in the service of the meal with the Da Mimmo staff.
The FOTO GALLERY with a collection of the evening in pictures can be found by clicking here.
