Mary Ann Esposito facts for kids

Mary Ann Esposito (born August 3, 1942) is an American chef and author. She has written many cookbooks. Mary Ann is best known as the host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito. This TV show started in 1989 and is the longest-running cooking program in America.

About Mary Ann Esposito

Her Early Life

Mary Ann Esposito grew up in Buffalo, New York. Her mother was a dietitian, someone who helps people eat healthy. Both of Mary Ann's grandmothers were professional chefs. They moved to the United States from Italy in the 1890s.

Her grandmother from Sicily owned a butcher shop. Her other grandmother, from Naples, lived in Buffalo. She ran a boarding house, which was like a guesthouse. This grandmother kept Italian traditions alive in her home. Her house was special because it was the only one in the neighborhood with a bathtub. On Friday nights, she would offer neighbors a bath and dinner for just a quarter.

Even though her grandmothers made amazing traditional Italian food, young Mary Ann wanted to eat simple foods. She liked things like Wonder Bread and iceberg lettuce, just like other kids.

Learning to Cook

Mary Ann never planned to become a chef. She learned to cook from her family. Her grandmothers made fresh bread every day. Mary Ann would help make up to 20 loaves a day! She also helped with canning fruits and vegetables. This meant preserving them in jars. She also helped prepare ingredients for meals.

Later, Mary Ann went to college. She earned a degree in teaching and became an elementary school teacher.

In 1979, her mother sent her a pasta maker. Even though she wasn't very interested in cooking as an adult, Mary Ann taught herself to make pasta dough. The next year, she and her husband, Guy, visited Italy for the first time. While there, Mary Ann started taking cooking classes. She began to learn about the long history of Italian cooking, region by region. She traveled to Italy twice a year for more cooking lessons. She also took classes at the University of New Hampshire to learn to speak Italian. By 1985, she was studying for her master's degree in history. Her main project was about cooking during the Italian Renaissance.

Her Cooking Career

Mary Ann Esposito began teaching cooking classes. She taught through the University of New Hampshire's Division of Continuing Education. In the mid-1980s, she suggested a cooking show to New Hampshire Public Television. The show was delayed because the TV station was small.

When the station moved to a larger place, they filmed a test episode. This "pilot" episode was to see if viewers would like the show. It also showed how Mary Ann would be on camera. The crew came to her home in Durham, New Hampshire, on the hottest day of the year. The pilot was filmed there. When it aired, people loved it! That's how the longest-running TV cooking show began.

Mary Ann has written more than a dozen cookbooks. These books are all about Italian cooking and entertaining. Her 1997 book, What You Knead, was about breadmaking. It won an award for being the best in its category. Food & Wine magazine also named it one of their top cookbooks of 1997.

She makes over 40 public appearances each year across the country. She has been on many popular TV shows. These include the Today Show, Regis and Kathie Lee, and the Food Network. She also wrote for The Huffington Post.

The Ciao Italia Show

Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito is a thirty-minute cooking show. Mary Ann Esposito's own company, Mary Esposito Productions, makes it for PBS. The show is filmed at New Hampshire Public Television.

The show features Mary Ann's recipes and cooking tips. Sometimes, guest chefs visit the show. Mary Ann also explores the history of Italian cooking and food. She wants to help her viewers learn new recipes that are "doable, authentic, and good." This means they are easy to make, real Italian, and taste great.

When Mary Ann chooses what to feature on the show, she has four rules:

• She must like to eat the food herself.
• The ingredients should be easy to find.
• The recipe should be unique and new for viewers.
• The kitchen staff must be able to manage it.

Every episode has about 20 volunteers who help. An entire season of shows, usually about 32 episodes, can be filmed in just two weeks during the summer. They tape two to three shows each day!

All the food is made from scratch in the studio. Each dish is prepared many times at different stages. This allows Mary Ann to show a whole recipe in minutes, even if it takes hours to make. Mary Ann and her kitchen staff plan all the recipes. Volunteers buy ingredients from local markets. They even go to Boston for special foods if they can't find them nearby.

Recipes are prepared on the day of the show. Ciao Italia is not scripted, meaning Mary Ann speaks naturally. The studio set looks a lot like Mary Ann's own kitchen at home. The view outside the set's window is painted to look like the Oyster River. This is the view from her real kitchen! To get ready for shows, Mary Ann researches and tests recipes outside the studio.

A Restaurant Venture

In 2020, Mary Ann Esposito opened a restaurant called "Ciao Italia." She had been asked many times before but always said no. She finally agreed to open one in her hometown of Durham. However, the very next year, in 2021, the restaurant changed. It became a wine bar owned by another family. Mary Ann Esposito is no longer involved with the restaurant.

Awards and Honors

Mary Ann Esposito has a scholarship foundation named after her. It helps students who need financial help to study culinary arts.

She has received an honorary degree from St. Anselm College. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in Italian culinary and cultural arts. This award came from the Order Sons of Italy in America. She is also in the Hall of Fame for the Italian Trade Commission.

On June 2, 2013, the President of the Italian Republic gave her a special honor. She was made a "Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy." This is a very important award. She was one of only 160 people worldwide to get this honor in 2013, and the only American.

In 2004, her college, Daemen College, honored her. She received the Advancement in Career award.

See also

• List of chefs
• List of Italian Americans
• List of people from Buffalo, New York
• List of people from New Hampshire
• List of University of New Hampshire alumni
• Lists of writers