Profile of Antonietta de Blasi Rocca

Tall, thin, and stylishly dressed in flowered silk and high-heeled black shoes with a single strap, Antonietta de Blasi Rocca was so upbeat, so full of smiles and soft giggles and enthusiasm, that the word allegra seemed invented to describe her. Her mouth curled up in merriment, lighting up her long, narrow face. She lives with her daughter’s family in a very large beautiful house in the city of Alcamo in Sicily, where she was born and has lived all her eighty-three years.

Mother of three and grandmother of four, she seems to have lived an enchanted life. When she was growing up, every Sunday was a celebration; the long dining table always held a big group—there were four sisters, one brother, and both parents, just to begin with. Her mother would make tiny rice balls or minute meatballs floating in allspice-flavored broth, and biancomangiare—blancmange—a simple milk pudding. The family often went to the country where their sheep and cows gave the milk for cheeses and desserts. They never needed to go shopping: fishermen arrived at the door with their catch still dripping, and the butcher appeared with choice cuts of meat.