Angelo Pellegrini (1904 – 1991) was a writer of books about the pleasures of growing and making your own food and wine, and about the Italian immigrant experience. He was also a professor of English Literature at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Pellegrini's family immigrated in 1913 from

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

McCleary, Washington McCleary () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,997 at the 2020 census. History Henry McCleary came to the land in 1897, building two sawmills and a door manufacturing company. He sold the land a ...

, where his father worked for a sawmill. His first book was titled ''Argumentation and Public Discussion'', written in 1936 with Brents Stirling. In 1948, he wrote ''The Unprejudiced Palate'', an important work in the history of food literature that remains in print. In 1946, ''Sunset'' published Pellegrini's recipe for

pesto Pesto () is a sauce that traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) or Pecorino Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk), al ...

, likely the first major publication of a pesto recipe in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Two years earlier ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' had first mentioned the sauce, referring to an imported canned pesto paste. The sauce was not immediately embraced by the American public and did not rise in popularity until the 1980s and 1990s.

Books

*''The Unprejudiced Palate'' (1948) *''Immigrant's Return'' (1951) *''Americans By Choice'' (1956) *''Wine and the Good Life'' (1965) *''Washington: Profile of a State'' (1967) *''The Food Lover's Garden'' (1970) *''Lean Years, Happy Years'' (1983) *''American Dream: An Immigrant's Quest'' (1986) *''Argumentation and Public Discussion'' (with Brents Sterling) 1936 *Vintage Pellegrini: ''the collected wisdom of an American Buongustaio''-1990

References

Italian food writers 1904 births 1991 deaths Italian emigrants to the United States University of Washington faculty People from Grays Harbor County, Washington {{Washington-bio-stub