Chef Pino

True to his deep Italian roots, Pino Manzo has a passion for life’s homemade pleasures of close family, beautiful music, great wine and superb cooking. One of four children of winemaker Pietro Manzo and Ana Maria Manzo, Pino was born in the central Italian village of Duronia.

The entire family worked the vineyards around Duronia with Papa Pietro, being respected winemakers of the region. Mamma Ana Maria was known throughout Duronia for her excellent cooking. At holidays, village celebrations and the harvest, it was said that everyone in town “was a Manzo” as they clamored to feast on Mamma Ana Maria’s delicious preparations.

For most of his life Pino has pursued his passion for great food in some of the world’s most beautiful and exciting places: Bermuda, Toronto, Montreal, Maui and Honolulu. After an exceptional career as a noted restaurateur in Hawaii, including Honolulu’s famed Restaurant Row, Pino returned to the mainland to be closer to family. Pino also spent 16 years in Texas during that time he worked with the Le Chef College, now the Texas Culinary Academy, and as a consultant to the restaurant industry. Fittingly, Pino – the name means “lover of horses” -settled in the heart of the southern equine pasturelands of Aiken County South Carolina.

Today Chef Pino takes joy in keeping alive – and sharing with you – one of his family’s most cherished traditions; homemade biscotti.

The Surprising History of Biscotti

The Fuel of an Empire
In Italian, biscotti is the plural of biscotto, a word these days translated as “cookie” or “biscuit.” The literal translation, however, is “twice-cooked”. Baking the biscotti twice eliminates virtually all moisture; little moisture means biscotti are ideal pocket-items for traveling as they remain fresh for long periods. Owing to their longevity, biscotti helped fuel the expansion of the Roman Empire as the Legions and the Roman navy pushed outward from Rome, biscotti in hand.

The Fuel of an Explorer
Biscotti may be among the first foods imported to America as Columbus is said to have sailed with plenty in the galley any time he put to sea.

From Dinner to Dessert
Legend holds that a Tuscan baker served biscotti with sweet wine for dessert. His patrons delighted in dunking the dry cookie into the wine, no doubt increasing wine sales all the more. As biscotti moved from dietary staple to delectable dessert it was natural for bakers to include nuts, dried fruits and extracted flavorings to add sweetness.

In the United States the popularity of biscotti has exploded as Americans find them to be natural companions to coffee, ice cream and fruit compote – even as a remarkable crust for cheesecake. The subtle sweetness of Chef Pino’s biscotti marries well with these stronger flavors.

Chef Pino’s Recipe
Among Italians biscotti are frequently given as gifts for holidays. Chef Pino continued the gift tradition while running several restaurants in Hawaii. Every diner received biscotti as an after-dinner treat, a thank-you from Chef Pino for their business. The patrons begged Chef Pino for biscotti take-home and gift-bags, but Chef Pino refused, waiting until now to make the popular treat available for purchase.

It is easier to separate an Italian from his shadow than from a family recipe. Chef Pino does tell how the Manzo family biscotti recipe came to America in the 1950s when Pietro and Ana Maria packed up the children and set sail for the United States.

About the recipe Chef Pino will allow this much: Unlike many, his biscotti recipe contains no butter or shortening, using only the finest Italian olive oil instead. Tasty news for the health-conscious who enjoy dessert.

Chef Pino’s biscotti are still handmade in the Chef’s own kitchen by Pino himself. With the family reputation at stake, Chef Pino prepares the biscotti with all the love and reverence he has for his Mamma Ana Maria and Papa Pietro as they watch from heaven.