Mary Ann Esposito Biography
Mary Ann Esposito is an American chef, cookbook writer, and television host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito, which started in 1989 and is the longest-running television cooking program in America. Esposito has published over a dozen cookbooks.
Mary Ann Esposito Age
Mary Ann Esposito was born on August 3, 1942, in Buffalo, New York, United States. She was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She is 76 years old as of 2018.
Mary Ann Esposito Family
Mary Ann Esposito was born in Buffalo, New York to Louise Saporito (mother) and Roy J. Saporito Sr (father). Her grandparents were both professional chefs, who moved to the United States from Italy in the 1890s.
Her grandmother, from Sicily, owned a butcher shop in Fairport, New York, and her grandmother lived in Buffalo, where she owned a boarding house. Her latter grandmother was from Naples,who continued the traditions of her Italian household within the boarding house.
The boarding house was the only house in the neighborhood that had a bathtub, whereby on Friday nights she would offer neighbors a bath and dinner for a quarter. While her grandmothers provided traditional Italian food, Esposito desired to eat standard foods like other children: Wonder Bread and iceberg lettuce.
Mary Ann Esposito Husband
Mary Ann Esposito is married to Guy M. Esposito in 1968. The couples were blessed with two children.
Mary Ann Esposito Children
Mary Ann Esposito has two children Chris Esposito (son) and Beth Esposito (daughter)
Mary Ann Esposito Education
Mary Ann Esposito attended Daemen College, where she graduated with a teaching degree and become an elementary school teacher. She later joined the University of New Hampshire.
While at the University attended classes to learn how to speak Italian, and by 1985, she joined the history master’s program at the university, she was writing her thesis about Italian Renaissance cooking.
Mary Ann Esposito chef, cookbook writer, and tv personality
Esposito started teaching cooking through the University of New Hampshire’s Division of Continuing Education. In the mid-1980s, she submitted a proposal for a cooking show to New Hampshire Public Television.
The show was delayed production because of the small size of the television station; however, upon moving to a larger station, a pilot was taped. The pilot was a test to not only gauge viewer reception, but, to also see how Esposito would be on camera.
On the hottest day of the year in the region, the television crew came to Esposito’s home in Durham, New Hampshire, and the pilot was taped. Upon airing, the pilot received great reception and the longest-running television cooking show was born.
Esposito has published over a dozen cooking books about Italian cooking and entertaining. Her 1997 book, What You Knead, about breadmaking, was awarded best in the category by the International Cookbook Revue and was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s top cookbooks of 1997.
She makes over forty public appearances a year nationally and has appeared on the Today Show, Regis and Kathie Lee, QVC, the Food Network, Martha Stewart Living Radio, and other programs. She contributed to The Huffington Post and New Hampshire Home.
Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito
Ciao Italia With Mary Ann Esposito is a thirty-minute cooking show produced for PBS by Esposito’s own Mary Esposito Productions and taped at New Hampshire Public Television.
The show features Esposito’s recipes and cooking tips, and visits from guest chefs. She also explores the history of Italian cooking and food. Through the show, Esposito seeks to help her viewers learn about new recipes that are “doable, authentic, and good.”
When deciding what to feature on the show, Esposito has four standards: she must like to eat the food, the ingredients should be easy to find, the recipe should be something unique and new to the viewer, and should be manageable by the kitchen staff.
Every episode has twenty volunteers who work on the show. An entire season of shows, generally about thirty-two episodes, can be taped within two weeks during the summer, with two to three shows being taped a day.
All of the food is made from scratch in the studio, with each dish being prepared in numerous batches and at different recipe stages. This allows Esposito to execute an entire recipe in a matter of minutes that might take hours to complete.
All of the recipes are planned by Esposito and the kitchen staff. Volunteers gather all the pertinent ingredients from local markets and go to Boston for specialty foods if unavailable locally.
Recipes are prepared the day of the show. Ciao Italia is not scripted. The studio set is loosely based on Esposito’s home kitchen.
The view out the window of the set is painted to appear as the view of the Oyster River, which is seen from her home kitchen. To prepare for shows, Esposito researches and tests recipes outside the studio.
Mary Ann Esposito Net worth
Mary Ann Esposito is an American chef, cookbook writer, and television host who has an estimated net worth of $672, 100, 268 as of 2019.
Mary Ann Esposito Cookbook
The host and creator of the longest-running cooking show on public television, Esposito of Ciao Italia is about to release her twelfth cookbook, “Ciao Italia Family Classics.” The cookbook is a collection of over 200 recipes gathered from three generations of family cooks.
In the cookbook, Mary Ann shares traditional award-winning family recipes for classic dishes that stay true to the tastes of Italy. It is currently available for pre-order on ShopPBS, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com. Mary Ann’s cookbook was released on October 25, 2011.
PBS Food has 10 copies that you can win!
To win, simply fill out the form below with your best Italian recipe, and Mary Ann herself will pick the top 10 recipes to each win a copy of “Ciao Italia Family Classics”! The recipe must be an original and please provide a photo of the dish if possible by emailing [email protected].
Mary Ann Esposito Recipes
Flipping through her new book I instantly saw one recipe I wanted to try, Mary Ann’s,” Cotolette di Maiale al Pistacchio” which translates as “Pistacchio-Dusted Pork Chops“.
I love pistacchios, and paired with the earthy flavor of fresh rosemary sounded like a perfect match to use together as a coating for chops. I got all my ingredients together and in no time it was on the table! The chops were crispy with an amazing flavor.Ingredients are:
2 large eggs 1/4 cup of finely minced fresh rosemary leaves Fine sea salt Fresh ground black pepper 4 bone-in pork chops 1 cup of natural pistacchio nuts, shelled, ground to a powder. I used my food processor for this. Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with the rosemary, salt, and grinding of black pepper. Dip each chop then coat with the pistacchio dust and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a stovetop-to-oven saute pan large enough to hold the chops without crowding them. I used my heavy cast iron skillet above. Brown the chops on both sides, then slide the pan into your oven and bake until internal temperature reaches 160 F.
* Note*: Don’t be in a hurry to brown the chops, allow them to cook sufficiently on one side before flipping them over. They’re ready to turn when the outer edges begin to brown.
Buon Appetito!
Visit the official website of with Mary Ann Esposito here, and also The Ciao Italia blog here.
Mary Ann Esposito Recognitions
Mary Ann Esposito found scholarship foundation named after and maintained by Esposito awards scholarships for students seeking financial aid to study culinary arts. Esposito was awarded an honorary degree from St. Anselm College.
She has received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Culinary and Cultural Arts of Italy by the Order Sons of Italy in America. Mary Ann Esposito is in the Hall of Fame for the Italian Trade Commission.
On June 2, 2013, a knighthood was bestowed upon her by the President of the Italian Republic under the title Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy).
Mary Ann Esposito was one of 160 people worldwide to receive this honor in 2013 and the only American. Esposito was honored in 2004 with the Advancement in Career award by her alma mater Daemen College.
