Unlike the friendly but fictional food faces of Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, Chef Boyardee - that jovial, mustachioed Italian Chef - is real. Ettore "Hector" Bioardi(that's how the family really spells it) founded the company with his brothers in 1928, after the family immigrated to America from Italy.
Though Ameria came to know him as Chef Boyardee - in the apron and trademark tall hat - Anna Boiardi knew hom simply as Uncle Hector. Anna carried on her family's culinary tradition; her new book, Delicious Memories, is part cookbook, part family history and part homage to her ancestors - immigrants who made their way in a new country.
I heard Anna on NPR radio the other day. Her book sounds like it would be a two for one - nostalgia and recipes!
