They call me "Big Al" for a very good reason. I have been called that, on and off, over my lifetime; it depended on my size at the time but I have never been referred to as "Small Al". Excess weight, whether it was twenty pounds or one hundred pounds has been a life-long problem with me. I was my ideal weight and form only once in my life. I weighed in at one hundred and forty pounds and it was evenly spread over my 5' 8'' frame. My ideal self then was poised, self-assured and confident. My muscle tone was at its optimum; solid and well defined. That was when I was eighteen. I did not know then that my 'ideal person', because of my neglect, would disappear by the time I was twenty. I have been waiting for his return for the better part of the last thirty years. I am now weighing in, stripped naked, at a little better than two hundred and ten pounds. It's not flabby excess poundage but if I am not careful and take control of myself now, it will become that, I am sure, within the next ten years.

You see I am a raging food-a-holic; I have always been one. Shopping for food is one of my most enjoyable past times and I will spend hours tracking down the best seasonal ingredients that I can get. I derive great pleasure from preparing food; I like cooking it and above all, I absolutely enjoy eating it, as do my wife and children. They are fortunate to have automatic 'shut-off' valves inside their heads and they manage to keep their weights normal. My wife and I are excellent cooks because of our parents; they taught us. Of course, attending chef's school helped us to enhance the cuisine of our heritage; we are both born and bred Sicilians and we enjoy cooking and eating, to the fullest, the only way that we know how, "The Mediterranean Way".

I was recently diagnosed as a Stage Two Diabetic and my doctor has ordered me to lose weight and lower my blood sugar count. He has given me a choice; lower my blood sugar count either by insulin supplement or by diet. I elected to go onto a blood count monitor instead of dosages of insulin; he gave me the usual, 'This is Your Diet' brochure, which left me shuddering right down to my toes. There are many diet cook books out there, I know, as well as diet fads, pills and guru's but I prefer to 'go it alone', as they say. We are in the process now of developing a diet that I know will be compatible to my life style as well as keep my blood count in check.

Our 'new' and traditional Sicilian Mediterranean recipes will be featured every month, as they are developed and tested; they might be of help to you in your own weight loss programs. I look forward to you joining me in our monthly updates and we welcome your comments, questions and feedback. Hopefully, by this time next year, you will be calling me just "Al".

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Big Al Passagento has committed himself to the cause that weight loss, whether one is a diabetic or not, need not have a restrictive effect on your enjoyment of "Haute Cuisine de Mediterranean". We welcome his contribution to this newsletter; we will strive to help him prove his theory.