they played at being aunts , which they most assuredly were not ( in this version anyway ; the truth being more complicated ) , spoiling him with presents and pinching his cheeks , but there was no escaping the fact that the son of sweet cherry molasses - sometime model , lousy actress - was the reincarnation - after what seemed aeons of committee hearings - of guiseppe guido gonaldi , undoubtedly the worlds greatest ever pizza chef .