IT REALLY ISN'T that I bore easily, it's only for the fact that I have thousands of pictures of food (taken all by yours truly) and it seems a waste if I don't use them periodically for my own purposes as I do here on this blog.
My big burning question, though, is this: does anyone really read what I write. My comment sections remain woefully blank and "vuota!"
In the meantime, let us lament the death of MARCELLA HAZAN. She truly brought us a way to cook which is right up there with Julia Child but in a completely different way. Italian cooking isn't French, after all, and even though the approach to food isn't necessarily that different, the application of sauces and the differing uses of butter, lard and olive oil penetrate the Italian landscape as no other does.
Marcella, a Northerner herself, from Emilia-Romagna no less, transcended all of that by embracing recipes and cucine from all of the Italian peninsula as well as the two largest islands in the Mediterranean: Sicilia e Sardegna. Who knew that a doctor in biology would become the queen of Italian food for decades? I think her son found out soon enough - as did her husband - and is now the heir to a very distinguished culinary legacy. When I went to study piano in Bologna, her Classic Italian Cook Book came along as a guide of sorts and it was her cookbook(s) that helped me find the many different pathways to all sorts of restaurants and neighborhood food. My local green grocer ("fruttivendola"), Maria, was also an arbiter of what a good Ragú was made from and how to massage a good pasta dough, but it was Marcella's instructions that led the way on exactly HOW Italians eat as well as being there to experience it first hand in my daily life.
Here in America, we have forgotten - did we really ever know? - how to portion out food and I would venture to commit blasphemy here by saying that it isn't all about what we eat but more about how much we eat. A pound of pasta, for instance, between 2 or 3 people is fair game in the good ole USA. In Italy, a pound of pasta would feed 6 as a first or second course (that's less than 100 grams per person), allowing room for the next plate of meat or fish or game, accompanied by some other dish - with a starch and/or a vegetable - and then followed by a salad and/or a dolce and/or cheese. I know French people who wouldn't even think of excluding a cheese course, deeming that completely uncivilized. In Provence, it would be a sacrilege, not to mention the Perigord or Burgundy! Small portions, many courses, is the way in almost all European kitchens and this is not exactly exclusive to France and Italy; one always starts with something. Americans could learn a great deal from this attitude. We shouldn't scarf down food, but taste, savor, and allow our palates to enlighten and uplift the soul (try telling that to teenagers at McDonald's!). Marcella knew this as much as Julia did. They both brought great food to the table and from the bottom of my heart, I thank them for every morsel of morels and truffles, panna and crème fraiche and the all important artichoke (in season, of course)!
So, let us remember to eat smaller portions, but cultivate a more varied diet and wash more dishes. Oh, and by the way, the biggest meal of the day is usually during the day before il riposo. Look at the statistics: we suffer from more heart disease and cancer than any other nation in the world. We eat garbage most of the time and always while on the move and most people, I would venture to guess, eat with the television glaring and blaring the latest disaster story or stupid sitcom. Lunch and dinner, like breakfast, should be accorded the respect it deserves: quiet (but lively) conversation and complete surrender to the food you are about to put into your mouth. Even if it's an egg!
Per il resto, io me ne vado a riposarmi un pó.
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