Now if I had a choice of Rosa’s cooking to eat it would be her native food from the south of Italy, that wonderful mix of fresh vegetables, olive oil and light pasta dishes.
But on a winter’s night with that raw wind which seems to find its way into every room in our house I reckon you can’t beat one of those heavy and hearty dishes of the north.
One of those that go down well with family and friends is gnocchi di patata.
It is made by mixing mashed potatoes with flour and an egg, then rolling the mixture into a sausage shape which is then cut and divided into balls and cooked in boiling salted water and served with melted butter and lots of parmesan cheese or in our case tomato sauce.
I say balls but that isn’t actually accurate. The shapes can vary slightly and Rosa’s are a little flatter and have ridges on one side which are achieved by a wonderful little wooden utensil. It resembles one of those tools that used to be used to make butter pats but has ridges along the underside of the flat surface. The art is to use the smooth side of the utensil to roll the cut shape and then the other side to add the ridges which are there to better hold the sauce.
But Rosa excelled herself on the last night before they flew back to Italy. We had been in Harrogate all day at the Turkish Baths but before we left the city she made Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, which put simply is a mix of pasta, potatoes, savoy cabbage and spinach and three types of cheese. Pizzoccheri is a type of short wide tagliattelle made from a mixture of buckwheat flour and wheat flour. The buckwheat gives the pasta a brown speckley look which I have to say was different.
She cooked the potatoes and cabbage together and then layered these with the cooked pasta and the diced cheese with more grated cheese on top and bake for about 15 minutes.
I have to confess that greens do not do much for me. I guess it dates back to overcooked green cabbage which was served up in my primary school. Even now I have vivid memories of the agony of forcing it down under the stern gaze of the dinner lady wanting to be anywhere than facing this plate of torture.
But such is Rosa’s cooking that this pasta and cabbage dish was just delightful.
It reminded me of Metternich’s observation that “Italy is only a geographical expression” and even now 150 years after most of the Italian states joined together to form a united country there is much below the surface that underlines the idea that the place is still a collection of regions.
Leaving aside the very different food of the north and south there are the attitudes of many northern Italians to those of the south which is seen as a drain on the wealth and resources of the northern states. It is there too in the northern perception that the south can be a lawless and dangerous place.
And as if to underline this simple prejudice, Tina and I recently watched Benvenuti al sud
[Welcome to the south] in which a post office manager from Milan is sent south for two years to the town of Castellabate south of Naples. It is a comedy of misunderstandings and stereotypes and perfectly coveys how the two Italy’s perceive each other.
It is also true that the dialect of the south is almost incomprehensible to many northerners as are traditional southern names, which caused Tina much heartache during her school years in the north when fellow students and teachers made fun of her long first name.
Picture; Rosa's peppers, her pasta, the box cover of Pizzoccheri della Valtellina and fruit salad, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
One of those that go down well with family and friends is gnocchi di patata.
It is made by mixing mashed potatoes with flour and an egg, then rolling the mixture into a sausage shape which is then cut and divided into balls and cooked in boiling salted water and served with melted butter and lots of parmesan cheese or in our case tomato sauce.
But Rosa excelled herself on the last night before they flew back to Italy. We had been in Harrogate all day at the Turkish Baths but before we left the city she made Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, which put simply is a mix of pasta, potatoes, savoy cabbage and spinach and three types of cheese. Pizzoccheri is a type of short wide tagliattelle made from a mixture of buckwheat flour and wheat flour. The buckwheat gives the pasta a brown speckley look which I have to say was different.
I have to confess that greens do not do much for me. I guess it dates back to overcooked green cabbage which was served up in my primary school. Even now I have vivid memories of the agony of forcing it down under the stern gaze of the dinner lady wanting to be anywhere than facing this plate of torture.
But such is Rosa’s cooking that this pasta and cabbage dish was just delightful.
It reminded me of Metternich’s observation that “Italy is only a geographical expression” and even now 150 years after most of the Italian states joined together to form a united country there is much below the surface that underlines the idea that the place is still a collection of regions.
Leaving aside the very different food of the north and south there are the attitudes of many northern Italians to those of the south which is seen as a drain on the wealth and resources of the northern states. It is there too in the northern perception that the south can be a lawless and dangerous place.
[Welcome to the south] in which a post office manager from Milan is sent south for two years to the town of Castellabate south of Naples. It is a comedy of misunderstandings and stereotypes and perfectly coveys how the two Italy’s perceive each other.
It is also true that the dialect of the south is almost incomprehensible to many northerners as are traditional southern names, which caused Tina much heartache during her school years in the north when fellow students and teachers made fun of her long first name.
Picture; Rosa's peppers, her pasta, the box cover of Pizzoccheri della Valtellina and fruit salad, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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