My grandfather left his beautiful hometown 'Bardi' in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy to make his fortune in England, unfortunately he was never to return home as he passed away in his early fifties.
Although I never met grandad Barbuti I feel as if I have inherited some of his indomitable spirit! It can't have been an easy life for my grandparents, they owned a restaurant in Waterloo, London, where they worked long and arduous hours. Of their five children one died and intermittently the others contracted tuberculosis. Money was always tight, they lived on the top floor of a large imposing house where the high ceilinged rooms were sparsely furnished and invariably cold, the only heating being the coal burning stove in the kitchen. In spite of his hardship and homesickness my grandfather was ever optimistic, a true 'glass half full' character who was dearly loved by his children.
My nonna had exacting standards and perhaps wasn't as likeable, however, with hindsight, losing a child and becoming a widow at fifty without any counselling or time to grieve and little Support, I realise how deeply afraid and isolated she must have felt.
Italian life revolves around family and my grandmother must have felt like she had lost a limb during the subsequent years, with my grandfather gone and her children married and moved away she led a rather solitary existence for the most part. As a child time spent at my nonna's has left an indelible imprint, for me those memories are of a woman at her happiest when entertaining, the more the merrier! 'Gioie della tavola' 'the joys of the table' was my nonna's favourite expression.
I remember how my nonna's forbidding dining room would be magically transformed when she was entertaining. The large table would be magnificently set with a beautiful Italian lace tablecloth, crystal glasses and carafes filled with wine and my great grandmother's silverware and crockery.
Table manners and deference to our elders was deeply ingrained in us children, after washing our hands we took our place at the table where cutlery was to be used correctly, no elbows on the table or speaking with your mouth full was allowed! Yet around the table were the deepest ties of love and friendship, laughter and joy. When I was around six years old I was allowed a small glass of Asti Spumante which seems inconceivable, however, if I had been the slightest bit tipsy my behaviour was unparalleled to the accepted table manners of today where all too often I see children climbing down from the table, spilling or dissecting their food, throwing tantrums, looking at tablet computers or smartphones and rarely interacting.
The dinner table is an enduring image in Italian art precisely because so much time is spent there, therefore art imitates life. When we ate 'festa' a feast, my nonna did it in style, the courses would start with antipasto followed by 'primi' a second course of pasta or risotto, a meat course would follow then dessert and coffee.
I love having people to dinner, alas the lengths that my nonna went to in terms of preparation are beyond me, I want to sit and enjoy the company without constant pot watching and excusing myself from the table. Therefore I tend to make a one pot meal such as a ragu or chilli which looks after itself, maybe the premature Asti Spumante did me no favours as I'd rather be drinking a glass of wine with my company than fussing over food in the kitchen.
Italians take their ragu seriously, it should consist of meat, onions, carrots and wine, pork or pancetta is used along with the main ingredient of beef to enhance the flavour. An Italian ragu bears no resemblance to English Bolognese which is predominantly meat doused in tomatoes. I follow my mother's recipe which does include a little tomato puree but still retains its authentic flavours, a ragu should be rich and sticky not watery and sloppy and never serve a soupy sauce on top of a pile of waterlogged pasta! Drain the pasta well and add to the ragu, combine so that the sauce coats the pasta.......remember: pasta to sauce never sauce to pasta!
Meat ragu
Recipe
500g organic beef
4-6 outdoor bred sausages, skin removed and meat cut into pieces
Olive oil
1 onion, sliced
4 carrots, peeled and Chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
25g parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon dried basil
Freshly ground pepper
200ml red wine
Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a pan and gently cook onions and carrots for 5 minutes
Add basil, beef and sausages, fry until the meat starts to brown
Add wine and tomato puree, stir well
Season with pepper and parmesan, you can now do one of two things: either simmer gently on the stove for 2 hours, stirring regularly, or put in a slow cooker on low and forget about it for 3-4 hours
When ready to serve cook pasta according to packet instructions, drain and add pasta to ragu sauce
Combine well, serve with an extra grating of parmesan
'When I talk about a great dish, I often get goose bumps, we Italians are like that.
It's not all about food, it's part of the memory'
-Mario Batali
'He who eats alone suffocates'
Italian proverb
For my beautiful grandparents
Love Donna xxxxxx
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