A pasta machine has been relegated to the bottom shelf of our kitchen cupboard for longer than I am prepared to admit due to the fact that neither of us have time to use it.
My husband and I are consumed daily by all that is required to run our own company and cooking often feels like a bothersome distraction. I do love it when I engage myself fully though, for it is an art which stimulates creative juices, satisfying the palate and increases potential bonding time.. if one doesn’t feel exhausted and under pressure by work deadlines that is!
I do my best to learn new menus but I didn’t grow up with an enthusiasm for cooking. My family background was sadly lacking in this department unlike ‘La famiglia Rossi’, who unlike me, all learned to love food and cook together as children, under the watchful and somewhat critical eye of their highly talented Madre.
As a child I partook of largely unimaginatively prepared meals alone in front of the TV. It was the 70’s which saw the birth of the supermarket, convenience food and I was the last of five children. My much elder siblings all left home when I was quite small and I think my Mom just ran out of energy. Reverence for food and the sanctity of eating together as a family is something I have learned since I became a part of my Italian family, who remind me that ‘families who eat together stay together.’
I feel fortunate to have great examples of culinary whizzes to follow.
My gifted ‘cognata’ (sister-in-law) is called Rossella. She is married and lives in Rome. A Legal Secretary by day and a food fiend in the kitchen at night, her enthusiasm for food extends to capturing it’s succulent beauty on camera first. She is justifiably proud of her southern Italian heritage and finds great pleasure and release in her preferred role as a Food Stylist and Photographer.
