August 2004 Archives

Most Americans, or at least those of us who care and think about food, see Marcella Hazan as the Julia Child (may she rest in peace in the great kitchen in the sky) of Italian cooking. She's a brilliant cookbook writer and teacher who has introduced Americans to the art of authentic Italian cooking. She also has a big personality, opinionated and funny. Her latest cookbook, "Cucina Marcella," took five years to write, and she was paid $500,000 as an advance (the most ever given to a cookbook author up to that point).

Here she is reviewing The Olive Garden.

From her, I've learned to use a restrained hand with the garlic, use very good olive oil, make my own pasta, boil pasta in lots of salted water with no oil, and never, never rinse pasta. I've also learned that authentic Italian food, for the most part, is easy to prepare and makes the most of just a few ingredients, as long as they're of the highest quality.

I also learned two lovely Italian verbs from her: insaporire (the art and science of 'making food tasty' by perfectly preparing each ingredient to draw out the maximum and appropriate flavor) and arrosolare (to cook in oil or fat until it becomes perfectly colored). Or, in her own words, "It works like this.  You sauté onion and/or garlic in butter or oil over medium heat until it becomes colored the shade you want it in that particular dish.  Have the patience to cook the onion long enough; it may need more minutes than you think.  And have the watchfulness to keep the garlic from turning too dark; that may happen sooner than you can imagine.  This is arrosolare.  Then you put in the ingredient that comes next, usually the vegetable or the first of several vegetables, you raise the heat, and stir, turning the ingredient over to coat it well.  When it opens up and swells with the savors of the onion or garlic or both, that is insaporire.”