Silvia Colloca - The Italian Home Cook

To all the home cooks out there w ho speak the love langua ge of food.

No. the veggie pa tch intro duction

grazie

The kitc hen is where life hap pens Ther e is one r oom in m y house that seems to be governed by its own gravitational l aws. A p lace m y famil y and I a re pull ed in to several times a d ay, f or di erent r easons. A room o f r equirement, i f yo u will all ow the Hogwarts r eference, w hich turns in to w hat y ou need w hen y ou need it most, and presents you with what you are looking for at just the right time. It is, of course, m y k itchen. A l ight-lled s pace w rapped a round a b right y ell ow oven that in vites me and m y famil y to shar e meals, con versati on, momen ts of qui et and man y mor e momen ts of chaos! The kitchen is where we nd ourselves i f we are hungry, thirsty, bored, in nee d of a break, frantically pa cking lu nchbox es, e ciently ch opping in gredients f or fa mily dinners, mixing l ockdown negronis its the plac e where li fe ha ppens. And as we bear witness to the passing of time, we punctuate those momen ts with the comfor ting ritual of home cooking. Whether yo u ar e a bo rn f ood l over o r h ave i nadvertently b een t urned i nto one fr om the a t home time imposed by the even ts of the last f ew y ears, we have all fo und ourselves whisking, kneading and slicing more than ever , highlighting a fundamen tal truth I talians ha ve cherished f or c enturies: when life get s challenging, you can cook yourself happy again! The Ita lian home c ook If you wer e t o a sk m e w hat i s u nique a bout I talian h ome c ooking, I wou ld steadfastly a ssert its point of dier ence is the c ooks themselves. In breaking down the princip l es of I talian home coo king, we qui ckl y l earn that they are c entred a round f our f undamental p illars traditi on, pride, cr eativity and s implicity and I talians adher e to them lik e eggs and pecorino on carbonara! W e gr ow up immersed in a cul tur e that cel ebrates the act of cooking, a nd tha t of eatin g, ev ery s ingle day. And such revere nce is oe red in equal manner for a si mple b iscotto du nke d in morning espr esso, a ch unky piece o f b read d ripping w ith e xtra-virgin o live o il o r a mor e e laborate d ish of homemade pasta. intro duction The kitche n is the plac e where life happen s, And as we bear witness to the pa ssi ng of time, we punctu ate those moments with the comf orti ng ritua l of home cook ing.

I talians ha ve an innate r espect f or t radition, wh ich is expr essed with l ove and r estraint. We do nt li ke al tering t he r ecipes g iven t o u s b y o ur n onnas, as if the i dea alone would be e nough to oe nd our ancestors. We maintain the customs with pride and a re s trongly o pinionated a bout l eaving o ut unnecessary in gredients, to a llow t he s imple b eauty o f e ach d ish t o r ealise its potential. Less truly is more. Italians ar e na tural, i nventive h ome c ooks, b ut s uch c reativity i s e xpressed thriftily a nd i ngeniously m ore t han w ith s ophistication. I t tak es far mor e imagination to c ook a de licious me al ou t of j ust th ree or f our in gredients and a wooden spoon than it does using fteen ingr edi en ts and as man y kitchen gadgets! Above all, we a re t aught f rom a y oung age to cherish the ingr edi en ts we coo k with. Whether they ar e ho me g rown or st ore bo ught, we ha ve o bserved and absorbed the acti ons of hands mor e experi enced than ours caring f or them with passi on and know l edge, and turning them in to meals that we will n ever s top c raving o r re creating, a nd th at we wil l ine vitably p ass o n to younger, hungri er hands than ours. We have been made home cooks by t he unspoke n language of f ood, a nd in this b ook I want to shar e with you all that I have learne d abo ut I talian h ome coo king so that yo u can bring this ri ch and evocative world to lif e in y our own kitchen. Ultimately , thi s book is for all of you: the accomplished hom e coo ks, the novi ces, those w ho l ove kitchen gadgets and those w ho d on t, those who look at the picture and then improvis e, and those who foll ow the recipe to the T. We a re all home coo ks. W e all speak the same language, r egar dl ess of where we come from. Our langu age is made up of ingredients, g estures and intentions, and it tells stories of love, unity , r esilience and friendship. x Silvia We are tau ght from a you ng age to Cher ish the ingred ients we cook with, Whether they are home grow n or store bought. INTR OD UCTION

Bef or e y ou ven tur e in to the chapters of this boo k , I would l ove to o er you a n i nsight i nto t he I talian p antry. St ocking y our s helves w ith t he r ight ingr edi en ts is the rst step to appr oaching coo king lik e an I talian. H er e is my list of absolute essentials, the items I mak e s ure I never run low on! Canne d toma toe s You don t nee d to h ave a n onna providing you wi th a s tash of p assata! St ock up on good-quality ca nned tomatoes, either chopped or whole. As a rule of thumb, if t hey t aste de licious fr om t he c an, y our su go h as t he b est c hance of turning in to a culinar y deligh t. Of course, if y ou do ha ve the time and inclinati on, y ou can mak e y our own passata w hen tomatoes ar e in season and at their ripest and juiciest (fo r a recipe, see page ). THE P AN TR Y IS Y OU R TREASU RE TRO VE