It all Started with the Ravioli

Byfrancescadzani@gmail.com
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Traveling to Italy was like going to a different planet. It was like living in another lifetime. Maybe if I had traveled abroad more regularly it would not feel so strange to me; the memories I have from being alone in another place, the life- long friends and distant relatives I bonded with over carb filled meals may not be like what others do in different cultures, but this is what we do. We go back for second bowls of everything while tearing bread right onto the table. We drink red wine before and Fernet Branca after. We also have ravioli multiple times a day in different ways. 

 I was thinking about the family and friends I met just about five months ago in my adventures of Northern Italy. I actually think about them often and what they are doing each day six hours ahead of my time. I remember on Easter when we shared endless ravioli made with meat sauce, olive oil and garlic, and then mini versions in brodo. I remember the Rice and Spinach Torta and the La Bomba just like my Grandmother makes here. Those will always be amongst my most precious memories of Italy. 

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This week I felt I needed to revisit those memories a little more so I went to Grandma and Grandpas. And oh boy did I eat! It wasn’t the spinach and ricotta ravioli that I ate a ton of in Italy, just like Gma makes it here, but it was a plethora of other things stuffed like Spinach Torta and gigantic squash blossoms from her extra pruned garden (this woman has the greenest of thumbs). As soon as I walked in I smelled what turned out to be a cake with squash blossoms, a piece she then cut for me before another meal of pasta. Grandma was inspired by her Italian culinary hero Lidia Bastianich to make this cake and it turned out to be quite delish! The blossoms are so delicate they almost melted into the cake. 

Of course, I could not leave without having pasta. Grandma and Grandpa make their sauces very different from one another and although they are both from the north of Italy where tomato sauce is a lot lighter than how it’s prepared down south, my Grandpa actually makes his rich with tomatoes. He learned to make the sauce, not in Italy but while working in this country – so that makes more sense to me. I think his sauce is actually one of the absolute best sauces I have ever had. I crave it (I will not tell Gma).  My Grandmother does, however, make her sauce with a small amount of tomato sauce. What we had for lunch was her saucy treasure that she canned a year ago; tomato sauce loaded with her bell-shaped- striped zucchini and lots of dried herbs. Once I finished my spaghetti that she wouldn’t let me eat without a spoon to swirl, I took a nap and woke up to another appetite. 

 I took the time to enjoy their company while they enjoyed me, and these are the memories I felt I needed to revisit. 

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