Lacking the option of a local restaurant, my grandmother's cookbook is where I sometimes turn for inspiration for our menu al dia.
Although my grandmother used it extensively for her own menu al dia, mostly I just sit down and leaf through the old and crumbly pages, reading her handwritten notes and enjoying the humorous and interesting comments on Italian cooking and culture that Pellegrino Artusi wrote in the 19th century, in his book Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.
Like meat? Did you know that your predilection used to be considered gender-related?
Roast-beef
This English term spread throughout Italy in the form of the popular name rosbiffe, which means roasted beef. A good rosbiffe is a dish of great satisfaction, in a meal where the masculine element predominates, which isn't fulfilled by the little morsels that women eat, and wants to sink its teeth into something solid and substantial.
Curious to learn how some people used to feel about boiled vegetables in parts of central Italy?
Ravioli ~ bolognese style
People from Romagna region, because they live in a climate that requires very substantial meals, and perhaps also because of a time-honored taste for rich foods, are as fond of cooked vegetables as they are of smoke in their eyes. As a result, I've sometimes happened to hear people in restaurants say, "Waiter, bring some meat, but mind that you don't bring any vegetables"; or "These (pointing to the vegetables) you can use to make a hot compress for your behind."
And so I sit and read through my grandmother's cookbook, until it's the right time of day to start preparing our menu al dia.
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For more Corner Views on menu al dia, see Jane.
