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| The first book of hers I owned. Life changing. |
They say pasta originated in China and was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo’s expeditions. Can you imagine if that restless Venetian had chosen to go west instead? What would he have brought back? Boiled mutton from England? Hardly inspirational.
What did result from the introduction of pasta to the Italians can only be described as history-changing. Hearty plates of high-piled noodles, infused with the aromas of garlic, peppers, cheeses, and of course, tomatoes.
Unfortunately later restless souls “discovered” the New World, settled here, and some centuries later saw fit to bastardize those holy pasta traditions. (Seriously: noodles in a can? Oy!)
As a child I would often wake early. I would grab my box of Lego, and plonk myself in front of the TV, waiting for the morning cartoons to kick in. I would find myself watching “Biba’s Italian Kitchen”, and even though I didn’t understand many of the ingredients, I just knew I wanted to be in that kitchen.
Biba Caggiano became the Italian mother I never had, and a role model for this then-budding foodie. She upped the game completely. Suddenly I knew there was a world beyond canned tomato-based spaghetti sauces. Italian food meant so much more than pizza. I know how trite that sounds, but for the limited ingredients available to our small town at that time, Biba’s show was like the arrival of a fantastic new Messiah.
Except for when she cooked with rabbit. Never could wrap my brain around that. Poor Thumper.
So, today’s post is a shameless plug for all things Biba. I’m certain I’ll be writing about one of her recipes on here in the future, but for now I think it’s only fair to just endorse the whole shebang.
I will however give a quick nod to one recipe which seemed completely unlikely, and yet turned out to be one of the most incredible things my kitchen has ever turned out. Risotto with scallops, porcini mushrooms and saffron (pgs 103-104 in the above pictured bible...I mean book). Did you think of putting those together? I hadn’t.
Biba’s food is food to impress. Yet, despite the intricacy of some of the recipes, it always comes through as unpretentious. Italian soul-food, as it were.
I don’t know that Marco Polo would’ve had any inkling as to just how incredible the legacy of pasta would become to his own people. With chefs and cooks like Biba, though, even though they are creating what are now time-honoured dishes within their culture, they come across as whole new worlds. I don’t mean new worlds as in WRONG worlds, as in a certain contemporary who claims to be reintroducing Italian foods, yet cranks out heresy in the form of “hot dog salad”. I kid you not…
Be real.
Be well fed.
Be satisfied.
Be Biba.
(no, I don't get a kickback from recommending these)
Or if you happen to be in Sacramento, go to the source!
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