while sitting in the airport waiting for our delayed flight, those few who had access to internet via iphones checked their email and read that alberto had sent us an invitation from ALMA to attend "the first major exhibition dedicated to the world of pasta" at the Pasta Trend in Bologna which would include a lecture called "Pasta in the history of the Italian Cuisine and the history of Pasta." Gualtiero Marchesi, the first Italian chef awarded with 3 michelin stars and the most famous italian chef who took italian cooking out of the home kitchen and into "nouvelle cuisine" as well as the professor Massimo Montanari. the catch: the bus was leaving at 8am from Colorno. that did not sound appealing whatsoever after a week away in Calabria. i knew however, if i didn't go, i would be very unproductive. luckily, i was used to waking up early. i was so happy samara decided to wake up and go too - we got to the bus in the piazza a couple minutes before 8 and found only the bus driver there. slowly, a couple italian boys boarded the bus, all lively and talking way too fast in italian and staring at us and wondering who we were i'm sure as samara and i looked at each other, laughing with confusion and amusement. two hours later we arrive in Bologna, with looks of bewilderment as we have no tickets, no italian profiency and just follow the group. but they are sweet and tell us to follow them. we join a lecture that has already started, and tutti italiano. samara and i laugh again. luckily, there is a powerpoint presentation that the lecturer, Massimo Montanari, followed along pretty well so i was able to keep up - although squinting at times with my deteriorating eye sight - and took notes in english what i could understand and write down quickly, in italian of words to look up later that i wasn't sure of and in spanish that combined the two languages. the history of pasta, from what i understand, was quite complex and fascinating. i enjoyed the challenge of understanding the lecture.

autograph from marchesi!! :)

i will include some notes below but they will probably not have any sort of linearity or rational comprehension:

• Marco Polo describes lasagne from a trip to Asia in siglo XIII parla cosa che conosce molto bene - talks about what he knows very well - there are 2 parallel stories from the east and west so it is impossible to know the origin of pasta
• there were two ways of using pasta - bread/foccaccia which more or less rises with dry heat and peppe/polenta which is a miscele di farina cotte al calorie umida e acqua - mixture of flour cooked in moist heat.
• pasta as we know it (flour and semolina cooked in water) was impensabile = unthinkable. il seme divente radice - seme si sviluppa e diventa -> the seed becomes the root, the seed grows and develops until it becomes a new tradition
• pasta secca/disidrata viene pasta bollita/reidratata
• technology follows traditions and modifies innovations - dry pasta allowed for industrial and commercial vocations - nuovo produtti sviluppa - new products develop = new way of eating => strumento nuovo per un cibo nuovo = forchetta/fork becomes functional and necessary for new culture of pasta
• new types of pasta: miniaturrizione (no longer large lasagne sheets but lunghe (spaghetti) corte (macaroni) larghe e stratte) e ripiena (stuffed like tortelini - a modern product)
• pasta connected the south and north of italy (unified politically in 1861) and was also a grande metafora for cucina italiana - infinite variante, valori di fonde condivisi - infinite varities that shared the same basic values -> important theme of identity in italian gastronomy.
• pasta "piccola" <- sfoglia "grande - was an obvious transition to go from large sheets to cut out pasta
• pasta ripiena <- lasagne e torte - cross 2 traditions as meats and fish used to be stuffed.
• tradition si fonde sulle innovazioni, invention si fondano sulle tradition = tradition blend innovations, inventions are based on traditions.
• pasta cambia status in 1630 when it became necessary for surival - the change coming from the impoverimento of people and the price went down thanks to machines, pasta then became more of a side dish, contorno, to meat and Marchesi invented the ravioli aperto (open ravioli)
• l'uomo e cio che mangia - man is what he eats - sicily was the first culture si afferma la cultura della pasta - pasta is an italian id - tutti production, preparation, consumption are all characteristic elemtns of culture but destrulturare un piatto tradizionale = destruction of identity?

pasta pasta pasta.

ok so maybe that doesn't all make sense and it isn't everything that i took notes of. when marchesi talked, i could understand the gist of it and caught certain words like pomodoro crudo vs cotto, pasta fredda is a sapore/flavor differente and pasta as an antipasta or contorno is impensabile (unthinkable as a side dish) and the four types of pasta have different sensations and use different utensils - spoon, chop sticks, fork and spork.

pasta products galore.

after the lecture we wandered around the fiera, which was a pasta trade show, with pasta machines, dried pasta, fresh pasta, tomato sauces, different flours and wheats, olive oils...tutti pasta!

i want one of these in my house.

melt-in-your-mouth-soft handmade pasta with fresh pesto genovese - so delicious and totally worth the scratchy back of the throat allergic reaction.

the bus ride back - surprisingly not tired - was great speaking with the ALMA kids in a confused mix of english and italian - they were all so sweet, trying to speak english as well as helping me with my pitiful italian as i try to communicate in spanish instead. they are only here for a couple more months before they go off on their stages in michelin-rated restaurants around italy for 5 months so hopefully before that we can become friends in this tiny town, i can learn italian, they can teach me some culinary tricks and cook for me :)