This post is a bit different than ones we've written in the past. With National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day just behind us here in Canada, we've been reflecting on our roots. This has meant learning a little more about Italy and the history of pasta making in Italy through the Pasta Grannies. So this month, we wanted to give a digital shout-out to Vicky Bennison who came up with the idea in the first place.
If you, like us, saw clips of the Pasta Grannies pop up on social media during the pandemic, then you'll be familiar with the joy these videos can spark. We've watched quite a few of the the Pasta Grannies clips over the last few years, and they always spark appreciation and gratitude. They bring to mind memories of our own grandma's cooking that we was fortunate to enjoy growing up. Perfect sentiments as we approach Thanksgiving later this month, too. Join us for this post appreciating the Pasta Grannies!
What is Pasta Grannies?
Over 10 years ago, Vicky Bennison noticed that there were only older Italian women making pasta by hand. That observation led to wanting to document this art of making fresh pasta before it became lost.
Now, every Friday, a new mini documentary style video gets posted from the Pasta Grannies YouTube channel that shows one such granny making a dish with her specialty pasta. (Or other dishes local to their region, like frittata, gnocchi, stuffed olives or pizza, breads or soups. They've broadened the focus a bit more over the last little while.) There are now over 640 videos available!
This quote from Vicky's 2021 Ted Talk really nailed it: "These women's pasta making is the basis for global adoration of Italian cooking and for hand made pasta in particular." She goes on to note that many of these grannies are not literate. They are not writing down their recipes, and so there is a very real risk of losing all their knowledge. Their importance in influencing food isn't recognized enough!
What we love about Pasta Grannies
We so, so, appreciate that these videos show these women in their own kitchens, local markets, fields and gardens, speaking Italian. They use their own words and expressions and knead that dough as they have tens of thousands of times before. That rhythm can only be reproduced through practice and doing it over and over again.
Their fingers are so skilled - even and especially into their 80s, 90, and some even in their 100s. And they sure do know their way with a rolling pin! Each woman has her own approach to how and what she shares of her story with pasta. These videos are a treasure, and show a small slice of an individual's life.
It's not sourdough pasta, but...
There is so much to love about the straight-forward, no nonsense approach to making pasta from scratch that the women in these videos do. We also acknowledge that as a company, we've only been making sourdough pasta for 11 years now. since February of 2024. A blip in time in the history of food-making. (What would these nonnies think about our sourdough pasta?!)
Thank you Vicky (and team) for doing this work! Thank you for making sure we have these Pasta Grannies stories! They add to the story of us as humans. They are documenting culture and language and part of the stuff of life that makes the everyday so special.
Back to news
