How Did This Madness Come to Be?

It all began with the decision of the Foodies Reading Group at a Barnes & Noble store in the St. Louis area to read Marcella Hazan’s autobiography, “Amarcord“.

One of the group, Deborah, thought it would be a lovely surprise if Marcella would be willing to sign new copies of the book for everyone in the group. She wrote a note to Marcella. To her great delight, received a phone call from Marcella saying she would be pleased to accommodate. Deborah intended to keep this news a secret, but she isn’t good at keeping secrets. As you would expect, everyone was thrilled.
Fast forward a few days to Facebook conversations about how many of us learned to cook Italian food the “right” way from “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”. A comment was made that the one cuisine most of North America loves and cooks is Italian. And the person most responsible for teaching us the right way to cook Italian wasn’t, in our opinion, being accorded the appropriate recognition today.
Not taking away from the well deserved admiration for Julia Child, but come on … If you took a poll of North American home cooks, what do you think the results would be? Fussy French food or honest Italian food?
We rest our case.
Somewhere along the way, someone makes an offhanded and ill-advised suggestion that we do a Julie Powell thing and cook our way through Essentials.

One thing leads to another; cooler heads prevail; and the decision is made to share the cooking responsibilities by splitting up the week among seven people. That meant that the three in the St. Louis area, (Deborah, Irene, & Beth), would still need some reinforcements.
Deborah, who is a member of the SlowTrav community, and has participated in a weekly food challenge with other Foodies in that community for several years, put the call out. And they responded.
First it was Cindy, from Alaska. She jumped right in, without hesitation. Doug, from Eastern Ontario also didn’t hesitate to accept the call. Sandi from Alabama wanted to join the group, but was not sure she could commit to every week, so Jan from Florida partnered with her to alternate weeks. Once the separated-at-birth-twins Jerry from Ontario, and Palma from California learned they could share a day they threw their mutual hat in the ring as well.
Sixty-two weeks of posting every single day is daunting. So, as a safety measure, we strong-armed

Posted in And In the Beginning... permalink

I am posting this as the project is coming to a close. Your work has been of incredible interest to me, as I have been trying to teach myself how to cook Italian by cooking my way through Marcella’s works for a couple of years myself. However, my modest efforts could not begin to approach the sheer volume of work you have all produced since you began: one a day! It is remarkable.
I have enjoyed getting to know each of you during the process. While Marcella says in her first book that anyone who is slightly alert will have no problem cooking every dish, she also admits that simple does not always mean easy. It isn’t easy making the perfect pasta with only spaghetti, garlic and oil, for example. When ingredients are not masked, and have to speak for themselves, in simple combinations and manipulated by simple procedures, then you really do have to do everything right.
And you know what, I think that more often than not you did.
I’ve been inspired by some of your dishes. You might see that in things I have cooked after you did. Some of the photography is beautiful, and the writing lyrical. You should be proud, each of you, of your efforts.
But of course the real hero in this project has been Marcella herself (and you too Victor, I know you’re never far away). It is not too strong a statement to say Marcella’s generous interaction with her fans over facebook, in her advanced years, have been one of the highlights of mine in recent times. We all knew she was an extraordinary gifted cook and communicator, with a clear vision of how things should be, but the way in which she has offered her increasingly valuable time to so many people she has not even met is just a sign of what a giving and passionate woman she is.
I have always said it was the intelligence in Marcella’s writings that first drew me to her, and it was my success with her recipes and her virtual presence and encouragement on forums such as this project that has kept me cooking through her books.
It really has been like a director’s cut, this project, with priceless commentary coming 20 years after the film was made. Although in this case it has been 30 years.
Lucky for us good cooking is timeless.
But enough from me. Thank you to each of you, and the biggest thank you and grandmotherly hug and firm handshake to Marcella and Victor. You are all food heros in my book, and the bringers of much happiness to many families, over many decades.

Comments

How Did This Madness Come to Be? — 14 Comments

Baked Alaska on March 23, 2010 at 8:35 pm said:

Deborah-I love reading about how you all came up with the idea to do this challenge, since I jumped in later in the game. I can’t wait to get started. In fact, I’ve already made 2 recipes from the book, and they were both great. By the way, I do like tripe, at least when eaten in Italy when I don’t have to cook it! But tripe isn’t one of the recipes I’ll cook-Michelle got that selection. I got chicken livers (which I hate) and beef tongue which is awful to look at but tastes good).
sandi @ the whistlestop cafe on March 23, 2010 at 11:16 pm said:

Did I really agree to follow all of those rules??
I ended up with a lot of things to fry… which should work out just fine and dandy for me.
This will be fun.
Nanny on March 23, 2010 at 11:28 pm said:

wish you would blog it also…..I don’t do facebook…….would love to follow along!
jgk on March 24, 2010 at 12:54 am said:

I’m nervous, excited, thrilled to be included and honored to have my world intersect with Marcella’s. What a wonderful world.
jan
amy on March 24, 2010 at 1:11 am said:

Woohoo! Sorry I couldn’t participate, but I’ll enjoy the hell out of reading of your adventure!
Palma on March 24, 2010 at 2:57 am said:

Whoo Hoo! I can get to the posting page. Thank goodness my cooking skills are better than my technology abilities! I’m excited and anxious as well!
Candi on March 24, 2010 at 3:09 am said:

Great first post! I am looking forward to following you in this amazing challenge.
sheri on March 25, 2010 at 2:18 am said:

I really admire all of you who accepted this challenge. Will be following and cheering you along!
Scott Ruth on March 28, 2010 at 7:11 am said:

I’m looking forward to following along as all of you prepare this wonderful food. I am also looking forward to eating it! Scott (husband of Cindy)
girasoli on March 29, 2010 at 6:15 am said:

I just discovered this blog! Where have I been? I knew you were cooking this up but did not know about the blog. I am so excited to cheer everyone on. I loved reading how this all came about. What fun!
Emily Hamblen on April 14, 2010 at 10:05 pm said:

Let me know if you have a ‘runner’s up’ list for the cooks! I would love to be on it! 😉 I cook from the Essentials almost every day. You guys are so fun to follow on this blog! Thanks for doing this!
nancyhol on April 22, 2010 at 12:32 am said:

I am just catching up with my blog reading, and I see I have a LOT to catch up on!
This is an exciting challenge – I am looking forward to following along!
George Lueders on June 7, 2010 at 5:01 pm said:

I met Deborah ( 1 of the 9 ) today at Viviano’s and heard about this Blog. I was getting more Olive Oil and a tiny bottle of Anchovies. I always ask Mike for advice when he is at the counter and told him of a recipe for Buogna Cuoda (spelling? Pronunciation ?? ) I saw in this great cookbook by Marcella Hazan. He laughed at my translation and knew exactly what I was talking about. I said I would love to hear about someone making the dish with spinach pasta ( feettuccini noodles in a crock with a bechamel, and then neatly wrapped in pasta and baked….. Deborah knew exactly what I was talking about. I’m gonna keep an eye on this blog.
Deborah responds:
Hi George! It really was fun to find out you were planning to use Marcella’s book and there were Michael and I talking about the project!
I hope you will follow our progress.
Be sure to read the comments on all of our entries. You’ll find that Marcella, herself, pops in on a regular basis and posts her thoughts.
David on June 1, 2011 at 2:13 pm said:

I am posting this as the project is coming to a close. Your work has been of incredible interest to me, as I have been trying to teach myself how to cook Italian by cooking my way through Marcella’s works for a couple of years myself. However, my modest efforts could not begin to approach the sheer volume of work you have all produced since you began: one a day! It is remarkable.
I have enjoyed getting to know each of you during the process. While Marcella says in her first book that anyone who is slightly alert will have no problem cooking every dish, she also admits that simple does not always mean easy. It isn’t easy making the perfect pasta with only spaghetti, garlic and oil, for example. When ingredients are not masked, and have to speak for themselves, in simple combinations and manipulated by simple procedures, then you really do have to do everything right.
And you know what, I think that more often than not you did.
I’ve been inspired by some of your dishes. You might see that in things I have cooked after you did. Some of the photography is beautiful, and the writing lyrical. You should be proud, each of you, of your efforts.
But of course the real hero in this project has been Marcella herself (and you too Victor, I know you’re never far away). It is not too strong a statement to say Marcella’s generous interaction with her fans over facebook, in her advanced years, have been one of the highlights of mine in recent times. We all knew she was an extraordinary gifted cook and communicator, with a clear vision of how things should be, but the way in which she has offered her increasingly valuable time to so many people she has not even met is just a sign of what a giving and passionate woman she is.
I have always said it was the intelligence in Marcella’s writings that first drew me to her, and it was my success with her recipes and her virtual presence and encouragement on forums such as this project that has kept me cooking through her books.
It really has been like a director’s cut, this project, with priceless commentary coming 20 years after the film was made. Although in this case it has been 30 years.
Lucky for us good cooking is timeless.
But enough from me. Thank you to each of you, and the biggest thank you and grandmotherly hug and firm handshake to Marcella and Victor. You are all food heros in my book, and the bringers of much happiness to many families, over many decades.