SC - Re: Amazon.com Delivers Giuliano Hazan
DianaFiona at aol.com
DianaFiona at aol.com
Wed May 3 22:12:49 PDT 2000
Though ya'll might enjoy seeing this article by Marcella Hazan's son,
especially since some of the things he says touch on some of our recent
"cooking philosophy" discussions........... :-)
Ldy Diana
In a message dated 5/3/00 7:44:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
cooking-editor at amazon.com writes:
<< Subj: Amazon.com Delivers Giuliano Hazan
Date: 5/3/00 7:44:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: cooking-editor at amazon.com
Sender: editor-sender at amazon.com
To: dianafiona at aol.com (cooking-subscribers)
Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Cooking
Every Mother's Day we reflect on the valuable lessons
learned at our mothers' sides, from beating egg whites to
peeling potatoes. Now, imagine if your mother were Marcella
Hazan, the godmother of Italian cooking in America! The
lessons might include everything from polenta to pancetta.
To celebrate Mother's Day, Amazon.com Kitchen asked
fortunate son Giuliano Hazan to share his memories of
growing up in one of the most admired kitchens in the
world--his mother's.
You can find our new Kitchen store at
http://www.amazon.com/kitchen
********
What I Learned in My Mother's Kitchen
by Giuliano Hazan
My earliest memories of my mother's kitchen would probably
be of the pots and pans I would regularly pull out of the
cabinets, and of olive oil. I suspect the olive oil incident
is more indelibly etched in my mother's memory than mine.
One day I decided to pour an entire bottle over myself, and
the term "squirmy baby" took on new meaning for my mother.
As I grew older, the kitchen continued to be one of my
favorite places to hang out, and I was often perched on a
stool watching my mother prepare our meals. Instinct and
intuition play a very important role in cooking. I think I
mostly learned to cook through osmosis while watching my
mother cook. I got to help, too. I probably stirred my first
risotto when I was tall enough to reach the pot!
One of the things I learned was that once one got to know a
dish, recipes were really only to be used as a guide. Except
for desserts, my mother almost never measured. I remember
she would say that if she had chopped a little too much
garlic or onions she wasn't going to throw away the extra,
she would just sauté it a little less. Or if she had chopped
too little she would sauté it a little more. The most
important ingredient in the kitchen, she would always say,
was common sense.
Just as important as watching my mother cook and helping
whenever possible was sitting at the family table and eating
what my mother had prepared. Accumulating those taste
memories was indispensable to me when I started cooking for
myself. Just as a painter or a sculptor has an image in his
or her mind as they work, when I cook I am often recalling a
taste or flavor that I am trying to recreate.
What is probably the most important thing I learned is a
love and respect for good food. It not only makes one of
life's necessities more enjoyable but it brings a family
together as well. Mealtimes were always a special part of
our day, and they continue to be now that there are three
generations at the table.
>>
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