Pasta sauce folklore and meaning…

First pasta sauce for the year (now the freezer shelf is bare of the last container from the previous batch – so many dinners from one pot!)

Each time the recipe ends up a little different, but for this one there is…

• Passata for past ‘tomato days’ when three generations made the sauce together.
• Olive oil – a symbol of peace and the heart of Italian food.
• Onion for the layers of life (and tears shed).
• Garlic for health and protection from the Malocchio (evil eye).
• Bietola, silverbeet for nourishment and connection to the land.
• Chuck steak for strength (and a link to as a kid I had to carry home that paper-wrapped parcel from the butcher shop up the road back to Nanna Francesca’s kitchen).
• Diced and crushed tomatoes for passion and the blood of independence.
• A dash of balsamic vinegar for patience (and quality, slow craftsmanship over fast mass production).
• A teaspoon of sugar for love, generosity and the sweetness of life.
• Salt for the sea of southern Italy (and the tide to go out in the pot).
• A handful of lentils for good fortune and a prosperous year ahead.

Hopefully, I haven’t forgotten anything but the next one will have its own story anyway. Buon appetito. 🍝 ✨

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❤️ Anche… my heart goes out to all those in southern Italy and its surrounding areas recovering from the devastation of the cyclone at present. Including the seaside town of Palmi where Nanna Francesca’s side of our family is from (and where I wrote about in, The Proxy Bride). Auguro a tutti voi forza, cuore e coraggio. Zoë xx