Anyone who follows Pasta Grannies will know we have a Granny Finder, Livia di Giovanni. Livia is more than someone who looks for grandmothers, she’s an integral part of the team, a fantastic cook, and regularly fact-checking us on Italian culinary traditions. Not to mention the big part she has to play on location at keeping things running to time, making grandmothers feel relaxed, and translating when the dialect is too different to understand. She’s deft with a nonna knife, and whether she’s shaping pasta alongside a grandmother in Sicily or creating something from scratch in the comfort of her own kitchen, she’s not shy of rolling up her sleeves. And, it turns out her talents don’t stop in the kitchen.
Whenever I see Livia (which is not often enough given the big body of water between us) she regularly shows me photographs of cats she seen on her travels (and sometimes adopted) as well as whatever she’s been cooking. There’s also always some pretty pictures of the flowers currently blooming on her terrace or in her garden. And each one has a story. Over the years, she’s returned from her travels with more than recipes, tucked into suitcases or wrapped in tissue on the front seat of the car, there have been seeds, cuttings and or small shoots gifted by the grannies she meets along the way.
Thanks to her increasingly green fingers, her terrace has become a flourishing reminder of the people behind the recipes. From Teresa’s vibrant nasturtiums in Liguria to the yellow Oxalis pes-caprae she brought back from Sicily, each plant has its own journey and its own story. I sat down to ask her a little more about it.
Michaella: Tell me about the grandmothers’ flowers you have in your garden.
Livia: Each plant brings back a particular person, a particular place and often a particular recipe. They’re like living souvenirs.
Michaella: Let’s start with these bright orange flowers. What are they?
Livia: They’re nasturtiums, Tropaeolum majus. They immediately make me think of Teresa, who is 91 and lives in Pompeiana, near Imperia on the Ligurian coast. We filmed her preparing sugeli, a dish from the cucina bianca tradition. Before retiring, Teresa worked in the flower industry, mainly growing carnations. She still loves gardening and when I visited her garden was already bursting with colour. The nasturtiums were particularly beautiful, with splashes of orange throughout the garden. She gave me some to grow at home. Now they’re thriving on my terrace! Every time I see them flower, I think of Teresa and her generosity, as well as the lovely meal we shared together.
Michaella: The next flowers are these marigolds. And they’re in a plate of pasta! Tell us more about these. Where did you discover these and with who?
Livia: Those are Calendula officinalis, the common marigold. Floriana gave them to me when I visited her in Cosio d’Arroscia. It’s not yet made it on to the channel, but it’s going to be a brilliant episode. We know from the notes; so look out for it! In her vegetable garden they grow everywhere, creating what looks like a golden carpet among the vegetables. They’re edible too. And Floriana uses the petals in turle, a type of filled pasta. I love that they have both a culinary and ornamental role. That’s often the case in the grannies’ gardens — our nonnas often are very efficient and like things to have more than one purpose.
Michaella: I hear these yellow ones had quite the journey before reaching your terrace. What’s their official name?
Livia: Yes! That’s Oxalis pes-caprae, known as acetosella. I collected some cuttings while travelling to Adrano, near Mount Etna, where we filmed Concetta making her vegetable preserves. There’s a photograph of all the cuttings spread out in my hotel room during that trip! I brought them home with me on the flight back from Catania, all wrapped up in tissue and foil. Then planted them on my terrace.
In Sicily, Oxalis pes-caprae blooms with bright yellow flowers and carpets the landscape in spring. Where I live, the oxalis I usually see has purple flowers, so these yellow blooms always remind me of Sicily as you wouldn’t usually see this variety in Bologna. They’re flowering now on my terrace. Every time I see them I’m transported back to the slopes of Etna and our lovely day with Concetta.
Michaella: And finally, the freesias. These seem to have a particularly special story attached to them.
Livia: They do. Signora Lucia gave them to me when we were working on the first Pasta Grannies book in 2019. We were photographing with Emma Lee, and Lucia had carefully prepared the freesias from her garden for us. It’s amazing to think how they’ve grown since we first started that book shoot. I’m transported back to those early days of Pasta Grannies. They remind me of Lucia’s kindness, Emma’s beautiful photography and the excitement of bringing the first Pasta Grannies book to life, but much like the flowers how things are also growing with the channel in the same way, with grandmothers having their mark all over the world.
Liked this? Why not read Michaella’s observations about Livia and her role as Granny Finder. For more longer reads from diaries entries, and off-the-beaten-track tips, visit our blog.
