We’re kicking off the summary of our week’s filming with a little mystery. I know, how frustrating but I promise we’ll share the details soon. As for the rest? You’re very welcome to take a seat at the table with us for now as we edit the videos and recipes to be uploaded in the not-too-distant future.
Day One: Secret Recipes, Indeed
On Day One, we filmed something very special— we reconvened with three nonnas—Rita Adriana and Brunilde who live close to where Vicky’s house in Cingoli. They’ve become good friends to us since the first time we filmed them, and now since Vicky and Livia are often there for book shoots and we regularly stay on touch, catching up with them and their latest creations.
We filmed something special which can’t reveal just yet, but one that celebrates their Italian cooking in a very specific way. For now, let’s just say it involved laughter, flour, and the kind of teamwork that makes pasta-making feel like a sport!
Day Two: A Morning with Nonna Maria and an afternoon with Ninetta and Pasqualina
The next morning, we wound our way through Abruzzo’s soft hills to visit Nonna Maria. Her kitchen is a time capsule of old Italy: a table worn smooth from decades of kneading and rolling and sunlight falls through the curtains. She still makes pasta once a week and she prefers to eat it simple, classically; with some Parmesan and olive oil.
Maria makes pasta alla chitarra by hand — the fine, square-edged strands pressed through her well-loved wooden frame. It’s almost like the harp playing of pasta-making, delicately, dainty, and very pleasing to everyone who observes. Watching her move is memory in motion; every gesture learned long ago, every movement purposeful yet unhurried. And it didn’t just look good, our cameraman Michelangelo had the pleasure of tasting it; he finished the bowl quicker than we could say chitarra!
Next, the lovely Elisa (who introduced us to Maria) made the most amazing aperitivo and lunch, filled with bruchette, salami, cheese and her own olives! For mains, she made spaghetti alla chitarra with pallottine (mini meatballs). What began as a simple meal after filming became an unexpected feast — the kind that grows as neighbours appear with dishes of their own, wine bottles multiply, and as conversation swells into laughter that spills out into the garden.
It was a reminder that in Abruzzo, family is more than a bloodline, it’s whoever is sat around the table. Hospitality is never measured in portions or courses (although this one could have been) it’s more about the sense of generosity and togetherness. I’m still not entirely sure how or why the table grew so full, or how the hours went by quickly, but when the world gets so busy and it’s easy to get so distracted by whatever is happening out there in the big bad world, moments like these seem to make everything stand still and peaceful for a little while.
In the afternoon, we met Ninetta and Pasqualina, two friends whose laughter filled the kitchen before the smell of the sauce began to waft through the room. Together, they prepared pasta alla chitarra.
Day three: Next stop, Molise
Last recipe in Abruzzo was Anna Maria making Sagne with beans. But before that, we joined her family and friends and we harvested some olives. It was such a wonderful rich experience. We sat down lunch for lunch. Anna Maria out did herself.
She made lovely antipasti from all their own own produce! From roasted peppers in oil, to stracciatella (no, not what you might think of when you think of that word, it’s not cheese, or ice cream) It’s cardoncelli with parmesan, eggs and some minced meat but the ‘scrambled’ texture is what gives it that name.
Then it was time to head to Molise for the first time! We met the most amazing character: 80-year-old Adriana who made lasagne in brodo, using chicken broth, made following the traditional method. Actually, she’d lived 8 years in the UK. And although as a team, we have many great translators, it was a pleasant surprise to us when she spoke great English, offering her own translation too while filming.
The recipes from this week of filming will be coming to the YouTube in due course so look out for those. And, we plan to gather a few extra secret granny recipes where we can along the way, so look out for details of that in our recipe archives in the weeks to come. And in case you’re wondering how we find our nonnas and what the research is like to source them, check out this blog post which shares more details on our granny finder Livia’s never-two-days-the-same day job.
