For my midterm noodle project, I chose to cook an Italian dish; specifically pappardelle with pesto sauce, zucchini, and goat cheese. I initially decided to work with pappardelle because I have never tried this type of pasta before to the best of my knowledge. I have always enjoyed a variety of Italian cuisines, especially an array of pastas, because of its availability in my area, and have taken a few trips to restaurants in New York City’s Little Italy. However, since we have discussed and read about the diversity in regional Italian cuisine, I thought this project would be a great opportunity to try a new noodle and dish. Furthermore, I know pesto originated in Italy as well and a quick search revealed that pappardelle and pesto are from different regions. So, this dish enabled me to explore, to some extent, regional tastes and differences in cuisine, as well as how ingredients from distinct regions in Italy may come together in one dish.

Pappardelle is a long, wide, and flat type of pasta. It is usually served with rich, heavy sauces (especially sauces containing meat), and for this reason it is most popular during the winter season, functioning as part of a warming dish. However, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil are in season during the summer, which is when they are typically grown in Italy. So, this dish seems most appropriate around springtime, at the very beginning of the summer vegetable season. This is likely why the author of the original recipe states that “this pappardelle with pesto, zucchini & goats cheese is made for the long, warm evenings of February” (The Brick Kitchen). Combining ingredients that are typical in opposing seasons (i.e. winter and summer) in this way makes this dish unique and adds to its appeal.

In addition to differences in the ingredients’ seasonality, pappardelle and pesto are distinct in their origin and history. Pappardelle’s origin has been traced back to 14th century Central-Northern Italy, particularly Tuscany. Pappardelle got its name from the Italian word “pappare,” which means to eat. Moreover, in Tuscan dialect, “pappare” is understood as “[consuming] a food with joy and almost childish pleasure, or to gobble it up” (The Pasta Project). While pappardelle is an egg pasta today, at its very beginnings it was prepared solely with chestnuts or chestnut flour and without eggs (The Pasta Project). This stemmed from the fact that local aristocrats, who controlled the supply of crops, stashed all the crops they enjoyed, which left few available for the lower classes to gather and prepare pappardelle (and other dishes) from, one of which was chestnuts (Lanzetta). On the other hand, pesto-like sauces have dated back to 13th (aggiadda) and 16th century Genoa, the capital city of the Northern Italian region of Liguria, which now shares a southern border with Tuscany. The first mention of basil pesto, which is how it is prepared today, came in 1863 from chef Giovanni Battista Ratto in “La cuciniera genovese” (Solo Dolce). Its name originates from the Italian verb “pestare”, and the Genoese word “Pestâ”, which both roughly mean to grind or crush (Oliviers & CO, Pariseau). Traditionally, pesto is prepared with a mortar and pestle, in which the basil leaves are ground (the word pestle is also derived from “pestare”). Many unique variations of pesto have emerged as it has gained popularity internationally, but it remains a symbol of Genoese culture.

I really appreciated all aspects of this project, from start to finish. In terms of the cooking process, I was a little rusty on my cooking skills, but I enjoyed cooking again from scratch, even if it took me longer to prepare this dish than the recipe stated. Cooking my own noodle dish evoked many of the same sentiments that we have read about so far in class, such as the importance of food in culture and family. Even though I chose to prepare this dish for the variety of flavors present (all of which I enjoy) and the opportunity to try a new type of pasta, I was surprised to learn how unique it is after conducting my research. Many of the ingredients differ in seasonality, with some being common in the winter (pappardelle) and others in the summer (vegetables). Additionally, after reading about the origin and history of ingredients such as pesto, I noticed how the author of the original recipe altered its preparation from the “authentic” approach. In Genoa, pesto is prepared by using a mortar and pestle to ground the basil, which is said to give the best flavor. However, it is common abroad to use a food processor or blender, as this recipe calls for. During my cooking process, I also altered the recipe a little to fit my own style and preferences; for example, the original recipe called for 100 grams of goat cheese, but I added the amount that seemed to fit the proportion of the other ingredients without measuring it out. This speaks generally to how cultures other than the one in which a food originated (i.e. Italy) have added their own personal touch to its preparation, and is why it is unlikely that this exact combination of ingredients would be found in a dish in Italy, especially given their seasonality. This dish seems to be a result of the globalization of food; enabling us to find the ingredients in the recipe year-round, even if they are not in season in our country or territory. Without globalization, a dish like this would not have been possible nor would it have been as tasty as it was.