Q&A about Italian cookery with The Silver Spoon Editor, Emilia Terragni- ANSWERS BACK

[RachelMumsnet]

To celebrate the publication of the revised and updated edition of The Silver Spoon, we're joined this week by The Silver Spoon editor Emilia Terragni for a Q&A about Italian Cookery.

Il cucchiaio d'argento has been a bestseller in Italy for over 60 years: over 2,000 recipes cover the entire Italian territory, and have been continuously updated since the book was published in the 1950s. It is the one cookery book every Italian passes on to their children, teaching them the skills of their parents and grandparents, and allowing them to understand the true nature of Italian cooking. Phaidon brought The Silver Spoon to the world, publishing it for the first time in English. It has become a true international success story, selling over 1million copies globally.

Emilia was born on Lake Como to a big Italian family. Emilia recalls that her mum was, and still is, an amazing cook, and as a family they all enjoyed sitting down together each evening for dinner. The Silver Spoon cookbook was at the heart of her family mealtimes, as it is for so many Italians. She takes great pride in translating and editing the cooking bible she grew up with.

Send your questions to Emilia before the end of 23rd November and we'll be linking to her answers from this page. Phaidon and Flavours holidays are offering Mumsnetters the chance to win a cookery holiday in Italy for two people and runners up prizes of five copies of The Silver Spoon. Click here for more details.

A question for Emilia - what is your favourite everyday recipe that us mums/dads/etc can easily cook for the family?

Aww my kids will be thrilled by this - we have the 'Silver Spoon for Children' - a brilliant book, my oldest three love picking things from it to cook!
Question I'd like to ask, are there any short cuts you can recommend? Lots of Italian cooking seems - rightly so - to take a long time, but are there 'cheats' I could use?
Thanks!

I have never heard of this, but am going to ask for this for my Christmas as I love Italian food.

My question:

My absolute favourite Italian dish is Melanzane alla Parmigiana. Many recipes say to slice and salt the aubergines before cookings, and I find that a bit of a faff. Is it really necessary, or can I, as some recipes suggest, skip that part?

I've always wanted a copy but DH has never bought me it..such wonderful recipes

Key question - how do Italians manage to get their children to eat vegetables?

at what age do they introduce what to them?

Of the recipes from the original Italian version of the book, which one, in your opinion, would least successfully translate to British culinary tastes?

Which setting to use on a pasta machine for ravioli? Mine are either too thick and a bit chewy, or too thin and they split... Please help!

I can answer MMeLindor Before, most varieties of aubergine were more bitter than newer varieties, hence the need for salting and draining. Dp (an Italian chef in a former existence) says that cookbooks usually still recommend it to cover their arses in case you happen upon a bitter one. I've never yet met an Italian who salts them.

As the mother of an Italian child, I'd also like the answer to spendthrift's question!

Waves at Bucarest - Also as the mother of an Italian child I would love the answer. I weaned the Italian way and my dds had vegetables in broth , squashed , mashed and they at the lot. Then as finger foods. It them became a complete refusal. However they go on past sauce and risotto here .
I can't be bothered to salt aubergines either ..Only do if not using them straight away !

opps they 'ate the lot

I love polenta when it is griddled and served with a creamy mushroom sauce (a la Strada). How can I do it properly so that it doesn't end up falling to pieces and tasting like cat litter?

Do you think MNHQ will notice if I sneak another question in?

I would like to know what the Italians think of the way in which many countries have adopted Italian food and then completely bastardised it. DH was astounded the first time we went to an Italian restaurant in UK and he was offered chips with his lasagne. He was all, "but I already have carbs, why would I want chips?".

And let's not even mention deep pan pizza.

(or pizza with baked beans and chicken on it)

I once read somewhere that Italians don't embrace the food of other countries the way we do here in the UK.
Is this true, and if so, why do you think that is?

Probably cause their food is better than ours, Netto .

I think our food is fantastic, when done well but I wouldn't want to cook British every evening.
This week alone we've had Thai, Italian, Spanish and um wherever falafels, (Lebanon, Israel?) come from and I'm doing pulled pork tonight.

What particular dish would you say is the Italian family's equivalent of a Sunday roast?

I don't think it's because the ingredients are better than ours (Italian fish, better, British meat, better, Italian tomatoes, better, British eggs, better etc etc) I think it's the culture of thought towards food and eating which is different. Due to the working hours/school hours/children not having a bedtime thing, there are more hours in the day somewhow to think about food and eat it once you've thought about it.

I had a student this week shuddering at the idea of haggis....then I reminded him that Italian sausages are generally prepared packed into reallive (well,dead) intestines. He still didn't get it.

So question - considering they spend so loooong eating and they eat quite a bit, have rich cuisine and there are nearly always lots of carbs served... HOW DO ITALIAN WOMEN STAY SO TRIM/SLIM compared to most of Europe?

what an interesting thread. Love the silver spoon - my 'nonna' had a copy that was given as a present (she hardly opened it! following recipes from a book was a bit alien to her, she had it all in her head).

I'd have to (nicely and amiably) disagree with Bucharest - I think ingredients play a major role in why Italian food is better than ours. Italians demand high quality produce. The only things I've found to date which I would definitely say are better in the UK are forest fruits and good fresh local fish/shellfish from good fishmongers - everything else, IMHO, doesn't even begin to compete.

Netto - I think that is a general misconception. I've been going to Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Thai, Moroccan and other restaurants in Italy for years. On my annul visits, I take a carry on filled with various things that are either hard to find or extortionately expensive - from spices to biscuits, for loads of my friends. I think a big difference with Italians cooking non italian recipes is that, from my experience, they tend to stick to the original rather than adapt it.

I love Italian food,but often tastes a bit bland, is there anyway of giving it an asian twist?Could you tell me which of the asian spices work well in italian food(if at all).
many thanks.

mammamic, have you ever seen them once they pass 50?

Bucharest - don't freak me out - I've only got 7 years to go...

You see, I eat the Italian way and slowly but surely put on the pounds and after having my DD, I've never been able to shift it again!

Which ingredient would you say was the most versatile and which the hardest to work with? (Hopes nobody notices I technically asked two...)

If Italian cooking is all about the ingredients, it's really expensive to do the simplest of dishes. What cheap tasty dishes would you recommend for family eating? I don't mind faffing around with preparation, quite enjoy that bit, but expensive food is out of the window as long as I'm a SAHM

I would like to ask about salt and Italian attitudes. I remember being quite surprised when Italians were horrified if I added salt to food at the table and ive since realised that they use more salt in the cooking process. I now always salt food in the process not at table but I can't explain why it's ok to do that and not ok afterwards ( maybe it's not!). I think this fear of salt has come about because of processed food. Anyway, is Italian food more salty?

Out of curiosity what do Italians eat for Christmas dinner?