Tonight is the pasta making contest. We’ve witnessed this event 2 or 3 times during past festas. Tables are set up in the piazza and the contestants come armed with their boards, mattarelli (rolling pins), knives, and anything else that they might need to produce the best tagliatelle that they can in the 25 minute timeframe. There are about a dozen participants, and oddly enough many of them are men, or teams of men. Among them is a woman we’ve seen win twice. She is a member of a traditional pasta-making society and my money is on her. When we ask someone why there are so many male contestants we’re told that they are not really serious, but have entered for entertainment. Also, the older women have given up participating in the event both due to their age and the fact that this woman is a ringer.
David and Laura are at this evening’s event, so we fill them in on the pasta-making process and rules. Each contestant received 2 eggs, a few small cups of water, and an amount of flour with which they have 25 minutes to knead, roll, and cut their pasta. The judges are looking for thinness, uniformity, and a tidy work station. Contestants put their hands in the air and the judges start the clock. The novice contestants, and teams, furiously start to empty their sacks of flour, crack their eggs, and try to bring their dough together. Our ringer takes her time. She’s probably done this hundreds of times before and knows exactly how much time should be spent on each step. She makes a deep well with her flour and is careful to crack each egg inside the well. Using a fork she slowly beats the yolks and works in the flour. The walls of her well don’t break, but this is not the case elsewhere as eggs spill over onto the boards of the less experienced pasta makers. Once the flour and eggs are mixed sufficiently, she can begin kneading the dough until the ball is elastic and smooth. Other teams have begun kneading their mess prematurely, so their board is wet with egg and their fingers caked with wet dough. Now it’s time for the mattarello. She rolls the dough front to back, then turns the dough 90 degrees and repeats. This will produce a square sheet. Other teams struggle as their dough is either too wet or too dry to roll. They roll in every direction and end up with a circular sheet.
She rolls the sheet, gathers it on her mattarello, rotates it 90 degrees and unrolls it onto her board, dusts with flour as needed, and repeats this process dozens of time. Finally, her sheet is thin and dry enough to cut. She folds the square inward from opposing sides and places it on a special board before cutting it with a long, straight knife specifically made for pasta. After cutting several strips of pasta, she untangles them with some flour to keep them from sticking and lays them out on her board. Most of the other teams do not have this type of knife, so their cuts are not straight. Many have rushed, so their dough is not thin, which will yield fewer pieces of pasta. Some are thick and sticky, like pizza dough, and impossible to cut cleanly without sticking. With all of her pasta laid out neatly on her board, there is nothing to clean up as every bit of flour and egg were used. Other tables are a mess with clumps of dough clinging to their mattarelli and boards. What little pasta they produce is too thick, or of varying widths and lengths, and often sticky.
Daniela and Roberta have returned from their trip to Canada where they visited Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto. They enjoyed their trip, but when asked if they tried iconic Canadian food, like poutine, they tell us that they had tagliatelle bolognese at an Italian restaurant and ate at McDonalds twice! When asked about crepes, they admit that they did have them, but with Nutella, of course.
Time has expired and the judges continue to make their rounds. They’ve been judging throughout the entire 25 minutes. After some discussion they’re ready to announce the winners. In 3rd place is Valentina’s team. Her mother had entered in previous years and not won. Her daughter has a long way to go to come close to her mother’s pasta. How she placed 3rd only goes to show you how poor the field of entrants was this year. There was one male entrant that we’d seen before. He is quite serious, though seemed a bit rushed, but produced a good quality pasta. Surely it’s come down to him and our ringer for the top spots. The judges award him 2nd place, and the professional wins her 3rd “Stennirello d’oro”, or golden rolling pin.
David comments that looking at all of this pasta has gotten him hungry to eat some. I tell him that all of the pasta will be gathered and cooked in the community kitchen, then served in the piazza. He and Laura are in disbelief. What about food safety? All those hands – mattarelli falling onto the pavement – a mixture of professional and amateur pasta – this can’t be healthy. By the time that the pasta is served it’s midnight, yet a line of hungry townspeople form to try a plate of pasta. Another successful contest is in the books.
She rolls the sheet, gathers it on her mattarello, rotates it 90 degrees and unrolls it onto her board, dusts with flour as needed, and repeats this process dozens of time. Finally, her sheet is thin and dry enough to cut. She folds the square inward from opposing sides and places it on a special board before cutting it with a long, straight knife specifically made for pasta. After cutting several strips of pasta, she untangles them with some flour to keep them from sticking and lays them out on her board. Most of the other teams do not have this type of knife, so their cuts are not straight. Many have rushed, so their dough is not thin, which will yield fewer pieces of pasta. Some are thick and sticky, like pizza dough, and impossible to cut cleanly without sticking. With all of her pasta laid out neatly on her board, there is nothing to clean up as every bit of flour and egg were used. Other tables are a mess with clumps of dough clinging to their mattarelli and boards. What little pasta they produce is too thick, or of varying widths and lengths, and often sticky.
Daniela and Roberta have returned from their trip to Canada where they visited Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto. They enjoyed their trip, but when asked if they tried iconic Canadian food, like poutine, they tell us that they had tagliatelle bolognese at an Italian restaurant and ate at McDonalds twice! When asked about crepes, they admit that they did have them, but with Nutella, of course.
Time has expired and the judges continue to make their rounds. They’ve been judging throughout the entire 25 minutes. After some discussion they’re ready to announce the winners. In 3rd place is Valentina’s team. Her mother had entered in previous years and not won. Her daughter has a long way to go to come close to her mother’s pasta. How she placed 3rd only goes to show you how poor the field of entrants was this year. There was one male entrant that we’d seen before. He is quite serious, though seemed a bit rushed, but produced a good quality pasta. Surely it’s come down to him and our ringer for the top spots. The judges award him 2nd place, and the professional wins her 3rd “Stennirello d’oro”, or golden rolling pin.
David comments that looking at all of this pasta has gotten him hungry to eat some. I tell him that all of the pasta will be gathered and cooked in the community kitchen, then served in the piazza. He and Laura are in disbelief. What about food safety? All those hands – mattarelli falling onto the pavement – a mixture of professional and amateur pasta – this can’t be healthy. By the time that the pasta is served it’s midnight, yet a line of hungry townspeople form to try a plate of pasta. Another successful contest is in the books.