Foodie thoughts

P R E S E RV I N G S K I L L S O F T H E PA S TA G R A N N I E S

When food writer Vicky Bennison started filming elderly Italian women in their kitchens five years ago, she could never have imagined they’d become an internet sensation. She was researching traditional pasta making for a guide she was working on and noticed that young women didn’t have time to make pasta anymore, and an age-old tradition was dying out. “I met a number of older women – nonnas – who were still making it the traditional way, and I thought I must make a record of this.

“YouTube seemed the right vehicle to catalogue these traditions and celebrate these women. So I’ve been on a mission, travelling around Italy, documenting the amazing people I found. Our grannies are full of character and humour, and very proud of the pasta they’re making.”

When she started, she had about 60 subscribers and then word spread. “It’s just the most fantastic way for these women to pass on their skills to their grandchildren and great grandchildren. The love they have for their families comes through their food.” For the past five years, she has crisscrossed Italy, inviting her audience into the homes of these nonnas as they lovingly prepare their favourite dishes. Whether it’s demonstrating a rare regional speciality or sharing their techniques for mastering the classics, the Pasta Grannies are inspiring home cooks.

Today, these remarkable women – some of them 100 years old, many of them over 90 – are a YouTube sensation with eight million people tuning in each week to watch them and learn how to make thousands of dishes.

It’s a joy to see them in their kitchens making and rolling dough, chatting and laughing as they work. In these uncertain times it’s very life-affirming – and soothing – to be with them, and somehow it brings us all closer together.

https://www.youtube.com/user/ pastagrannies