wovnimailvarmEiggArkTIAIEMEAMTAINEM 6006 dJEIIAIE all115k12i1J1 show Tle secrets TonyDanz Interview Find DECEMBER Agata Discover pasta o Holiday THE 91 28 out and sauce BEST 2009 48723 of about the his Mamma IN 1111 U.S. recipe cooking favorite 1 $5.95 IT 2> his new zers From THE QUEEN Genoa OF LIGURIA your Holidays Desserts 12 great family for Easy ideas holiday the dinner for FAMILY

The Secrets MammA4Agata

When Jackie Kennedy, Anita Ekberg, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire visited the Amalfi Coast, it was Agata who kept them fed with her delicious creations. Now you can learn a few of her secrets.

BY SUSAN VAN ALLEN

n Italy I often find myself gushing "Life is beau- 13, working in the villa of a wealthy American woman who enter- tiful!" But in Ravello, high above the Amalfi tained star visitors."Baby Agata" was what Humphrey Bogart called Coast,the gushing gets elevated to "Life is more her, and he wasn't the only one among the glitterati who was wowed beautiful!" The sky is more blue. The sea more by her cooking. Agata has great stories about making pasta e fagioli sparkly. The horizon more hypnotic. The toma- for Anita Ekberg,spaghetti alla puttanesca for Fred Astaire, and in- toes more delicious. salata caprese for Jacqueline Kennedy. It's fitting that in such a divine spot there "Jackie was Mamma's favorite," Chiara, her daughter, tells me. lives a Goddess of Amalfi Coast Cooking: "Mamma always talks about how Jackie was a real lady, so kind she'd Mamma Agata. She's an irresistibly adorable even insist on washing her own coffee cup." woman—pleasingly plump, with twinkling, al- Mamma's class is mostly demonstration. Twelve of us students mond shaped-eyes. Her smile warms my heart. gather in her tiny kitchen, with Agata at the stove and Chiara nar- She's been cooking for most ofher 74 years, and rating. Practically everything Mamma Agata makes uses what's to watch her move around a stove is simply grown right here in her gardens. marvelous. We get tastes offresh tomato sauce, sniffs ofjust-picked basil, as I got a chance to do just that last fall, when I Chiara tells us Mamma's "secret techniques?' This is simple cook- took a one day cooking class at her home: an 18th-century villa, sur- ing—it's the details that make it divine."Listen to the sound ofthat rounded by terraced gardens, perched on a cliff with a to-die-for sizzle, that's when you know the garlic is ready, now is when you put view of the sea. in the tomatoes for the sauce says Chiara. She's printed out all the Mamma Agata began her cooking career in Ravello when she was recipes for us in a glossy hand-out and CD,so we don't even have to

28 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009 • TASTES OF ITALIA

l FAMILY

take notes. We can just sip wine and watch Add the melted butter, milk and cake yeast oregano. the master at work. mixture, along with eggs into the dough mix- Serve hot. Its delicious fun. We take breaks to walk ture and knead the dough for at least 5 min- Any remaining tomato sauce can also be around the gardens with all of us oohing utes, adding a little more flour, if the dough is used with a pasta dish. and aahing over the paradise we are in. too wet. Lift the dough and let it fall onto the Makes 6 servings. After three hours, we take our places at a worktop a couple of times to get a nice soft long, wooden table on the terrace. Lovely consistency. Mamma Agata's signorine magically appear with platters Break off a small amount of dough at a time Tomato Sauce and pans of everything we've watched and roll it into long sausage like shapes. Mamma have her hands in. The sun Now take the sausage-shaped dough and 1 quart vine-ripened cherry tomato streams through the pergola. More than one make them into circles by marrying both ends puree of us says, "This is the best lunch I've ever of the dough. Place the circles of dough onto a 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil had." floured tray. Set aside and let the dough rise 2 cloves fresh garlic So at Christmas time,I'm thinking ofthat for 1/12 hours.(Mamma Agata's Secret: Place Fresh basil, 4 to 6 leaves villa and what Mamma Agata will be mak- the dough in a nice, warm location to assist ing. Of course, it will be traditional south- the yeast with rising.) Mamma Agate's Secret: The cherry toma- ern Italian fare—which on Christmas Eve Mamma Agata's Frying Instructions: Fry the toes used to make the puree should be vine- means fish. Also, her daughter Chiara tells doughnuts in hot oil until they are golden ripened so they are sweet. If the tomatoes are me, Mamma Agata will be making zepolle, brown. While the dough is frying, combine not ripe and sweet, it is okay to add a spoonful a fried sweet we Italian Americans associ- extra sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Once the of sugar to sweeten the tomato sauce. ate with Saint Joseph's Day, March 19. doughnuts are fried, dip them into the bowl im- Put the olive oil in a saucepan and over high But since its so delicious, in Mamma mediately so that they will absorb the cinna- heat, with the garlic and basil. The high flame Agata's Christmas world zepolle belongs on Mon-sugar mixture. If you let them cool, they will release the oils in the garlic and basil to en- the desert table. It's what I call a Christmas will not absorb the sugar and cinnamon flavor. hance the flavors of the sauce. Blessing! For class information see Serve hot. Add the tomato puree and cook for 15 min- www.mammaagata.com. Makes 30 to 36 servings. utes, first over a high flame until the sauce be- Mamma Agata's Zepolle gins to boil, then cover the pan and lower the Stuffed Squid flame to simmer for several minutes. Use as a (Doughnuts) topping for Stuffed Squid, if desired. 2 large squid Makes 8 to 10 servings. 17/8 pounds potatoes 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon capers 1/2 cup whole milk 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 01 /2 tablespoons butter 10 whole black olives, 31 /2 tablespoons cake yeast pitted and chopped 21/4 pounds flour 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons baking powder 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated 1 cup tomato sauce 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Sea salt 3 teaspoons cinnamon A pinch of dried oregano to garnish 6 eggs Toothpicks 1 quart oil for frying Wash and clean the squid. Remove a few of Boil the potatoes with a pinch of salt. Let the tentacles from the squid and chop into small them cool to the touch and then mash them cubed pieces. Add the finely chopped parsley, with a potato masher.(Mamma Agata's Secret: garlic, capers and black olives. Boil the potatoes leaving the skin intact. Let Drizzle the bottom of a large pan or skillet with the potatoes cool before peeling them to pre- a small amount of olive oil and add all the ingre- serve the flavor of the potatoes.) dients from the chopping board into the pan. Combine the milk and butter in a pan and Cook for 5 minutes on medium to low heat. heat over low heat until the butter is melted, Add the bread crumbs and Parmigiano then dissolve the cake yeast into the milk and cheese. Stuff the rest of the squid with the in- butter mixture. gredients from the pan until it is stuffed full. Insert On your work station, spread the flour in a a toothpick or two through the squid to close the circle, leaving a hole in the center of the flour. top and hold the ingredients. Add the baking powder, sugar and lemon zest Now place the stuffed squid and the rest of to the flour, along with the vanilla and cinna- the tentacles into the pan with some additional mon and mix all the ingredients together using chopped parsley and garlic. your hands. Next add the mashed potatoes to Cover the stuffed squid with fresh tomato the mixture and work the potatoes into the sauce and simmer for 30 minutes. Add a pinch dough. of sea salt and sprinkle the top with dried

30 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009 • TASTES OF ITALIA