Pasta Grannies A Project Documenting Heirloom Pasta Recipes In Italy

Now an interesting project is documenting and sharing old recipes of pasta dishes that are made across Italy. 

Launched by Vicky Bennison, who was working in&nbspinternational development in places like Siberia, South Africa, and Turkmenistan, before moving to writing books. She has written 'The Taste of a Place' food guides which tell you where to find good food and wine in Corfu, Mallorca and Andalucia. The books were recommended by The Observer, The Times, and Delia Smith Online, amongst others.

Bennison has a home in Le Marche in central Italy where - nearly 10 years ago - she noticed that it was only older women who made pasta by hand on a daily basis. "Those over 80-years-old are the last generation who had to do this to put food on the table &ndash for everyone younger it is a choice," she says. "I thought two things I&rsquod like to make a record of their skills and secondly, this is a good opportunity to celebrate older women who are too often invisible in the food media."

The work on the project has taken her all over Italy, from the mountains of Alto Adige to the Egadi Islands of Sicily. "Our youngest grandmother was 44 at the time we filmed her, and our oldest is 102 years old." 

The series has also been made into two cookbooks.

Bennison says she turned to making videos because of the physicality of making pasta. The Pasta Grannies YouTube channel went viral five years ago and the two cookbooks 'speak' to the channel, they complement it and give fans something tangible to read and enjoy. 

So far, 430 women (and a few men) have appeared on the channel. And their collective culinary heritage stories are amazing. For instance, there is 100-year-old Giuseppa&rsquos story which Bennison says could be appealing to younger, less-waste minded generations. "She was a tailor, specialising in Sardinian traditional costumes who loved her work so much that she wasn&rsquot interested in getting married. She eventually did in her 30s (most unusual for the time). She made her own wedding outfit and she has refashioned her coat twice. She still wears it as a jacket, over 60 years later. She has only recently given up vegetable gardening."