I love this! I totally went through this slow process of discovering cooking as an enactment of memory, and decrypting bits of language and taste that are very regionally or family-specific.
'Fasul' comes from the dialect spoken in Guardia Lombardi - but why is 'Guardia Lombardi' called that? I imagine it was a Lombardian settler outpost that maybe infused that particular part of Campania with strange little Lombardian customs that maybe one day made it to America too
clarify please: ingredients has 1 can cannellini, but directions mention two. Also, no water in the ingredient list but author says add two cans worth of water while cooking. Thank you
Hi gideon, apologies, this was a result of the conversion from imperial to metric measurements and the size of the cans. Just one can of cannellini beans – have amended instructions. Re the water - the water is not prepared in advance of cooking, just refilled from the tap using the cans or jars while cooking.
The pasta fasul at Strolli's (RIP) in South Philly was more stewy than soupy - sounds like the author's mom's - and I think it had a bit of nutmeg or allspice or something a bit out of character for cucina povera.
From what I've seen, there is something of a north/south split for pasta e fagioli - that soupy consistency encountered in Tuscany would likely be from the tendency for part of the beans to be passed through a moulin, whereas southern recipes I've encountered don't call for this and the product is more akin to what Monica's recipe entails.
I love this! I totally went through this slow process of discovering cooking as an enactment of memory, and decrypting bits of language and taste that are very regionally or family-specific.
'Fasul' comes from the dialect spoken in Guardia Lombardi - but why is 'Guardia Lombardi' called that? I imagine it was a Lombardian settler outpost that maybe infused that particular part of Campania with strange little Lombardian customs that maybe one day made it to America too
Nice article, and the name must have come from some of the people who passed through the Naples area in the past.
"Fassoulia (also spelled fasolia or fasulye) means "beans" in Arabic, Greek, and Turkish.
clarify please: ingredients has 1 can cannellini, but directions mention two. Also, no water in the ingredient list but author says add two cans worth of water while cooking. Thank you
Hi gideon, apologies, this was a result of the conversion from imperial to metric measurements and the size of the cans. Just one can of cannellini beans – have amended instructions. Re the water - the water is not prepared in advance of cooking, just refilled from the tap using the cans or jars while cooking.
thanks. looking forward to giving it a whirl.
The pasta fasul at Strolli's (RIP) in South Philly was more stewy than soupy - sounds like the author's mom's - and I think it had a bit of nutmeg or allspice or something a bit out of character for cucina povera.
From what I've seen, there is something of a north/south split for pasta e fagioli - that soupy consistency encountered in Tuscany would likely be from the tendency for part of the beans to be passed through a moulin, whereas southern recipes I've encountered don't call for this and the product is more akin to what Monica's recipe entails.