Changed the Way Americans Cook Italian Food

Marcella Hazan came to America from Italy in 1955. She was appalled by what was being served as “Italian food”. She was met by hamburgers and coffee that she states as “tasting no better than the water she used to wash out her own coffeepot at home”. Marcella Hazan was an extremely famous Italian cook in her time. She was famous for bringing genuine Italian food from her books to the tables of many American families. Today a lot of her recipes are still used and a name that is well known throughout due to her considerable affect on American/Italian culture and the legacy she has left behind.

Many people may have never heard of her but cook and shop differently on a daily basis because of her. The first of her six cook books started in in 1973 with “The Classic Italian Cook Book: The Art of Italian Cooking and the Italian Art of Eating.” This led to a long line of success for Hazan throughout her life originating from the one book. Marcella once wrote a letter to Mario Batali in his early days as a rising star in the cooking world. It concerned Batali’s use of a saute pan to cook risotto while Hazan believed that his way of cooking was completely wrong. She stated that the correct was to cook risotto would be to use a sauce pan.

Even being of Italian origin and basing her recipes on Italian cooking styles she has left a great impact of American culture and food. She did not know the English language when she first moved to America and watched television in order to learn the language. Not only that, at first, she didn’t even know how to cook. If a women without any knowledge of cooking or the English language was able to create a way of cooking, maybe you yourself can use her recipes and see what comes about!

Article: Changed The Way Americans Cook Italian Food