Ingredients
For recipe see Italy Revisited/Recipes/"Italian Pasta Dishes"
Directions
Notes
Everyone knows ravioli are meat-stuffed (and/or cheese-filled) pasta squares Italians invented sometime in the 14th century (or was it the 15th century?). However, not everyone knows that prior to World War II few people living in the Southern Italian countryside had the pleasure of eating them. Ravioli were not even served at weddings or baptisms! The only meat-filled or cheese-filled pasta that might have been served at such occasions was home-made cannelloni. The reason for this was simple -- most farmers didn't own meat grinders, so ravioli which is made with minced meat would have been very difficult to do. Also, most farmers didn't have loads of fresh ricotta on hand -- so how could they make cheese-filled ravioli? Obviously well-to-do invidivuals like doctors and lawyers could by their minced meat from butchers and their ricotta from a neighborhood shop, but subsistent farmers rarely bought anything at the butchers' or anywhere else for that matter. Subsistent farmers would only eat animals they themselves raised and slaughtered -- except for Easter. Then most farmers did allow themselves the luxury of buying lamb chops (Wouldn't slaughter a lamb for the occasion -- too big an expense!). In any case my mother swears that she never ate ravioli in Italy -- she didn't even know the pasta squares existed till she came to Montreal in 1957. But as soon as she did know of their existence she fell in love with the dish. Still, my mother never did make an effort to learn how to make ravioli at home (Too much trouble!). Nowadays a number of second-generation Italian-Canadians pride themselves in making their own ravioli (There are all sorts of contraptions to simplify the process), but generally speaking most Italian-Canadians buy the stuff at the supermarket or if they can afford it, buy the ravoili at a high-end pasta shop. Obviously, ravioli are not part of a festive meal anymore -- in the year of our Lord, 2008, they're served any old time. However, back in the 1960s ravioli were generally reserved for Christmas Day or New Year's Day (at least so it was at my house and everyone else's house that I know of). If one had lasagna on Christmas Day then one had ravioli on New Year's day (or vice versa). Ravioli dishes (made with red sauce or white sauce, or in any which way) are a favorite with children and so it's no surprise they have become an American staple. Nonetheless, buyer beware. Some pasta companies to cut corners and make profit will use a lot of breadcrumbs in their ravioli stuffing -- the ravioli taste good but have no nutritional value. And as for ravioli you can buy in a can, they're not worth the can they're processed in. Canned ravioli should be banned from the face of the earth. They're a health hazard -- a hazard to one's mental health. Anyone crazy enough to eat them should be put away and eat institutional food for the rest of their lives as payment for their bad taste. They're that bad! But that's just my opinion.... Photo: by this contributor, a very picky ravioli eater. |
