Ivana's Pasta

December 1997

If you get the details right then the rest looks after itself, is a saying often heard in Italy. It is certainly one which Ivana, the pasta mistress of the Queenscliff Hotel, understands very well.

Ivana came to Australia from the Veneto region in the north of Italy almost 40 years ago. She has now been working at the Queenscliff Hotel for my sister, Patricia O'Donnell, for more than 14 years.

The details for Ivana include getting just the right mix of flours in her pasta, in kneading it in a special way and in cooking it in plenty of boiling salted water. Then it is important that you keep refreshing the water as you cook more batches.

For ten years Ivana made all the pasta used at the hotel. Over summer she would be making about 20 kilos a week and doing it all by hand. At one time Ivana tried to use the hotel's big mixer but because the pasta dough is so stiff, it broke the shaft. So she has always done it by hand, mixing the flour and the eggs and kneading it vigorously but carefully. Then it is rolled out in small batches and each sheet passed through a traditional Italian pasta machine. The machine does a good job but the work load it bears means replacing "at least 4-5 attachments just over summer".

Ivana has always been used to hard work. Before starting at the hotel she had been at Holeproof factories for 24 years working non-stop first as a mender then progressing to an inspector then after going to textile school, she was testing chemicals in the laboratory. "I was happy," she said, " in the end I was the only one in the laboratory, they trusted me." Ivana has always been good on details but she was soon to prove herself good at adaptation.

She came to the Queenscliff Hotel in response to an ad looking for a chef from Italy, preferably from the Veneto. She spoke to Patricia and said that she did not believe that her home cooking was enough experience for the hotel. Ivana remembers Patricia's reply, "it's only a matter of quantity." So Ivana learnt how to translate the one kilo of flour to ten eggs that she would use at home to doing up to 24 eggs with two and a half kilos of flour in one batch for the hotel.

Then she started making salmon pasta and saffron pasta and pasta coloured with beetroot and with carrot. She would also make gnocchi and other dishes for the hotel. After ten years she was beginning to tire and so retired -- but briefly.

"In 1995 Patricia opened the shop (on Hesse Street) and she asked me to make a few dishes. So now I work a couple of days a week and do the lasagna, a soup and sometimes Vitello Tonnato." These are listed on the shop's simple menu which is served either in the garden or on stools in the shop. The hotel's executive chef, Xavier Robinson, also likes to use Ivana's lasagna in the courtyard dining room.

But the bulk of the hotel's pasta making has been left in good hands at the hotel. Ivana spent several months passing on her knowledge and, particularly her kneading skills, to Verity Robinson who also makes chocolates, jams, biscuits and panforte for the hotel. "I showed her how to work with a large bowl and then to knead well. You have to be a bit strong to do this. But I explained to Verity how she would be happy when she was 60 because the hard kneading would mean that she would never have to do gymnastics and exercises to keep her bosoms firm."

Verity loved learning from Ivana, not only for the exercise but also for the invaluable details which she imparted about a lot of Italian dishes, some basic sauces and particularly her potato gnocchi.

The dish which Ivana is most proud of now at the hotel is the vegetable lasagna made with eggplant, zucchini, tomato and bechamel sauces with cheese. She explained some of the details to me. Without giving away all the secrets, note that eggplants need to be salted after slicing to get rid of bitterness then when cooking do not add salt. Tomato sauce goes well on top of the eggplant but not on the zucchinis because the "zucchinis are already sweet, as are the tomatoes." And, when making the tomato sauce, you can use some imported tins which are very good but be sure not to cook the sauce too long and let the tomato become a mash, "it's good to see some pieces," Ivana also recommends a mixture of tasty and parmesan cheeses in the lasagna layers. However for her, in other dishes, such as her zucchini soup (recipe below) the parmesan is the King, it is the "tocca sana" the healthy touch, which enhances what you are eating.

For Ivana cooking is not a matter of recipes, but of understanding the importance of the details, of looking and of tasting.

However she has given us one of her recipes to try. All the herbs she uses are picked freshly from Patricia's herb garden.

Zucchini Soup

1 kg zucchini-use the smallest possible and slice

1 tablespoon good olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

1/2 litre chicken stock, or to cover

1 small bunch basil and 1 small bunch parsley - chopped

3-4 leaves sage

Parmesan Crust and grated

1) fry garlic in oil but do not let it burn

2) cut zucchini and toss with garlic in oil, add pepper

2) add parmesan crust, stock to cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes

3) puree 3/4 of the zucchini and return to the pan when boiling add the chopped parsley and basil and sage and boil for a further 2--3 minutes. Leave 1/4 of the zucchini in pieces because "it is nice to see them"

4) add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a little grated parmesan

Ivana's Potato Gnocchi

300 gm flour

1 kg potatoes boiled, the less liquid in the potatoes the buetter

pinch of salt

a nob of butter

Mash potatoes and add flour, salt and butter

Add more flour if needed

Roll dough into sausages and cut into 2-3 inch pieces and flick with a fork

cook in boiling water until they float