You Can Take Virtual Pasta-Making Classes With An Italian Grandma
Nonna Nerina is taking her classes virtual for the time being
If you’re looking beyond puzzles and board games for something to do with your family (and who isn’t), there’s a wee old grandma in Italy who wants to teach you how to make pasta from scratch.
Eighty-four-year-old Nonna (Italian for “grandmother”) Nerina usually hosts a highly-rated Airbnb Experience called, “Handmade pasta with grandma.” During the class, Nerina and her sisters show people “how to prepare the perfect pasta—no machines, just your hands, the freshest local ingredients, and love,” according to their website. But with the spread of coronavirus and a suspension of her in-person experience, she’s doing what all of us are doing — she’s going virtual.
During the two-hour live stream “Nonna Live,” Nerina and her granddaughter Chiara will show her fans how to cook their favorite family recipes. “Whenever I sat in my grandma’s kitchen growing up,” Chiara wrote on their site, “she’d make pasta while sharing memories of her own mom and grandma. I soon realized my generation was missing something important: The handmade pasta techniques and traditions passed down through the ages.”
A week before your virtual class, they’ll send you a shopping list of ingredients you’ll need, any utensils you should have, as well as their favorite wine pairing suggestions (could we love this woman any more?) “Not to worry,” she says, “We keep it simple, you probably already have all the things you need in your kitchen!”
Nerina is only filming classes on Saturdays and Sundays but you can also cook with Chiara during the week. Their schedule is posted online and every single one looks like heaven. There’s fettuccine with tomato sauce, cannelloni, vegetarian ravioli with butter sage sauce, vegetarian gnocchi with pesto, and lasagna. It doesn’t really matter what day you choose, you’re bound to love anything she makes. If Nerina isn’t available (she is 84 years old), one of her sisters will fill in for her.
Her life experience sounds even more glorious. According to their site, participants will ” be part of our crazy family for a day and join us as we walk the tiny medieval streets to Grandma’s kitchen, located in the old winepress where my great-grandpa used to make wine that the community tapped straight from the barrel. It’s a special place for my family and the entire village.” Put that at the top of your “Post-Quarantine To-Do List.”
Each live stream session is $50 and lasts for two hours (you can register on her website), so you can get the whole family involved. What an incredible way to stay connected, share good food, and spend at least a couple of hours forgetting about the chaos of the world we live in.
