Italian Grannies are Sharing Traditional Recipes via YouTube

Italy is renowned, the world over, for many of its delights. Take the beautiful architecture, historical sights, glorious views and crisp wines, and this list is enough for holidaymakers to shout “Yes, please!”. But its most iconic element is the sure-fire way to tourist’s heart, and that is, of course, it’s delicious food. Nothing beats the taste of authentic Italian pasta recipes – and now you can have your very own Italian chef at the click of a button!

Italian makes fresh ravioli.

Pasta Grannies is the charming YouTube channel that sees Italian grandmothers, known in Italian as nonnes, preparing traditional, handmade pasta recipes in their kitchens for our enjoyment and appreciation. While this simply divine channel is not a new addition to the internet sphere, it has been gaining momentum of late, amassing a following of more than 290,000 engrossed subscribers. And we are not surprised why!

The wholesome channel sees grandmas like Cesaria, a 93-year-old woman, show us how to make some appealing regional pasta like lorighittas. This earring-shaped pasta is traditional in Morgongiori, a quaint village at the foot of Monte Arci in the superstar holiday spot of Sardinia. Sweet Cesaria spends a dedicated 30 minutes kneading the dough for her pasta into perfection, and the process is mesmerising.

The channel was the idea of food writer turned filmmaker, Vickie Bennison, who was working on a book about Italian food when inspiration hit. She wanted to have an accurate and engaging way to record and preserve the pasta techniques she had been hearing about, and so, Pasta Grannies was born.

On the website, Bennison said: “I noticed cooking skills were no longer being passed onto the younger generations. Italian women (and men) these days are far too busy to spend time in the kitchen. Of course, pasta-making isn’t going to die out, but it increasingly is a commercial activity­­­­ – for chefs, pasta shops and factories – rather than a domestic one. So, I thought I’d celebrate these women and their skills by filming them.”

Pasta Grannies has now seen more than 220 different nonnes from across the country, from southern gem Sicily to the luscious Liguria region, share their pasta dishes. The great thing about the channel is that you can pick up and start in any place on the video timeline, and regardless of whether you’re in one of the luxury villas in Italy or back at home, you can experience the true tastes of this bellissimo country.

Tune in every Thursday to the YouTube channel to see a new pasta recipe. And to try authentic Italian cooking, without the effort, book your getaway today.