She traveled from the narrow stoned streets of Bari’s Old Town to the highrises of Hudson Yards, New York City. After a ten hour journey from her home in Puglia, Italy, Nunzia Caputo ,61, an outspoken defender of pasta grannies, arrived at the Jarvis Center ready to show off Puglia’s orecchiette to the visitors of the New York Times’ Travel Show.
For the occasion, her first trip to New York, Nunzia wore an apron, a leopard print shirt, and was accompanied by two helpers: her son and niece. Her hair was perfectly tied back with a rhinestone clip. Seated at the Puglia tourism booth, she looked just as she appeared in the 2017 Dolce Gabbana cosmetics ad. In her own words “all natural,” just like her ingredients.
(ph via social media Dolce & Gabbana)
In December, Nunzia and her mother were interviewed by the New York Times about the Bari government’s crackdown on unregistered pasta-makers, like herself, who sometimes sell to restaurants. The article, a full-page feature, detailed the fallout of these regulations on elderly women who are trying to make a living while furthering the tradition of pasta-making.
Her trip was part of a regional effort to showcase the specialties of Puglia. The Mayor of Bari, Antonio Decaro, traveled to New York with Nunzia. Since the article, he has pursued reforms at a national-level, so that pasta making continues, but with adequate protections that will maintain quality standards. Nunzia says nothing has changed.
Nunzia Caputo with her mother (ph via Facebook)
As with most masters, to see Nunzia make orecchiette looks deceptively easy. During our conversation in Italian, she moved swiftly, never missing a beat and never holding back to emphasize a point by waving her flour-dusted hands. The day we spoke, she had drank two cups of American-style coffee for the first time and was working at an agreeable “sprint.” As she mixed semolina flour on the wooden tavola surface, Nunzia admitted, there’s just something about New York’s tap water.
Sharing her wisdom, she filled us in on what it’s like to devote an entire life (since the age of six!) to making pasta.
When did you arrive in New York City? How was the journey?
We left Bari and arrived after 10 hours. The flight was terrible, but the reward was to discover such a beautiful city. It’s marvelous– the scale, the volume, the cordiality. I like it so much!
Have you had time to explore NYC?
We saw the famous theaters and the Brooklyn bridge. We even went to see the site of the Twin Towers. We saw the wall with all the names. Humanly, it touches you. When a friend from Bari took us out to breakfast, I said, “Jeez! Why these giant cups of coffee?” And I kept drinking with gusto. It’s not like at home, where we just have two sips. They were so good.
What do you think of the New York City water?
You know it’s really, really good! My semolina just takes to it right away like a sponge.
(ph via Facebook)
Where do you normally make pasta in Bari?
I live in the Old City of Bari, where I do the orecchiette at home. It’s on the street–or just a couple steps from the street. It’s done in our yard and with our balcony. Everything happens there... it’s like an underground scene near the road, where every pasta-maker works for themselves. I sit there between the houses, making orecchiette of every kind and dimension.
Expertly attuned to the ingredients, Nunzia explains how adding a dash of salt to high-quality wheat can change everything and how hard wheat can be more taxing on the hands.
Now I’m doing Grano Arso (burnt durum wheat) and integrale, but the most popular is with Grano Duro (hard durum wheat), which is without egg. The dough just needs hot water. We don’t even use salt, because the raw semolina is such high quality that if you put a pinch of salt like we used to, it breaks. It’s the hardest to work with. It tires your hands more easily, so we avoid putting salt, and we just use water and semolina.
Then there’s the tavola (pasta-making table). Some people call it a spatula, and many do it on smaller tables made of real wood. Then we put the orecchiette on something to dry, and weather permitting, we leave them to dry outside. If not, we put a fan or heater on them and leave them. It takes half an hour, or about an hour max if there’s a lot of humidity. I always recommend eating them fresh, but if you have to prepare them later, you can always use dried.
Nunzia Caputo (ph via Facebook)
What’s your favorite way to prepare a sauce with your orecchiette?
You can dress it many ways– with red onions and small tomatoes, salt, pepper, and some little basil leaves. You can add tomato and a little grated ricotta salata. Or you can make it with sausage and mushrooms, pesto, ragù, braciola, and a bit of lamb... Whatever you want! A nice Bolognese!
And the best recipe?
Nunzia’s voice becomes a bit quiet. She uses the English word “top” and “DOC”, an Italian acronym that refers to an EU quality standard (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), to describe excellent products and recipes.
The top is with broccoli rabe and anchovy, tossed in olive oil. You cook the broccoli rabe, cook the orecchiette, and mix it all with a bit of peperoncino. It’s a the tomato and ricotta salata, it’s a DOC dish. And I’ll make you the big orecchiette. These you prepare with a sbollentata (boiled vegetables sauce).
Nunzia grabs a new piece of dough. With a slight flick of her thumb, she’s no longer making small ears, but large ones. Then she folds the ear, and it’s become a different pasta: cavatelli.
Then there are cavatelli. You can prepare it with beans, seafood, mussels, clams, and mackerel.
What do you think about when you make pasta? Do you think about food?
No. I’m always with my mom who is 88. I assist her to keep her company, because old people need that. We pass our time with the TV. I cook for my kids when they come home for lunch.
How many people do you cook for at lunch time? And what’s it like being a pasta-maker?
There are 10 of us who eat lunch together. We have more lunches than dinners as a family. We organize our schedules to be all together at the same time, because often people have different schedules, so at dinner they eat and run. Now that the kids are bigger they have other obligations.
The good fortune of this job is that you can manage it according to the demands of the day. If you have plans, you start working earlier. You go out and shop, go to the supermarket, return, restart... You manage it how you want. You don’t have the authority of someone commanding, saying, “Do this! Do that!” You decide for yourself and stabilize yourself.
My days are spent between work, family, home, and other things. When we have these kinds of events (referring to the New York Times Travel Show) or outings, I never say no. Three days ago we were in Riccione (in the North of Italy.)
Nunzia Caputo (ph via Facebook)
What should the world know about Italian pasta?
All of this, (she gestures to her work space), it’s all here. Nothing is hidden, if someone analyzes the contents of this orecchiette it’s grain and water. We don’t use any preservatives, coloring–nothing, nothing, nothing! I say it clearly: there’s nothing else. Nudo e crudo, like I said before.
What’s the hardest part of making orecchiette?
Giving it the form and making it round with your fingers.
What’s the best way to appreciate this pasta-making?
To eat and to see. As soon as someone sees this art they cannot not appreciate it.
How long would it take to learn?
Five… Six… Seven tries...or even more. It depends how you take on the skills. It’s a personal thing. If you study, you get it. If you don’t apply yourself, you don’t get it. You have to practice. If you practice, you will get it, but never in one sitting.
A man dressed in a chef’s uniform comes by and lays a glass platter at Nunzia’s table. He removes the aluminum foil to reveal a beautiful round focaccia.
Can you tell us what the chef made for you?
Focaccia pugliese! With oregano from Puglia, dried in the hot sun– the same one that warms your heart–always with love. Se non c’è amore non c’è sapore. If there’s no love, there’s no flavor! We need to share our flavors and our values.
She starts directing her son to cut the focaccia and give it to people standing near their stand.
Is there anything else you want to add, express, or share with the world?
Share with the world? If someone loves their city, their values, their things, they will share them. They become sacred, and you appreciate the quality. Because tutto torna, everything returns– everything returns, if done well.