I hope that you did learn that pasta is a primi piatti and go to secondi sometimes.
1
They changed the logo to read "Pasta", but it is a Barilla box (with the cooking time printed in front).
2
In spite of the chaos is Washington DC, and other political environs, my life here in the mountains of California are still peaceful and my life hasn't changed a bit outside of my growing interest in politics. I have become a part of the resistance and that's about as exciting as it gets. I love California.
5
I know they're "only" shrimp, but eating anything alive is a bit beneath you,
Mr. Bruni, or so I thought.
4
Thank you to the readers who replied to my recipe question!
Longing for the days when we could think in terms of policy and real issues in it political life, instead of drowning in scandal, chaos and disruption.
2
Wonderful article today, Frank: My first generation Italian mother cooked polenta for her nine children on weekends, and HEAVENLY pizza on every meatless Friday for many, many years. Stability comes from the same high quality cooking, made with love, every time...
2
You are so insightful, original, and amusing. I think you have found your best place - at Op Ed. I need to make your grigia. Please post the recipe.
I arrived in Italy on March 8th, 1978 and have lived here ever since. No, actually that's not true. I did go back to live in London a few years ago but after 10 months I missed my Italian way of life so much, I upped sticks and moved back here again.
I follow American politics closely. More of a hobby than anything else. My brother lives in Texas so in a way I keep an eye out for him. More and more I have become disillusioned with the U.S. political scene. The outrage I feel when I read or hear Mr Trump promoting hate and racism could not be more if I was an American citizen. But, more than anything else, I am consistently surprised and shocked at the blatancy, the unpleasantness and the worthlessness of this administration. No help for the downtrodden. No help for the Dreamers. Definitely no help for the poor. So very sad.
Then I look at Italy. After 40 years maybe I can, after all, call it My Italy. A country full of contradictions, a confused political system, disorganization and corruption offset by incredible natural beauty, art, fine food and the warmest people you can imagine and I think 'way to go, Jane!'
You'll read of political scandals, possible bankruptcy, unemployment and racism but, I am telling you, as long as there is pasta on the table, a bottle of wine in the cellar and the good Italian people, things will just potter along as usual and its all good. Very good.
6
Et tu, Bruni? Noodling in Rome while home burns? Why does your jet-set fatalism feel like privileged indulgence? Please keep your columns al dente.
5
Barilla pasta isn't the answer to anything...triumph of marketing and a lousy product with a homophobe CEO.
4
A column the Duce himself would have loved. That's it, stay home, focus inwardly and do or say nothing substantial or otherwise to change the new fascist regime.
3
This is the silliest, most moronic opinion article I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading.
4
Frank, was there time to visit the eternal sewers, a marvel of civil engineering? Speaking of pasta and sewers the trump team packs on the Ziti ‘a’la sopranos’ while the country is flushed down the drain.
Hopefully, America’s choir singer in Vatican City, Wife #3, Intern #2 Ambassador Gingrich is singing Atténde Dómine as their is sinning aplenty a’la Trump.
panem et circenses
Once things turn aggressively fascist, as they did in both Germany and Italy prior to WW2, familiar comforts were upended by mass bigotry and violence... Just ask the Jews who bore the brunt of both.
Furthermore, Russia may have helped win the war, but what good was that to the common Russian citizens, who were continually oppressed, slaughtered by their own countrymen, and still somehow bought into oppressing others under the Fascist Mafioso leaders of the USSR?
Trump is a Russian affiliated thug.
Before the election, his aggressions were expressed as stupid business deals, bankruptcy, and playing the system so he never paid the price for his actions, allowing him to continue to build wealth through affiliations with murky allegiances, many of whom are Russian, or Russian aligned.
Today he has 5 military branches, and nuclear weapons under his control; and no one to answer because the GOP is equally corrupt and compromised.
If Meuller fails to follow the course of the Law, the weakened state of America will result in its collapse, and the world will be ruled by Fascists, money w/o morals, and bigotry in every region, which is exactly the world that erupted into WW1, and 2. And if WW3 starts, the end will the grimmest state of slaughter the world will ever see. If anyone is left to look.
Pasta is the answer to nothing.
A commitment to Democracy, personal freedoms, cultural respect, religious unity, higher education, and environmental protections is EVERYTHING.
9
When it comes to Trump, the answer is Basta (enough,) not Pasta!
10
After centuries of pillage, conquest, disease, shady popes, ruthless aristocrats, a totalitarian regime and massacres by nazis, food and family sounds like a natural alternative, especially when the land is so cooperative and inspiring. It's called the arte dell'arrangiarsi, the art of making do.
But what Italians got in 1947 was an amazing CONSTITUTION whose principles are upheld by its president and the courts. Coalitions and governments come and go and would probably do the same in countries with a similar parliamentary system, in Italy designed never to install another Mussolini. Italians set great store by the guiding principles of their republic (they even learn about it in school!) and it is a protective element of society. Of course, rules bend like willow trees in Italy depending on where you are, but the idealist in me says that comfort is also to be found in a beautifully crafted document and the rule of law. Sigh, if it could only unclog the bureaucracy and slash the debt...
P.S High-speed to Naples is only an hour, ditch that boring pasta dish and go get some real food.
2
I say go for the pancetta, or since you're in Rome it will be guanciale.
Thanks anyway, but I'll buy American made pasta from American grown wheat!
1
Romans desire beauty, not variety.
2
And what comes about three hours after the pasta is the answer to the NY Times.
Bruni’s recipe is really a recipe for passivity, which will promote more Trumpian takeovers. Get politically active and get out and VOTE.
6
This is no time to be a foodie. This is a time to stand up against an merging dictatorship. The Italians may make great pasta, but they have let Medici's, Mussolini, and Berlosconi run the their country over a cliff. Whatever the kids in parkland are eating is what we ALL should be ordering...
6
"In pasta we trust" said a sign at Rome Fiumicino just last week! Oh my...there may be constancy in food and habits, but in politics Italy looks to be in a mess. Bring on the carbonara?! Hardly.
I guess if you have given up on the hope of real change, it doesn't matter how much awful meat you eat.
Enjoy your infarc!
1
This is an alarmingly clichè portrait of a country that is or has falling apart and undergoing a revolution. Mr Bruni in your 4 nights eating pasta, in now sadly very commercial downtown Rome, did you actually speak to any Italians? Sure doesn't sound like it.
1
If it weren't for the fact that I gave up pasta for lent--for reasons of self-discipline, not religious sacrifice--I would definitely have spaghetti alla carbonara for supper. Note: with the eggs, I have never felt guilty about eggs. Bruni did forget one thing about Italian talent for coping. Governments and politicians come and go but the bureaucracy carries on. It stumbles and creak at times, but it is there, functioning.
Frank, pasta and Trump?? Please don't ruin my dinner. I want to sit and eat my pasta, drink my wine and be happy rolling that spaghetti around my fork. I don't want an image of Trump looking at me.
Italy's history has a history of more dubious (if not downright scary) leaders than the US, Nero, Caligula, Mussolini, Berlusconi...and chronic government corruption and graft. Perhaps over the centuries they've adapted by developing their celebrated joy in food, friends, sport, etc. in response to a sense of helplessness over controlling their own destinies.
3
Three wonderful things about visiting Rome:
1. You don't get deluged with news about Trump (especially if you don't speak Italian and, even better, turn off the TV). You can go a whole day without even thinking about him (until your taxi driver asks you what you think).
2. Carciofi alla giudica. With a glass of Vernentino or any rosato. Take THAT, all you wine snobs who shudder at letting artichokes anywhere near your glass!
3. Cacio e pepe. Everywhere. (But on my next visit I'll try the gricia).
4. (okay, four, so I lied). Artisanal gelato. Especially in Trastevere.
No, it's not really "about the pasta." But comfort is comfort, and escape is escape...and all too rarely the twain shall meet. The Dysfunction Junction that is the Trump White House and GOP sycophants awaits on the other side of Immigration/bag claim/Customs/taxi line upon returning to O'Hare. Cherish the chance to forget about it--even if for just a few days.
2
Yes we will survive 3 more years of Trumpism if, as you say. we enjoy the many small pleasures we are in control of. Eat drink and exude merriment.....all simple pleasures.
2
"Over the past 25 years, Italy has changed prime ministers 13 times. It has swung this way and that" Well, I would not agree with the swinging, since WWII the country was always rules by a little oligarchy of parties led by the Cristian Democrats, with the unspoken rule that neither the Communist Party nor the Fascist Party would get the chance at governing (coalition or not). As it happened, that oligarchy swung very much to the right wing, so the former Fascist party had definitely more of a input in government than the Communist Party ever had, until Mani Pulite. So yes, we had decades of political change without real change and we pay the consequences of that Western Pact still...
Donald J Chaos & Co. are the party of wrong. The latest example is the dumping of Rex Tillerson. While Rex was no Jefferson, he had the sense to stake out more reality-based positions as Secretary of State. Trump's nominee, Pompeo, is way too much like Trump himself. Trump is headed to a meeting with Kim Jong Un in May. He has no diplomatic expert to prepare him for this meeting. We are not going to see a denuclearized North Korea as a bargaining position. The North is going to either flatly refuse to consider complete denuclearization or they will accept it and then cheat and lie after the agreement is signed. Trump is no man for detail. He is not an excellent deal maker. He will be hoodwinked and then claim that he got everything he wanted. Like his "win" at the Carrier plant during his campaign.
My position on North Korea is to not press for a complete dismantling of their nuclear program, (they won't do it anyway). Detente has worked for years with a myriad of countries, allies and enemies. There is no reason it will not work with North Korea. To push a nuclear-armed country to relinquish all their nuclear weapons is foolhardy. North Korea is not going to launch a nuclear attack against anyone.
2
Panacea rather than Barilla is funny but Barilla is Trump’s kind of pasta.
2
Pork cheek and pecorino, nothing better, but jeez, Frank, don´t forget the oil.
1
All food should be tasty, and home prepared. All politicians should be honest, and in thrall to the People who elected them to office. That these are rarely the case should say that you 1) should learn to cook really good Italian food from scratch using your Nonna's recipes, and 2) that as regards politicians, you either join the Revolution and Vote them out, or you turn a blind eye to their rapacious greed at your expense. Your choice on both fronts. I much prefer tasty fare myself.
The difference though is that Italy is not busy creating policies harmful to large swaths of their population. They might just muddle along while our government seems to be taking steps to hurt the average person. So should we just "nest" and ride out the storm with comfort food?
1
My wife and I were concerned that the election in Italy could have a negative effect on the country, but then we decided that it probably won't do any harm to the things we most love about that country. We will return to Rome as we have done numerous times and will enjoy our favorite pizza at the improbably named Lorel in the World restaurant just across the street from Bernini's home, order fried baby squid at Piccolo Mundo where we first ate in 1971 on our honeymoon, visit Campo di Fiori and marvel at the piles of fresh vegetables, absorb the beauty of its many churches (especially St. Ignatius) and stand amazed while overlooking the Forum from the Capitoline Museum. I wish I could find something in America now that takes me away from the daily assault of Trump, but I am finding it difficult. Perhaps I should just go off my diet and make a big dish of spaghetti carbonara.
5
I’m not aware that Trump has executed more than a few dozen drug dealers as yet. Maybe we need another Mueller probe into cahooting with Duterte. After all, we can’t let a “special counsel” ever … just go home.
But Frank’s increasing comfort with routine and the known, the comfortable and the predictable is definitely a sign of advancing age. Almost all of us feel it. Those who seek to retain a young outlook constantly prick ourselves and seek to benignly outrage our more prosaic sensibilities, to seek to go where no (person) has ever gone before.
But he lost me, at any age, with incisors crunching on living, wriggling shrimp. Did they still have eyes? Carapaces? Antennae? Slime? Brings whole new meaning to Democratic jumbo shrimp-fests, thrown for their fellow unchained, potted liberati. I’ve always suspected cultures that eat odd things. A former partner of mine went so far as to ascribe the tendency to an absence of real food, and when in his cups would loudly exhort much of the world to “Move to where the FOOD is, dummies!”
1
"Cappuccino at breakfast but never after dinner. Beer with pizza but not with pasta." I think what Bruni is saying is that while Italians have come to realize that there are no rules in politics, there are rules for living well. Like the city of Rome itself, these rules are inviolate. Food, family, and friends are constants. Those are the bases of Italian culture even though Italians are as diverse and fragmented politically, regionally and even ethnically as any country. Politicians come and go along with all of their unfulfilled promises and corruption but the rules for living remain.
Food is particularly important to all Italians. And almost every Italian is well versed in this area and there is never any compromise in the quality and preparation of anything edible. Italian restaurateurs and grocers are like medieval contractors who built the great cathedrals of Europe. They wouldn't cut corners on a project even if no one would ever know once the structure was complete. They knew that God would know and there was no hiding one's treachery. Accountability keeps people honest. Governments in Italy come and go but Italians aren't accountable to some fleeting regime. But those "rules"...they are dependably ubiquitous, unchanging and incorruptible. They keep Italians grounded.
10
Yeah, but even Signor Bruni did not tell what he drinks with such a 'cheesy-greasy' dish.Mineral water ,i presume. Colas would not go with that, or heaven forbid,Mountain Dew,but then again ,Americans swallow it with,and not just over,anything. Some traditions and tastes will never change. Cin cin !
Maybe part of the problem is that too many people in America were living in erratic unpredictability before Trump - - b/c of low-paying jobs, bad health insurance, etc., and this huckster was saying he had a way to end it. I think it's easier for us in relatively secure jobs to mourn the days when we didn't have to this kind of feeling of instability, but for some people whiplash is a reality, thanks at least in part to neoliberalism.
1
Pompeo is in because he eats three Porterhouse steaks per day with chopsticks, largely uncooked.
2
those raw chopsticks will get you every time.
1
You've heard of "The Freshman Fifteen?" I have put on "The Trump Ten." Stress eating. Really adds up quickly. Another reason to hope he's ousted soon.
9
Frank, I love your writing. I always learn something and see something in a new light. We all need consistency. Mine is a giant mug of Earl Grey in the morning even though when I get up I usually want a vodka when I read the news. I'm horrified by what Trump is doing, saying, tweeting. I want to fall asleep and not wake up until it's over but when it is, and surely it will be, the US will be a different place. It already is.
20
Very interesting observation Frank. Mr. Trump is notoriously prosaic in his eating habits. Same McDonald’s meal, well-done steak with ketchup, chocolate cake with 2 scoops of ice cream, etc.
Maybe his lack of adventure in his eating and other general habits allows him to counter-balance the sheer panic that most of us would have making such uninformed, off-the-cuff pronouncements and decisions.
Sounds like we should maybe bribe Melania to urge him to be more adventurous in his eating!
4
Like if Melania cooks ,or even sleeps in the same bedroom,, I`d bet that she could not boil water,,
1
Some people (no names) are very much like pasta.
The more they boil, the limper they get.
9
The Times asks me to "share my thoughts".
I am so depressed about what is in the future for my kids and grandkids.
I wish only Trump was the problem. The problem is people who allow him to destroy our country simply because they hate "the other side" so much.
There..... I've let out the thoughts that have been killing me softly for a long time now.
47
I read the Trump sagas voraciously - a real life soap opera in print. but still a tale of woe. I am a Canadian living in Canada and, by American standards, our government is extremely boring. Each party gets the same amount of money to run their campaigns and campaigning is limited in time to about 6 weeks. There's no time to sling caustic mud at each other and not enough money to run disturbingly false ads to grind the other party into the dust. We wouldn't do it anyway...we're just too polite. Last week I was thinking that every country should have boring government like we do. It's so much easier on the digestion. I can stop reading and watching American politics, but Americans can't because they're in the middle of it. I can't imagine how they are able to digest this stew they've made.
47
Canadian-style politicking sounds dreamy.
When Trump is impeached, I will celebrate with a plate of pasta alla gricia.
23
Great Ken- polenta and bacala here
5
Homemade pizza and Negronis here.
2
ken
What are the impeachable offenses?
1
I teared up at Frank's knowing the he can "count of what happens when pork cheek meets pecorino." I get it. And that small turn of phrase made me realize just how much stress we are under and how much I fear for our country.
20
Personally, I like the idea of slowing down and just savoring a meal in a different place, with different sounds, and different light.
14
Frank,
Try not to throw in the towel. Exhaustion from the idiot in the White House is exactly what he hopes you get. You can see that he does really bad things for our country just to get his garbage life off the front page. Now that he's gotten the finger puppet Nunez to end the House "Intelligence" Committee to give him the "All OK" sign, the next one to go will be Sessions. You just can't let the guy win. The German people eventually ate all the crap that Hitler fed them and look what happened there. No matter how exhausting, don't go to the meadow and have a picnic to watch the birds.
17
yes, and the world stood by until he started marching across European borders, and going for England. We should not allow that mistake twice. Trump undermines our democratic institutions with great flare, consistency and determination. Perhaps the congressional district in western PA is now the beginning of the end and impeachment might be possible by the time 2018 comes around.
4
It seems rare when the elected do not become incomprehensively incompetent. It is as if their brains are sucked out before being sworn in. The old adage "the voters are always right" questionable in this age of news distorted by social media and filtered by propagandist news organizations. As Winston Churchill said "Democracy ... is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Democracy cannot cure the loss of rationality that possesses the masses from time to time.
The fruits of mass incompetence seem to be extremely prevalent these days fed by nationalistic movements popping up that play on bigotry, ignorance, lies, and hatred. How many of the slogans have been expressions of "me first"? Game theory shows us the "me first" leads to solutions where the participants are all worse off, but that it what polities these days are often voting for. Can you blame the coal or steel worker who has lost their job, health care benefits and possibly their pension, for thinking this way? Can you blame the shop owner forced to close on Smalltown Main Street because a Walmart on the edge of town has sucked the lifeblood out of downtown, for thinking this way? Can you blame the former employees of department, toy, drug or clothing stores who have lost their jobs because shoppers are buying online, for thinking this way?
Come to Toronto, Frank, and I'll show you more political incompetence and take you for an amazing Bolognese!
4
The heavenly and eternal stability in Italy - rituals of families and their food, the age-old connection between humans - doesn't exist in the frantic world of Trump's presidency in America today. Changelessness is devoutly to be desired today (the luckiest day of Rex Tillerson's life since he was fired by Tweet and is outa the White House). Pasta alla gricia is your sweet and unchangeless go-to food when in Rome, Frank Bruni. We Americans are all craving comfort food - whether cacio e pepe, a Reuben sammidge, collards and pot likker, ribs and lo mein, or key lime pie - during these extraordinarily frightening and stomach-upsetting days of President Trump's brief (we hope and pray - brief) and incomprehensible stint in his 4 White houses in the Northeast U.S. Pasta is the answer and the question is when will be rid of our first (and last) "unpresidented" orange-skinned president? Newness and trashing the status quo be damned!
3
Now I understand my recent obsession with macaroni and cheese. Comfort.
2
"Life isn't one thing after another; it's the same damn thing over and over."
(can't remember who to attribute to, sorry!)
6
Phil the weatherman (aka Bill Murray).
2
It's from the play The History Boys. I believe the exact line was "history is just one fecking thing after another."
1
For me it is chocolate and red wine. But soon I will return, surrounded by former (although they are oblivious to the change in our relationship) friends who planted a Trump sign in their yard and STILL despite everything have no regrets and remain glued to FOX. My pussy hat that my liberal friend bought me, is coming with me, even if I only wear it while barricaded in my own house.
5
Here is a simple plan. Frank's column iniated this idea/ You remember of coiurse what BC and AC meant - Before Christ and After Christ. It simply became a calendar event. Suppose we now coin BT and AT - Before
Trump and After Trump and when he is gone, he will be nothing more than a calendar event. And years from now people will ask what the BT AT stand for you can tell them and very likely they will answer with a shrug. Because in the end that is all he deserves is a "shrug."
AC
9
Forget the calendar event.
Who needs another Day of Atonement?
6
Pasta a la anyway is so elitist in flyover Chef Boyardee country. And Italy? A big theme park of itself. And it's full of, you know, Europeans and socialists and like that. So unAmericanlike.
But Frank, enjoy. Eat up. By the time you finish your next column there will be an entirely new Trump administration.
6
This is the problem with New York Times columnists – they are out-of-touch with most Americans, and therefore write silly pieces like these...
All Trump, all the time, Bruni. You are merely preaching in your echo chamber.
6
Forgive my transgression, I read the New Yorker. But do try it sometime. See if the analysis is better than the subject. Then you will see that I am bald from tearing my hair out while his enablers want us to give him a chance.
In the REAL America, where most of us live, Trump supporters are a despised minority.
2
Unfortunate graphic accompanies the article. I'm positive the pasta Bruni consumed was not Ronzoni.
3
It's a Barilla box. Biggest seller in Italy.
Or Barilla (as the graphic intimates)
Please don't write any future articles about climate change if you're going to boast about eating pork 4 days in a row. The NYT has a schizophrenic attitude to the topic. Furthermore, don't write any articles about sentient (humans and our fellow creatures too) beings rights violations and torture, which is pretty much what happens to the animals you love to consume.
Arrivederci.
10
ok. doc. thanks for sharing.
2
For Pete”s sake, give me a break already.
1
So unAmerican, Franco. Way back when Julius Caesar was angling for Imperator for life, it was Bread and Circuses
Our bread now is Pizza. Our circuses are pro sports and the entertainment industry. Our politics is, in the words of Alec Baldwin, movies for less attractive people.
But wait...no matter what, we're not being bombed in the literal sense. DC is not burning, just burping.
Bottoms up!
1
I'm a wimp when it comes to food. Can I have a bowl of Spaghettios with little hot dogs instead?
1
Boxed dried pasta to illustrate an article extolling the wonders of traditional Roman cuisine???????????????
You may be TOO far from the big city.
The box is labeled "Panacea."
4
And Americans elected an animal with his snout in the trough to take the pork out of politics?
5
Hands down, nobody could have written this piece better than political skewerer and food enthusiast, Mr. Bruni.
Buon appetito!
5
Imagine having a private chef at your disposal 24/7 in your home, but sending out for an endless supply of fast food washed down with Diet Coke, as your main sustenance. I suppose to each his comfort food, but if it is true, that “you are what you eat” it’s perhaps another reason we’re in trouble with Trump.
Like “music,” I’m sure pasta alla gricia “has charms to soothe the savage breast”. - cheeseburgers not so much.
3
But he washed it all down with DIET coke. He's trying to diet.
3
or maybe just a little chocolate?
1
Hope you got at least one at Flavio.
Frank Bruni is right, but... we Italians have had more than two millennia to figure out how you stay sane when the powerful misbehave, while Americans are experiencing a huge loss of innocence for the first time (I really don't think anything quite compares in presidential history). Passerà.
5
Rituals, families, food, governable, protectable across time, engines of stability, agents of solace, cling fiercely, greater pride, inviolable, rules and rhythm, respect, gratitude, wisdom not to abandon it on the unsupported chance that there’s better around the bend, familiar and dearest, classics, calmer past. Are you becoming a fascist?
wow, what a cute op ed. cute... nothing more.
but we need better....this pasta schtick could be a paragraph, not a whole column.
We're in bad times, getting worse by the moment.
NYT ....don't waste your valuable op ed space. Put this column in the Style Section. In fact, start a new 'political style section' for Bruni, Dowd, etc. Could include diet for a Trump age...and what do the celebrities do to cope in the Trump age? All kinds of possiblities to entertain.
And leave the op ed page for those able to grapple with our serious times.
1
Dude, your writing is just wonderful. . so easy to read, so informed. . and, so, constant. . .
3
This is the last article by Bruni I will read. His articles have been getting increasingly inane, but I draw the line at enjoying eating a sentient creature alive. Clearly, being gay (as I am and as Bruni is) is no guarantee of sensitivity to the pain of others.
1
Ciao.
1
I like Rome. I like Italy. I like pasta. Still, I confess to feeling indigestion upon reading this column by Frank Bruni. Donald Trump's election is the weirdest and potentially the worst thing ever to happen to our country. And Mr. Bruni serves up a platter of comfort food? Apologies for my negativity, but I expect much, much more from the Times's columnists.
5
Bravo e Gracie Franco. Back to basics will get us through these trying times.
3
A meme I would like to see go viral:
Trump wants to destroy all of Obama's achievements, but the one achievement he will not overturn? Obama was elected TWICE as president!
11
Read, Roger Cohen's "The Great and Immortal French 'Bof'" https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opinion/emmanuel-macron-donald-trump....
Grazie Frank. Here is the recipe for Gricia. I couldn't agree more that we need to slow down to eat better food -- and more importantly, we need to gather around the table to discuss how to fix the world. The food has got to be good, but the conversation needs to be transformative!! Buon Appetito!
http://garrubbo.com/sunday-pasta-rigatoni-alla-gricia-pancetta-and-onion/
3
I am a New Yorker of a Roman Mother Pastina in Brodo, Carbonara
cacio e pepe fried artichokes etc I was raised on that cuisine in the 1950
and 60's Best eaten at a home like my Nana Carmella who if she made
a plate of shoe strings in a sauce of some sort you would eat it with pleasure.
""abbiamo mangiato bene "" we have eaten well because it is the only revenge against the Bring Down
7
Everyone around the world will look for grounding as Trumpzilla swings his ponderous Orange tail wiping out everything he comes in contact with. I predict a return to basic thing, simple pleasures - a re-grounding after this ridiculous ordeal. Maybe that will be this monster's legacy.
4
So the Italian election is just another typically Italian jump in a crazy direction, which is negated because there's no ruling coalition just yet? So what's the story for Germany, that they've stodgily and steadfastly lurched in the same political direction, but with the grim determination that we'd expect from BMW engineers? And how about a version of this for Hungarians and Poles? Why did they go in this direction? Were the former reliving their Attila-the-Hun heritage, and the latter working at being a punchline for a bad joke? And did the Brits do Brexit with a stiff upper lip, while we voted Trump with a yee-haw?
This column is absurd. It traffics in dumb cultural stereotypes while ignoring the elephant in the room; that despite our different cultures all of us actually do have something common, and it's frustration with the globalist left and an understanding that the left threatens the West.
In closing, of course Frank Bruni can't tell us what any of this means, or where we're all headed. To even attempt an honest reckoning would result in a cognitive dissonance so severe that he'd wind up questioning his very purpose as a flack for the ill considered, shallow, globalist left. Better for him to focus on his pasta, to plant himself, and retreat to silly stereotypes.
1
Do you really believe that the so-called "globalist left" is what is what threatens the West. Or is it the direction of those countries that you listied in your first paragraph? Have you noticed what is going on in Europe and that Bannon is meeting with all of the right wing extremists movements in order to promote his populist nativist goals? So I wonder who you should fear more. Consider the options.
When I saw the titular confluence of Trump and pasta, I thought the writer would indulge in that classic test of spaghetti: throw a strand against the wall and see if it sticks.
I so want to be done with Donald Trump, and can't help wanting to throw him against a wall.
8
Again and again, until he sticks.
1
I always loved and admired all things Italian...but now some Italians are apparently turning their affection away from the US towards Russia. Sigh. Thank you Frank Bruni for this bit of soothing. I had forgotten (or blocked out) that this hideous chapter in American life began with that elevator ride. I'm now realizing how weird that was -- a ride on what is essentially a mall and airport device.
"Why not toss the pieces up just to see where they land?" Nice move, electorate! With that, our elections took on the same level of care as the silly college trick of throwing pasta at the wall to see if it is done.
3
A morsel of truth in Bruni's analogy. When politics feast on chaos, some rituals may bring comfort. Something like bread and circuses?
Let me paraphrase how this goes:
“There was a time when America had the best pasta, the greatest pasta. Believe me, it was great, best ever. Then Hillary and Obama came in, with their coastal elitism, and ruined it; not a lick of common sense between those two! ‘Oh, it isn’t sophisticated enough, we need more flavor! It is pedestrian, boring – we need more daring ingredients, change it up, we need more diversity in our ingredients!’ They ruined it, terrible! Too many cooks spoil the pasta, am I right?
All right, all right, it’s okay. We have control of the kitchen now, don’t worry. I will fix it, only I can restore our pasta to its former glory. Envy of all. One great cook will make our pasta great again. In fact, I have made it great already, despite obstruction from the sore looooser Democrats. I won, biggest win ever. Hillary ruined the pasta, I made it great again. Get over it liberals; great pasta for everyone, except you. Sad.”
What happened? Nothing. Trump doesn’t need to do anything, all he needs is to claim something is horrible, and he has ‘fixed’ it, as only he can, as such a genius. It’s the emperor's new clothes, without any need for Trump nakedness (thank God!). The con is always the same: create an illusory crisis or problem via words/tweets alone, do nothing, then claim to have solved the problem. Nothing has changed, nothing ever did change. Trump’s MO: claim everything is horrible, worst ever, then do nothing, claim victory. People keep buying it. Sad.
2
Kudos, Frank - much prefer wry reflection to cheap shots...
Bloviatini, ungalitari, and billionelli came reflexively to mind - and I'm OK w/ the guy, most of some of the time
Yours, more nuanced and erudite - bravissimo...
PS
If an encore in 2020 - several cheap shots of wry for everyone in the building...
2
This is why there is Taco Tuesday, clam chowder on Friday and pizza on Saturday night. This is why my cleaning lady cleans my house in precisely the same order. This is why people go to church on Sunday, every Sunday, rain or shine or snow. The sameness and ritual are comforting. Yeah, it may be a rut, but you know what a "rut" is? It's also a foxhole, a place to hunker down when every time you stick your head up, you get shot at. People may diet, quit smoking, and take risks in quieter times, but when the bombs keep coming and coming and coming, a foxhole is the only rational place to be.
10
“What is patriotism but love of the good things we ate in our childhood?”
Lin Yutang
3
Oh, how I'd love to find myself in Italy, enjoying a world-class pasta-induced food coma. Instead, each morning's news finds me reaching for the handrail and something for my nausea.
6
so go to Palermo and Naples and enjoy the morning's news there. you'll be back in no time.
What exactly is wrong with eggs?
It was a yoke, son.
5
You do know that Trump just eats the toppings on pizza, right? Hopefully he doesn t do the same on his pasta. He might as well just order a bowl of sauce with meatballs.
For me it’s warm tapioca pudding
I'm a second generation Italian American. I understand completely. My mother, now long gone, always made my children, when they were under the weather, pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese. They are all adults now but tell me that on a bad day, they go home and make that pasta.
7
what,no butter ?
1
Pasta, wine - whatever gets us all through the day....
2
I think you're brilliant but it's no badge of honor to cause suffering to so many helpless animals. Compassion begins on the plate.
5
Whatever comforts - whether food or love in a long marriage or a good book - we can muster during these terrible times, it makes a difference.
If I were in Spain, it would be fried squid and some dry sherry. Or Merluza, a good Spanish salad and true real fried potatoes, maybe with a fried egg (as they often privide) with some good bread. That is a feast! And a great comfort.
Nothing like food to calm the soul!
1
Comfort food,,it does remind me of my nonno ,Giacomo,of course,whose best predilection was,as it has been mine x many yrs; Semolina bread,a hunk of strong cheese,any kind,a few Kalamata . Castelvetrano o Gaeta olives,EVO,S,BP,oregano basil and some ripened fresh tomatoes. It was poetic watching him slice the pagnotta, round loaf of bread with his long time friendly knife,, and yes with a nearby bottle of his homemade vino,Nothing has changed,,it`s just that i never learned how to make Vino di Casa but i make my own semolina bread,in his memory.RIP, Caviar ,prosciutto might seem impressive ,but to whom ? To 'foodies' and pretenders,,
Baking challah on Fridays since the last inauguration has become my coping mechanism. My family does not object.
6
Bravo, Frank Bruni, for a perfect essay. I wholeheartedly share your predilection for the comfort of pasta in the Troublous Times of Trump, which I indulge in myself in my small NYC kitchen. Italy has been sacked and resacked over and over again, but no entity or person has been able to take away from the Italians their food rituals.
For they have always known what we Americans ought to have learned by now - fix a simple, humble, delicious dinner at the end of the day. Enjoy it alone or with friends. Celebrate or take refuge, whatever the day calls for. But make a habit of it.
But, Frank, I have only one question: Which wine washed down your plate of pasta alla gricia (and I wouldn't mind your own personal recipe)? Salute!
2
This article should tell all of its readers that the author and his views should be given virtually no consideration or weight of authority. A man who has not even taken the time to know and understand what he loves to eat and why he eats it should not be handing out advice or opinions about more substantive issues.
If you can't get the little things right no one should trust you with the major items in life. The author and Democrats have failed to spend the necessary time actually thinking through all aspects of their lives and why they believe the things they do. They fail to understand that simply because something may seem unfair does not mean that it is the better of two choices (i.e. capitalism vs. socialism). There will always be some underclass with capitalism which Dems claim to hate. The problem is that every other alternative creates worse conditions for more people.
Try thinking, studying actual human history and learn the tough lessons. Once you do that, you will find much to applaud about the current president and even more to criticize about the former president.
Dude, chill. It's an article about pasta.
9
After living for three months outside of Rome, I certainly appreciate Frank's point. Unfortunately, while Italians can turn for renewal to family, ritual, good food and other pleasures and beauties of ordinary life lived at a human pace, too many Americans face social isolation, a frantic and unforgiving rat race, and food deserts devoid of taste, nutrition and comfort. We have fewer social and cultural resources to fall back on than Italians do, which helps explain both the rise of Trump and why we may be more vulnerable to the damage he is doing.
142
Willow
I do not understand your last sentence.
I have news for you: you can live "in social isolation" (what used to be called "keeping to yourself") and still enjoy "good food and other pleasures and beauties of ordinary life at a human pace".
Mr. Bruno's captivating musings about life's simple but enduring pleasures prompts me to wonder when it was that politics-- and particularly the American presidency -- became spectacle? Many of our friends spend much of their days glued to cable news and speak of little else than the latest episode of "The Trump Show." Yet at the same time various polls inform us that an alarming percentage of our populace have no idea who the president is and don't especially care -- and seem quite content to tend to their own concerns and let the rest of the world do whatever it does. Like Mr. Bruni, I suspect we'd all benefit from a bit more gricia and a lot less Trump.
We are all familiar with the impulse to turn to unhealthy comfort food as a means of escape, but to slightly change the Italian metaphor it is not really a good idea to merely fiddle while Rome (or the nation or the whole world) is burning.
We appreciate classic dishes for good reasons. However, trying new things is good as well. I couldn't find anything that suited my tastes the other night so I made up a recipe. I can only describe the dish as German-Italian fusion. The meal is essentially crumbled white sausage, roast tomato, horseradish and parsnip stew served over light pasta with fresh Parmesan. You could substitute good bread. I can send you the recipe if you'd like but the effort is definitely going in my cookbook.
My point being: Constancy is good when done well but so is change. You can just as easily find a bad gricia as invent a good new dish. The problem with Trump is not that the lack of familiarity. The problem is his menu was always terrible in the first place. You never know quite what you'll get but chances are you won't enjoy the meal. The owner will always tell you the meal was great though. After a few days of this diet, anyone should be exhausted and craving nothing more than a hard boiled egg.
That's where we're at in our national politics. Someone bring me toast and an antacid. Trump is bad for the public health and overpriced too.
1
I regret not having been born Italian and I'd happily drown in a bowl of bucatini ai funghi myself, but couldn't help thinking, as I read, that finding solace in familiar foods, family, and rituals may work nicely for those of us not on the receiving end of ICE deportations and family separations (children of would-be asylees are being torn from their parents), or of overzealous police beating us for jaywalking or a broken taillight. But I can certainly sympathize with the desire for a cappuccino after dinner and once had the nerve to request one at a restaurant in Todi. "Momento," said the waiter and vanished. A moment later a heavy-set woman in a housedress appeared and set to work steaming the milk. She appeared cross and sleepy, like she'd been aroused from a midday nap. To this day we can't figure out whether it "wasn't his job" to steam the milk or whether she and only she possessed the requisite skill to perform this task.
1
Boring is beautiful, same every day, day in, and day out. Like how the sun sets, rises, etc. Chaos is not good for the soul, the mind, or the body, nor is it good for this country, or the world.
8
At the height (or nadir maybe more accurately) of combined financial-psychogical stress (how naturally they partner), one meal provided thorough enjoyment not only within my budget, but for a moment even reconciling me to it: rigatoni sautéed in olive oil and garlic red/black pepper, then - mixed with broccoli, carrots, chickpeas or other legume, salty sardines or canned salmon when on sale, baked in a loaf pan (what would fit in my toaster oven, all I had) with (inherently salty) tomato sauce, some more drizzled olive oil, and a topping layer of mozzorrela that would brown, the latter mixed with garlic, dried herbs, some sugar (to aid browning) and olive oil.
The whole meal probably cost $1.50-$2.00, but it was sumptuous and plentiful, with exploding flavors that would've been too unsubtle for Mr. Bruni perhaps but delighting my untrained palate. The combined fat and salt, offset by the vegetables, on a foundation of extra-virgin-oil-carmelized, garlicky rigatoni, and all the flavors and textures merging in every bite, yummmmmm! Afterward, you felt you'd consumed ambrosia, elixir, and thoroughly sated and restored, and that life was not so bad (even if in so many ways it actually was).
1
This is hilarious but i have been eating a simple, beautifully prepared pasta 3 nights a week for the last 6 months...I saute olives, italian tomatoes, and garlic with a bit of olive oil and put it over fresh capellini. My partner calls it the 'trump dinner" not named because the president would eat it (he's a McDonalds kind of eater) but because its a way to revel in stability.
4
Cacio e pepe, one of my go-to dishes. Aglio e olio, the same — yummy, hearty, quick, and comforting. Mangia!
Frank, I love this. My Aunt Ginny could eat pasta, cold if necessary, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the same day. So can I. And now, you've told me why.
xoxo
2
“Zen wound a portion of truffle-scented noodles around his fork and began to eat. At least the food made sense.”
3
I'm British by birth (American citizen) and I've traditionally questioned the need for a royal at the head of a nation. Instant nobility at the moment of birth goes against everything I stand for. However, since the election of Trump, I admit to softening my views on royalty. Elizabeth II has been a constant in good times and bad. Reliable, like your pasta dish and strict food/drink rituals. When in Rome...
7
I’ve heard Trump blamed for just about everything. But emotional eating? Now that’s a first.
I’m going to my internist on Friday and if he brings up my recent weight gain, I’m going to blame Trump. He’s a liberal so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
1
I stopped eating cheese burgers because of Trump. And I also started drinking alcohol because of him, for two reasons: he doesn't apparently drink, so that means I must and strangely, the alcohol seems to help me handle his tweets. If this keeps up, my cholesterol will be fantastic but I will have to join AA.
178
A "rye" sense of humor might just help you get thru it.
4
Trump drove me to drink and I never got the chance to thank him!
1
You are not alone my friend.
1
I've taken to consuming quality butter, on any crispy delivery system. Pretzels and matzoh crackers, my leading favs. Last night, tonight...hard to recall the night I didn't...
Comfort in its smallest of forms.
3
Thank you, Frank. I thoroughly enjoyed this column, not least since Italy is my "beat." An analogy can be made to opera, which was one of the cultural strongholds that Italians turned to in the late nineteenth century, as they emerged, a new republic, from the Risorgimento. It's no mystery why musical and poetic conventions held sway in a time of turmoil. Many of our American traditions--often expressed as ideas and ideals--are far more fragile, and as we see, too easily upended. In this respect, I envy Italians for both the pasta and the opera.
4
Several meals of comforting bucatini all'Amatriciana might get me through as well...and though out-of-season still, plates of fiori di zucca fritti (fried zucchini blossoms, stuffed with cheese) would definitely soothe my soul.
5
"When I lived in Rome, I often groused about how many restaurants had almost identical menus..."
Try living in the middle of the United States. You can get a chicken fried steak and a hamburger here, or you can drive to that other restaurant and get a chicken fried steak and a hamburger, or you can drive to the closest big city and have a choice of chicken fried steak and a hamburger.
The chicken fried steaks, at least, were good at one time. Now they come in frozen and pre-breaded, get dropped in a deep fryer, then get covered with gravy that comes powdered in a box and tastes like chemicals. Hopefully, the food in Rome doesn't taste like boxed chemicals.
9
Indeed —most restaurant food is from Sysco, so it not only sounds the same but IS the same, even at fancy restaurants.
1
You crack me up. My husband and I have been criss-crossing the country in our retirement, and we sigh a little bit at meal time when we're out your way. The other problem is the coffee, but I don't want to offend you if you like it the way it is.
2
Well put Mr. Bruni. Food is a celebration of life. To admit that one finds comfort in it with special gratitude for certain favorites is notable. With the political winds swirling around with seemingly increasing velocity it is good to know that we can enjoy moments of peace in the visceral and nutritional values of the earth's bounty. The culinary variety and customs of the world are a true gift. The tangibility of politics can wait while I enjoy my pasta thank you.
5
Italy is what you get from the politics of chaos, some of it homegrown and some of it from outside forces like Eurocommunism.
Chaos causes institutional breakdown, rising corruption and vulnerability to outside disruption. Organized crime and government looting thrive in chaos. Think of Zinke steering the $300 million Whitefish Energy contract with 2 employees.
Trump argues he likes "energy" in his Administration but it looks more like a bomb cyclone from outside.
And the parts of the country that are his base have their own local chaos, in high rates of violent crime, social and economic dysfunction and low life expectancy.
The state with the highest Trump approval rate, well over 60%, is West Virginia, with its dependence on a deadly and dying industry. In places like West Virginia and Alabama, guys like convicted felon Don Blankenship and sex offender Roy Moore have a decent shot at a US Senate seat.
Making a good carbonara requires repetition to figure out what works and what doesn't in the complex blending of temperature and ingredients.
The GOP, on the other hand, seems bent on repeating what doesn't work, like tariffs, trickle down tax cuts, financial deregulation and environmental destruction. We will all pay the price and it will be much worse than gummy pasta.
24
I chose this commentary to read from the dozens of offerings of The NY Times front page because I didn’t want to go down any rabbit holes, didn’t want to stray too far from my present project: a intro page for my new web site, but mostly not to have my precious early morning energy-and-sleep-provided-meditative-space affected by the turmoil and chaos of our current times. I am realizing the most effective resistance I can make to the disruptive actions of the current craziness is to stay in my life, doing the best work with clarity. And that means not reading every little twist and turn about you know who and his administration. Lately the time spent on absorbing the spectacle is taking its toll. Call it a bubble; but it feels safer in here, prettier in here, definetly more productive. Where can I find some pasta?
39
When I saw the headline I though the article would tell us that we may have to rely on the Flying Spaghetti Monster to get us out of this mess.
14
The article does not exclude the possibility of a need to rely on the Flying Spaghetti Monster; perhaps it will be our savior. :-)
1
Perhaps Frank should consider adding a shot or two of grappa for dessert. A good stiff drink on a regular basis will be needed to get us through to 2020.
19
Thanks for the cute article, I always loved your writing from way back in the day! I’ve already copies a few good recipes, esp the casio al pepe, never heard of it! I love making easy dishes while watching Fox News on a stormy evening!
1
So, we've become Italy. Bongiorno!
3
We should be so lucky as to be Italy.
On a recent trip to Rome, having more than exhausted all of the usual lovely places to visit, we wound up at the National Modern Art Gallery, which has an interesting if relatively mediocre collection. What caught my eye were the Fascist realism works extolling Mussolini. One painting in particular had Il Duce as a jut-jawed armored knight riding forward at a gallop on his charger. It could as easily have been Trump astride that brave (and soon to be sway-backed) horse. Enjoy your travels, Frank. Reality will beckon all too soon.
2
buongiorno!
We are watching the rug pulled from under our feet every morning. What now? Who today? We may anticipate dysfunction and chaos but we can never be sure whose head will be on the chopping block or which politician or celebrity will be insulted. We thought he got it all out as he ping-ponged from one lie to another degrading comment, peppered with the heaps of praise he poured on himself. My favorite parts of these rallies are when he pauses, claps and walks around ,smiling and pointing at a spectator. Such humility! Such class!
So, Mr. Bruni, you deserve enjoying your Italian home away from home with it's scrumptious pasta 3 nights in a row.Will there be a 4th?To be nourished by a delicious meal or a hug from someone dear or a visit to a museum or a feeling of serenity from a piece of music are all things we must find. You have heard some news about your sight recently that can be terrifying. We all need calm and solice and nurturing and nourishment to have the strength and sanity to witness what our president does to our country and our allies every single day.
So enjoy your "pasta alla gricia" even though Italy is going through a tumultuous time as we are. We need constancy and traditions and enjoyment now more than ever.We will become more daring and reckless at another time in the near( I hope) future. But for now,"mangia".
12
I don't know what to say about a piece like this. Perhaps proverb "Chi si accontenta gode" (± Whoever is satisfied enjoys) is true to Mr. Bruni. Best regards from Padua EU
5
It's depressing that we have to retreat into our sensory pleasures and block out the world to deal with Trump.
7
With Trump? There will never be constancy, regularity, mundane and no static sweet-spot. Chaos, unpredictibility, drama are more his style. He will never give a repeat performance because it is either worse or more bizarre or more reckless.He is a dangerous maverick changing stances from one tweet to the next every two minutes. And sorry, Frank, he does not go for pasta. His lineage is German American and therefore it has to be McDonald burgers and french fries. He is a teetotaler, therefore no beer, only French sparkling water. And Dear God, do we have the taste of the untried! It is bitter, so very bitter and getting worse by the day, puking our only salvation.
4
I thought maybe you were going to suggest we keep throwing things at him to see if something sticks. Here's hoping that Mueller can where the Republicans won't.
16
Get a grip,Frank! If your only solace is pasta alla Gricia then I am worried and suggest you leave the chaos of Italy .Granted there is chaos here also but we have sharp reporters and writers like you who keep us informed and hopeful for our democracy.You have heard of the students of Parkland and their principled stand #NEVER AGAIN .Unlike Italy, we have our ideals and they don't revolve around food and culture.
5
Wait. You don't want him to have solace?
Or should he just stop enjoying dinner until the ills of the world are cured?
1
In fact, the meal of the day in the U.S. seems to be Pasta Putin-esca.
89
Best comment of the day!
2
@JudyEpstein :
...accompanied by a little Russian Derangement Syndrome Relish on the side?
1
That's why they call it "comfort" food.
10
Well, despite Guido Barilla’s volte-face on excluding gay families from his pasta ads, I think the NYT might have chosen some other image to illustrate Mr. Bruno’s piece, in place of that iconic Barilla pasta box.
From Snopes: ‘Some of the gay advocates who have worked with Guido Barilla since his comments believe his contrition is sincere. “He was horrified at the consequences and his personal beliefs,” said David Mixner, a veteran gay rights activist and author who served as a consultant for Barilla.’
Boycotts work. $$$ (or€€€) talks.
If we cringe daily at the horrors inflicted on our country by Mr. Trump and his henchmen/women, we need to speak with our wallets.
It’s the only language they understand.
For a start, in the ongoing effort to neutralize the NRA, DT’s part-owner and partner in crime, let’s ask the National Football League to assist those calling for decent gun control legislation.
How?
Just as the NFL did in AZ and VA when the governors of those states threatened to sign anti-gay legislation: the NFL threatened to pull out of AZ and VA.
On Change dot org there is a petition asking the NFL to pull the next two Super Bowls from Georgia and Florida unless those states pass sane state gun laws. Please sign it. Or contact the NFL directly.
Remember: Mr. Barilla started making gay-friendly pasta as soon as he felt that big wallop in his sacco di soldi.
4
Yes, pasta. Because what better time to overload on carbs than when our Orange Nero is actively engaged in torching Rome?
21
Italy is complexed simplicity....easy recipes tough executions....and thank you for shining your light on Pasta alla Gricia!
5
I always savor your delicious prose, Frank, always laugh and nod "so right" when you strike a chord of my own--as you so often do--like the "communion of fat . . . and salt" being "the most reliable ticket to heaven." So I must say I let out a little of the breath I've been holding these last fourteen months as I found comfort in the thoughts you evoked of routine, of normalcy.
Maybe Trump voters are just loving the daily drama of this sturm-und-drang presidency, the constant adrenaline rush of the out-of-control train of this White House, the tightening knot of fear there can be no happy ending. But I long for the day when I can can breathe a sigh of relief, when scandal, corruption and incivility are the exception, not the rule, when there is only one truth, when life in America is boring again.
17
How could you possibly eat a live, conscious animal? You are truly a monster.
5
OK, but the shrimp weren't crabbing.
2
Better to drop it, alive, into boiling water? Freeze it to death? At least Frank took direct responsibility for his carnivorous appetite. Much more ethical than having someone else kill and dismember some sentient non-human animal, to be sold in pieces. George Bernard Shaw, himself a vegetarian, famously said that if we all had to butcher our own meat we'd all be vegetarians. I think he was wrong about that. Bruni himself had none of this in mind, of course, he was just enjoying an interesting meal. No great issue here.
4
Frank I can certainly relate as can my dear family and friends.
Routine has become the new luxury, the new anti-anxiety and depression remedy.
I keep myself grounded by repetition. Its one of the few things that fortify me against the rolling disasters and insanity that have increased in frequency and magnitude since the stable genius infested America.
15
Americans are addicted to novelty, conditioned by marketers (and restaurant critics) to always want the latest thing. As with any addiction, the craving gets more and more difficult to satisfy, thus the popularity of the "extreme." Is it any wonder that Donald Trump, with his gnat-like attention span, was elected president? And what kind of huckster will novelty-addled America turn to next?
1
It is difficult to predict who will be president seven years from this point in time.
Perhaps we could get a recipe for pasta alla gricia? Thanks!
4
Click on the link in the article. It takes you to a Mark Bittman recipe.
Follow the hyperlink
Linked to in the article: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017305-pasta-alla-gricia
Politics at the local level is like the gricia in some ways. The small town I live in changes little while the winds of political change at the federal level blow at hurricane force.
While I love Italian culture and can appreciate the appeal of numbing oneself with the illusion of security, I find cute columns like this one more irritating than comforting. The forced stretch from the horrors of Trump to the panacea of pasta is painful, frankly.
2
You didn't have to read it, frankly.
2
"Sure, he’d been around forever, a fixed star in the celebrity firmament." Really? A 'fixed star'? I've always considered Dolt 45 to be a black hole...but thanks, nice piece, enjoy yourself in Italy. I too have a tremendous fondness for pasta...
2
D’accordo, Sig. Bruni. My partner and I lived in Italia nearly 20 years. Our biggest complaint on return is the “inconsistency” of offerings and quality whenever we dine out at the same restaurant. We,too, have spent adventurous lives and are not resistant to ‘the new” but maniacal serendipity vs. creative serendipity is cause for global indigestion. This president is hazardous to our health on multiple front.
Barilla would love the box!! Ottimo articolo! Grazie, Frank.
2
Il faut que nous cultivons nos propres jardins is a way to put lipstick on the pig of political disappointment. What's gnawing at Bruni is the fear that Trump is only a symptom of the fact the political-economic consensus that served the West since the end of World War II has collapsed.
3
FRIMEUR !
Il fault que requires a subjunctive verb. Hence: il faut que nous cultivions nos propres jardins.
Merci.
1
We all run out of ideas sometimes.
1
With all due respect, while pasta may be the answer to Berlusconi (well, pasta and a distinguished history going back before the Roman Empire to the Roman Republic, so thousands of years of history as an entity for the Italians to fall back on) -- we have no such luck. We can't even count on Herr Drumpf honoring such hoary principles of Anglo-Saxon common law as due process!
7
Shorter version—
In terrifying times people turn to comfort food.
11
Don’t mean to demean a delicious dish, but the only pasta to associate with Trump is “spaghetti alla puttanesca."
2
As we say now:
Yessa!
2
Mr. Bruni, just reading this essay gave me respite from the diurnal (and nocturnal!) gastric distress that all too frequently pays me a visit these past months. Thank you for a delightful few minutes of culinary/political commentary. As always with your essays, my lusty appetite for excellent writing was satisfied! And now, for that second cup of cappuccino and a sweet almond biscotte ...
8
Hey, what's going on with the Box? Do you think you are fooling us?! That's Barilla! Known for underweight contents! No panacea here!!!
1
Thank you, Frank. In your honor, tonight I'll have pasta. With a nice red wine. Plenty of wine. Enjoy your trip, but please don't hurry back. Things are going from bad to Trumpian Bad. Perhaps you might look at apartments. Just saying.
5
Phyliss Dalmatian
As most on this board must know, the president has done many good things for this country in the past year.
1
Sarah,
You must think you're responding to a post at the Wall Street Journal. Please provide a list of all the "many good things [the president] has done "for this country in the past year."
4
I am done with winter but I would happily begin the cold cycle again if I could wake tomorrow and it would be November 8th
1
I blame Trump for my current obsession with cake. In times of trouble, seek frosting.
11
Bravissimo ! E' tutto vero, verissimo !
When living in Rome I used to be so bored with the usual litany : Amatriciana, Carbonara, Arrabiata... and so frustrated by Italian politics, ovvero: “cambiare tutto per non cambiare niente”
Enjoy Roma, le piazze, le fontane, il caffè, le passeggiate e il dolce farniente
Me... I'm cooking Gricia tonight !
Trump is the canned Ravioli of pasta. A gluey, bland, tasteless mess, that no one actually wants, or chooses. BASTA: ENOUGH. Seriously.
20
Thank you for an uplifting and much needed article. For some reason i thought of my long deceased grandmother and her sour milk chocolate cake. Food, or at least certain food, is love, and yes, inspiration.
1
Agree. But I just prefer Mueller's these days!
196
Very clever! It definitely is “Mueller time”.
2
Wanted to add to my previous comment, if it were only so simple, both in the States and here in Italia!!
13
Frank, where's the recipe?
104
you can find the recipe online but it's almost impossible to find the guanciale (cured pork cheek\jowl) necessary for gricia in the us. i always bring it with me from rome to the states but maybe you can order it online? or use a good fatty bacon.
1
Pia, here is the recipe from the NY Times, but there are others in Italian that are more authentic, if you can find guanciale (cured pork jowl or cheek) in NM, still, this is not a bad recipe!
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017305-pasta-alla-gricia?utm_source...
2
Forgot to mention, what is actually a good recipe for good government, or a good president? Lacking that, I sent you the actual pasta recipe!
1
Recharge your batteries, Frank, and get your sustenance - the Resistance needs you back here at full strength !
Notice those things you loved about Rome that are now gone - and imprint what you still love - so that you can be more appreciative of what the Orange Jabberwock daily rends asunder, which cannot be rebuilt in our lifetimes.
After the plague of His Unhinged Unraveling Unfitness Trumpigula and his minions have exited the stage, it will be incumbent upon you to remind 'how things used to be', so those things can be restored.
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Many Italian restaurants have what appear to be an identical menu, but the "same" dishes are rarely the same, restaurant to restaurant. Unlike French classic cuisine, there is nothing codified about Italian cooking. Within certain parameters of ingredients (which give each dish its identifaction), every Italian cook does it his or her own way -- a little more of this, a little less of that: infinite, minute variations on a theme. The age-old satisfaction of a good Italian meal comes from the comfort of familiarity (with its inherent meaning of "family") freshened by an individual's touch. God, as they say, is in the details.
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As is the devil, no?
Italy has pasta alla gricia, we have McDonald's. And delicious chocolate cake.
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And emotionally fulfilling ice cream vs. the more restrained gelato.
And not one, but two scoops of ice cream.
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Mc Donalds? Surely you jest.
#yuck
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Mr. Bruni is on the record-clearly-as having found food as love, solace, and acceptance since his childhood http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/books/review/Browning-t.html# He had also come to realize it was dysfunctional.
Readers must beware the sinister here: He is relapsing and suggesting that we-politically-do so as well.
Returning to the swamp means you now miss the familiarity, relative normalcy, and grotesque routine of the swamp and its thing:
"It breathes. It dreams. And, at night, beneath a low-hanging fog, it shambles through the shadows with its red eyes and funereal soul. The swamp has a spirit, and it walks on two legs. A monster that was once a man…."
https://www.dccomics.com/characters/swamp-thing
Do not relapse.
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Not at all. Relapsing? The return to comfort and the yearning for reliable consistency doesn't have to mean falling off the wagon. There is a middle ground that keeps us from extremes and gives us sustenance for the fight. And I read Born Round.
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This article is comfort food for the spirit and a reminder that taking pleasure in daily life can overcome a lot of ills. We should all take a pause from the worrying and visit someplace inspiring. Though in terms of forgetting about America's woes, Rome would not be my first choice. Too many reminders, in the weathered architecture and chipped marble busts, of brutal dictators, and the fragility of empires. But enjoy! Eat a fried artichoke for me at the iconic Pizzeria Ai Marmi on the Viale de Trastevere.
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For me, this article wasn't about 'inspiring'; it was about reliable.
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Liberals questioning the sanity and intelligence of those who voted for Trump (led, of course, by their erstwhile candidate) is largely how he was elected in the first place. Keep it up, it worked so well last time.
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Larry....there is one significant difference between 2016 and 2018.
Tens of millions of Americans who thought voting didn't matter have learned that voting matters.
That is HUGE.
Besides, what's the proper reaction to someone who cast a vote for an unapologetic Birther Liar ?
"Well, yes, that Trump seems like a lovely fellow, although I'm not quite sure how someone could have voted for him"
No, his feculent Presidency was perfectly predictable.
Those who voted for him have sanity issues.
We all do crazy things now and then; the key is to admit it and not repeat the deplorable, wretched behavior again.
See you in the voting booth.
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What is it with you guys? 89 million American voters stayed home, and Trump still got 10 million fewer votes than "other than Trump". His lying, demeaning, racism and ridiculously obvious overpromising appealed to those who had always yearned for an American Mussolini. They got one.
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Yet more proof that Trumpistas live in an alternate universe. Larry, if you really believe that Hillary Clinton still leads the Democratic Party or Liberals in general, you need your head examined. Turn off the Fox once in awhile.
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Constancy in a 5000 year old city is different from inconstancy in a 200-year old country. Our traditions aren't even important to the president's supporters.
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Nor are they to many of his detractors.
Rome survived Caligula although it had a lot of down years along the way and we will survive Trump and his minions. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to travel to third world countries and to meet local people in those countries know that there is not one perfect happy place. The longest time I have spent in a foreign city was three months as a student in Rome and we have been back three times. It is the first place I took my then 14 year old granddaughter (for three weeks over Christmas) where we had an apartment and she learned to do our shopping every morning in the Campo di Fiori public market and Forno. Restaurant waiters loved her because she ordered in quickly learned Italian and never asked for a hamburger. It may be dirty and pickpockets are a problem if one is not wary but there is a reason it is called the Eternal City. I still vote for Carbonara but also loved the deep fried artichokes. But now I'm going to eat my thin crust pizza with mesclun, parmesan and prosciutto as we ride out another blizzard in Maine! At least Trump is unlikely ever to come up here!
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No worries about 45 coming to our community either. Nothing but incredible vistas and snow covered mountains. Natural beauty at its best & no glitz so we don't exist in his view of importance. I loved Italy when visiting as a teenager many years ago & immediately learned enough Italian to order food & drink.
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Although, it would be wise to remember that he did come here during the election cycle, and pulled off a surprise win of one electoral vote, the first in recent history. We can't let that happen again!
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I'll see your pizza in Maine and raise you a plate of cacio e pepe in Chicago.
I don't want to quibble but...I grew up in Rome in the 1950s and 1960s and until roughly 1987, it was almost impossible to get a disappointing meal in a Roman restaurant. Not so these days when my wife in East Lansing makes the best carbonara. Italy is no more immune than the US when it comes to a race to the mediocre, in food as in culture.
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Frank - out tonight in AZ (not a bastion of great Italian food) but will have my grandmas bacala and polenta and revel in the sameness, toothyness (al dente) and constancy of this peasant dish ....even as it assumes Trumpian 'in' status with foodie crowd. Mangia
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Great humor, and humor is our only recourse right now, in between bouts of outrage and the determination to change things up in November, which can't come fast enough.
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Beer with pizza but not with pasta.
Couldn't agree more.
Certainly not with red sauce.
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Marco Polo brought noodles to Italy from China. Tomatoes and potatoes came to Italy from the New World. When we think of classical Italian cuisine we ignore their route to Italy.
All roads ceased leading to Rome 1500 years ago. Today all roads lead to Beijing.
Italy is number four in Europe behind Germany, the United Kingdom and France. While Germany and France have classical cuisines the United Kingdom does not. Sausages and snails meet bangers and mash. Yummy.
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Mangia e taci!
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Yes, pasta is the answer.
At a time when race is being treated as the definition of culture, both in the US and in Europe, it is refreshing to think of something as universal as food representing culture, too.
We are all just people, whatever our color or names.
Dig in to a piping hot bowl of Barilla, everyone!
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DeCecci
There's a lot to be said for consistency and stability during times of chaos and stress. As an adult the Obama presidency has been the most stable and crisis free presidency I've experienced. You don't appreciate what you've got until its been replaced by constant insanity. I miss no drama Obama.
Some lessons must be learned the hard way. Hopefully in the next few elections the American people will send a message to our politicians that we want competent government not made for TV entertainment.
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Ami, I'm old enough to remember (albeit dimly and only in a fragmented fashion) the JFK assassination and I full-heartedly concur with your No Drama Obama assertion.
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It’s not about the pasta.
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My grandparents and parents are smiling upon you from their "trattoria in the sky," Mr. Bruni. Yes, indeed, Italian politics is chaotic. But there is a predictability within that country that maintains an order and stability. Call it the constancy of family and kinship, the delicious food served over and over again, or that inherent, la dolce vita.
Italians are used to their politics, and they get by. Trumpism is contrary to several hundred years of an American legacy, way of life, and, of course, the democracy as we have gotten use to. And your piece reminds us that maybe constancy is a good thing, that maybe threatening risk-taking imperils the American spirit.
Italy will make it through their present political paradigm. I truly hope we can to. Metaphorically, I miss my gnocci and marinara sauce that I must eat over and over again.
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Excellent article. I understand perfectly the importance of rituals...a sense of security when everything else seems so chaotic. And making the action of eating a ritual and a search of what we really like is as important as it is to find inner peace in small pleasures specially in chaotic times where we lack of real leaders
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One of the things my father constantly reminded me of was "Life is made of small things". Indeed.
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I’d hate to tell you what the president serves up. It’s something like a big bowl of stupidity with hair on top. I don’t know if the people who voted for him had a clue what they were doing, and I wonder what they think of him now, in their heart of hearts.
Are they too clueless to feel the impact? Do they regret what they’ve done? Do they hate the idea of racial equality, health care and Social Security so much that they’ll take a sieg heil from this president over a Yes We Can from a Democrat?
So now the country is on a steady diet of stomach-turning insults, innuendo, collusion, porn stars and more staff turnover than McDonalds. He’s enabled a Republican Congress that will roll back rights, steal from the poor and pass a variety of insane legislation.
A few moderate Republicans have left. A stable full of insane jackasses queue up to take their place, not letting accusations of child molestation or being soft on animal torture stop them. Abnormal is the new normal.
The president may sit down with Kim Jong-un, and if the deified psychopath who runs that corner of hell flatters our dear leader, he’ll come away saying the same nice things about him that he’s said about Putin.
Then he’ll come home and go to war with California.
Waiter…Check, please.
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@gemli: "It’s something like a big bowl of stupidity with hair on top." That made me laugh out loud. Thanks.
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I agree... thank you for making me smile and laugh out loud :)
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The answer to all of your questions in paragraph two is YES!
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Mmmmmmm - the almost opioid effects of high-glycemic foods. The sugar in the pasta combined with the saltiness of the pork cheek and pecorino cheese would make a perfect symphony of deliciousness. We find our comfort where we can in this age of Emperor Palpatine.
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While Frank is distracted while getting drunk on pasta alla gricia, Rome is in flames.
The answer to Trump's Trailer Park White House values is not pasta.
It's record voter turnout from here to eternity from Americans across the board in primaries and elections to ensure that tyranny of the right-wing minority never hijacks American democracy again.
It's a supermajority of Democratic, independent and Republicans flocking to the polls in Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district today to vote for Democrat Conor Lamb instead of Rick "I was Trump before Trump was Trump" Saccone.
It's a recognition and admission by Americans still interested in democracy that voter suppression, gerrymandering on steroids, Supreme Court and Electoral College hijackings, and 0.1% Tax Welfare championed by the Radical Rural Religious Reverse Robin Hood party has nothing to do with representative government and everything to do with Kremlin-oligarchic values.
It's an admission that Fake News TV channels and hate radio and Pachyderm Spongiform Encephalopathy has run one of America's major political parties AND the nation's IQ into the ground.
America has real public policy issues to fix - the greatest healthcare rip-off in the world, lousy infrastructure, worker rights, corporate hegemony, regressive taxation, campaign finance bribery, gun violence, right-wing sedition, treason and voter suppression.
The Russian-Republicans refuse to address any of it.
Vote, America... in record numbers !
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Yes, the answer is to vote in record numbers, but the answer is also to pass laws that make gerrymandering by any party illegal, overturn Citizens United, and get rid of the Electoral College.
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Whoa, Socrates, that was a sweet rant. Love it. I plan on printing it and sharing it with as many people as possible. Thanks.
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Great reminder to vote and that our votes count.
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I hear all the griping about how bad Trump is, and I agree, so give me an alternative please. The Democratic plan for governance is . . . . . .?? Hello? Is anybody there??
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I think the author is stating that we need something more palatable and comforting and easy to prepare than the often too dry Thanksgiving turkey that we consume once a year.
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oh Bruce. So you'd keep him, because...? In any case, here are some of the things that would change under Democrats: A realistic gun policy. A realistic immigration policy. Appointing cabinet positions to people who would not destroy the given department. Appointing people to science positions who understand science. Understanding the environment is changing and why and a desire and a plan to do something about it. An understanding that women's rights are human rights. There, that's a start.
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Any Democrat would be better than Trump. Much, much better.
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Frank, wish I was there with you in Italy, just walking the streets and wandering from pasta to espresso to ice cream, to.....
But, gee, did you have to mention him? What a drag!
He who dreams of being King.
Do you think Italy would exist if it had been ruled by such as him? Not a chance. Not a shred of beauty in the man. No taste, no class.
Enjoy Frank, and forget him for a few days. You deserve it. We all do.
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Italy had a king and also a dictator. I'm sure both dined on hefty pasta dishes.
SOunds like you’re giving up
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I'm thinking it's fatigue, and I understand it.Rest your body and rest your eyes, and come back soon.
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But you still have to eat, most of us want to do so at least a couple times a day. I'm working on this year's garden, today. It's good for my physical and mental health. I suppose I could be doing some activist thing today, but i need the balance, and, yes, the consistency of greeting a new spring by preparing to grow some food. I will admit that I disagree with Bruni on one thing, bucatini with carbonara sauce is worth it, at least once in a while.
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Thank you for this, Frank. In these topsy-turvy (there's a nice understatement, no?) times, there really is something to be said for sameness. And now I have found a recipe for pasta alla gricia!
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Love it, Frank, and what a great illustration!
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Really? A box of Barilla pasta (without the name, but still totally iconic), the brand whose chairman once (2013) said he would never use homosexual couples in his advertisements? Yes, he recanted after a boycott of his pasta whacked him in his sacco di soldi, but still. The NYT might have thought outside the (Barilla) box.
"Panacea" = Name given by the Greeks and Latins to various plants (including Heracleum sphondylium) to which magical virtues were attributed in the healing of certain diseases; then remained in use to indicate the alleged remedy of every evil, has been reported from time to time to several products considered miraculous remedy.
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Yes, really. The name of the pasta: panacea.
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This is an excellent allegorical piece that is relevant to many societies with a failed polity.
One can think of Russians drowning their political sorrow with vodka and pelmeni.
One can think of Georgians eating their shashlik (shish kebab) drowned with wine, song, dance, and over the top hospitality.
One can think of Argentinians hiding behind their tango and futbol.
For Ukrainians, it is their varennyky (not identical Polish pierogis) after a bowl of red meat filled borscht.
Many societies are built upon family, clan, food, and religious events and ceremonies. A successful polity is an order higher in social organization. It comes from a different history.
For many countries, emigration is the answer to a failed polity. After all, one can drink one's vodka at the Samovar in NYC; eat one's pilmeni at Borscht and Tears in London; or one's varennyky at Taras Bulba in Moscow or New York.
In addition, Italians can point with satisfaction to the hordes of Scandinavians, Brits, and Germans who come to devour all the varieties of pasta every summer.
Americans are often too many to emigrate. Our often inedible turkey on Thanksgiving may be our only common ritual in the future. But the USA may need in the future something more basic like pasta to calm the disparate attitudes and mute the annual conversation.
On the other hand, American Thanksgiving may increasingly take place in Vancouver, Melbourne, London, Paris, Rome, or Munich.
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As someone born in Ukraine and American since 1946, I applaud your marvelous comment - you make me proud!
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