Pâtes de la Maison des Raviolis
By Emma Harris
By Emma Harris
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Food has always been an important part of my family’s identity and livelihood; my great-grandfather Serge owned a salami factory in central France during and after the Second World War. In the early 1950s, when my then-infant great-uncle Georges got sick, Serge sold his factory and moved his family to Cannes, in the South of France, where the sun always shines, in the hopes of Georges getting better.
Within a year of moving, my great-grandparents opened a fresh pasta store and factory called “La Maison des Raviolis,” located on one of Cannes’ most prominent pedestrian streets. In the store’s early days, they lived in a small apartment above the store. As business improved and the store’s reputation grew locally and nationally, they moved out of the apartment, but the store remained in the same location until its closure in 1984. |
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The pasta was based on recipes fine-tuned by Serge. During the store’s 30 years, he oversaw the business and operations side of things while my great-grandmother was always in the storefront, expertly marketing their goods.
It was always a family business; my grandfather and great uncle would wear scuba diving masks and snorkels to peel hundreds of kilos of onions. And every day, the family would meet for lunch in the kitchen at the back of the factory, to test the fresh pasta that they produced and sold every day.
Although I’ve been to Cannes, and have walked down the very street the factory was on, I never got to see the store or eat the pasta made in its factory, but the recipes developed by my great grandfather were passed down through generations. Whenever I crave fresh pasta, I dust off the “Maison des Raviolis” egg noodle recipe and make some pasta that I eat in the most comfort food kind of way - with salted butter and a healthy sprinkling of grated cheese
It was always a family business; my grandfather and great uncle would wear scuba diving masks and snorkels to peel hundreds of kilos of onions. And every day, the family would meet for lunch in the kitchen at the back of the factory, to test the fresh pasta that they produced and sold every day.
Although I’ve been to Cannes, and have walked down the very street the factory was on, I never got to see the store or eat the pasta made in its factory, but the recipes developed by my great grandfather were passed down through generations. Whenever I crave fresh pasta, I dust off the “Maison des Raviolis” egg noodle recipe and make some pasta that I eat in the most comfort food kind of way - with salted butter and a healthy sprinkling of grated cheese
Recipe
Ingredients:
(ingredient measures are by weight for recipe accuracy)
1kg Semolina or Durum wheat flour
3 medium eggs
0.25L Water
Makes approximately 1.3kg of fresh egg noodle dough.
Recipe:
(ingredient measures are by weight for recipe accuracy)
1kg Semolina or Durum wheat flour
3 medium eggs
0.25L Water
Makes approximately 1.3kg of fresh egg noodle dough.
Recipe:
- Combine the flour and eggs; this can be done by hand or with a stand mixer.
- Add the water to the dough slowly, and mix thoroughly. At this point, the dough should be in a ball. If it still appears crumbly, this means that it is too dry. To fix this, add water - 1 tbsp at a time - and keep mixing until it takes on a ball shape.
- If the dough is in the ball but the dough is extra stick, this means that it is too wet. In that case, add additional flour, also 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough is no longer sticking on your hands or the bowl.
- Once your dough is the right consistency, knead it until it is shiny and even; this will take a few minutes.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Once you’ve let the dough rest, unwrap it and cut it into four quarters.
- For each quarter, roll it out to the desired thickness using a pasta machine or a rolling pin, then pass the dough through a pasta cutter or use a knife to cut the noodles.
- Put the pasta in a pot, with heavily salted water for 6 minutes
- This pasta dough can be used to make basic egg noodles, but can also be used to make lasagna, ravioli or cannelloni.
- Serve with salted butter and shredded cheese, or topped with your favourite sauce.