Marcella Hazan

Marcella Hazan (1924 – 2013) grew up in Cesenatico, Italy, but moved to New York City after marriage. She had never cooked up until this point, but strived to recreate the tastes and flavor she had experienced while living in Italy. Hazan became an authority on Italian fare and began teaching cooking classes out of her apartment, and in 1973 she published her first book, The Classic Italian Cook Book. She went on to publish a number of other volumes on Italian cooking including, More Classic Italian Cooking, Marcella’s Italian Kitchen and Marcella Cucina, which won the James Beard Best Mediterranean Cookbook award. Hazan is credited as introducing Americans to real, traditional Italian cuisine, using only ingredients that would exist in Italian kitchens. Among her most popular culinary mantras were to always prepare food by hand rather than with machines, to choose vegetables that are in season and she was vehemently against the use of garlic presses! She is also allegedly responsible for the wide adoption of balsamic vinegar.