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Friday, August 15, 2003

Mezzaluna:Equipment


Mezzaluna. Isn't that a pretty word? I know a copywriter who liked the word so much that he named his marketing and web business mezza-luna. Remember the scene in Gregory's Girl where the hero is infatuated with a girl who studies Italian and so to get her attention he walks around saying "bella bella bella"? I studied the Italian language more for the way it sounds than anything else.

Mezzaluna means half moon and in Italian cooking it refers to two different things. Either foods that have a half moon shape, like certain cookies or stuffed ravioli-style pasta or a curved steel chopping blade, also in the shape of a half moon. A mezzaluna is a terrific tool for chopping fresh herbs and also nuts. It's a tool I have quickly grown to love. If you use it with a chopping bowl rather than a cutting board there is a harmony to the rocking motion of blade against the round surface of the bowl. All part of the dance of the kitchen.