English Translation: Review of An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy
Do you like pasta? In our Japanese-German household, pasta is one of our go-to meals—easy to prepare and loved by everyone. But over the years, we fell into a bit of a routine: tomato sauce as the default, cream-based sauces in the colder months, and the same few pasta shapes—spaghetti, penne, fusilli—on repeat. I had been wanting to break free from this cycle for a long time.
An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy is a book that introduces a variety of pasta shapes and their perfect sauces in alphabetical order. It turned out to be exactly what I needed to refresh our pasta routine—and in the most delightful and fun way.
"An A-Z of Pasta" by Rachel Roddy - Google Books
I first borrowed this book from a friend a few years ago and absolutely loved it. Yet somehow, it sat on my wishlist for years. Finally, as a companion to last month’s Veganuary challenge, I decided it was time to buy it (not all are vegan recipes but you can easily arrange a lot of them).
As soon as it arrived, I pulled out my pasta machine—something I had used a lot during lockdown but had since neglected. Most of the recipes in the book use store-bought dried pasta, but if I’m going to make pasta, I like to go all in 😁
The first dish I tried was Maltagliati with a chickpea sauce. Maltagliati means "badly cut" in Italian, referring to the irregular offcuts of pasta dough left over from making more uniform shapes. The photos in the book looked so delicious that I just had to make it from scratch. The result? A wonderful break from our usual tomato or cream-based sauces! On a cold winter day, it was warming, satisfying, and had a fun mix of smooth and chewy textures.
The book also includes tips on how to store leftover Maltagliati, which turned out to be handy because I had made too much. I cut the extra pieces into small bits with my daughter and let them dry for future use (... but we eat it the next day.)
One of the things I love most about this book—besides the beautiful photos and variety of pasta and recipes—is Rachel Roddy’s writing. Her style is warm, engaging, and often makes me smile. One of my favorite moments comes right at the start, alphabet pasta. She points out that some letters—like J and Y—don’t exist in the Italian alphabet, which means you technically can’t spell "JOY" with Italian alphabet pasta! Of course, after reading that, I had to make an alphabet pasta soup.
But, surprise! In Germany, alphabet pasta does include J and Y—so I managed to spell "JOY" 😁
One passage that made me laugh out loud was Roddy’s memory of how, as a child, her mother would give her a ball of flour and water (essentially pasta dough!) to play with in the kitchen. What a brilliant and creative idea! I might try it with my daughter when she is walking around the kitchen saying "langweilig langweilig" (boring in German).
The Guardian, which makes perfect sense—her writing is just as engaging as her recipes. If you're curious, you can check out her column here:@shanibeer mentioned that Rachel Roddy writes a column for
An A-Z of Pasta not only helps you discover the diversity of pasta but also reminds you of the pure joy of cooking. With this book in hand, I look forward to experimenting with even more pasta dishes. Whether you’re stuck in a pasta rut like me or eager to dive into the world of pasta, this book is a fantastic companion!
This morning, while doing my morning yoga, I thought about writing a review for An A-Z of Pasta. That led me to daydream about creating my own library in the future—a collection of books on cooking, gardening, crafts, finance, and self-improvement that I’ve gathered over time. One day, I’d love to share a post on Hive Blog saying, “I finally have my rooftop office with an attached library!” ☺️ Until then, happy reading & writing!
みなさん、パスタは好きですか？日独ミックスの我が家ではみんなが大好きで簡単に作れるパスタは定番料理の一つです。ただ、ソースは定番のトマトソース、秋冬はクリームソース、麺はスパゲッティやペンネ、フジッリとマンネリになりがちで、なんとなく変化を取り入れたいと長年思っていました。
今回紹介するのは、Rachel Roddy著『An A-Z of Pasta』というパスタの本で、アルファベット順にさまざまなパスタがソースとともに紹介されています。見事に我が家のマンネリパスタ事情を楽しく改善してくれました。
Rachel Roddy著『An A-Z of Pasta』 - Google Books
私はこの本を数年前に友人から借りて、とても気に入ったにも関わらず、何年も欲しい本のリストに入れたままで、先月のVeganuaryのお供にとようやく重い腰を上げて注文しました。本が手元に届いて、まずロックダウン中に愛用していたパスタマシンを出してきました。ほとんどのレシピでお店で買える乾麺を使うのですが、どうせ作るなら本格的にしたい性分でして 😁
一作目はMaltagliatiとひよこ豆のソースのパスタを作りました。Maltagliatiはイタリア語で「不揃いの」という意味のパスタで、製麺時に出る切れ端なのですが、本の写真がおいしそうでおいしそうでわざわざ作りました。トマトソースでもクリームソースでもなく、脱マンネリの感動といったらもう！寒い冬の日にじんわり温かく、口の中でつるつるぐみぐみ、食感も楽しかったです。
本の中でMaltagliatiが残った時の保存方法が紹介されていて、見事に作りすぎて残ったので、子供と一緒に小さく切って乾燥させて後日使いました。
私はこの本のきれいな写真や、パスタやレシピの種類が豊富なところも好きなのですが、同じくらい著者の文章も好きです。なんともニヤッと笑わされんですよね。たとえば、一番最初のアルファベットパスタでは、イタリアのアルファベットにはない文字があって、JとYもその一つで、アルファベットパスタでは文字ではJOYを作れないんだよ！なんて話が紹介されています。これを読んだらアルファベットパスタのスープを作らずにはいられませんでした。
でもドイツのアルファベットパスタにはJもYもあって、JOYが作れてしまったのでした😁
読みながら思わず声を出して笑ってしまったのは、著者が子供の頃、お母さんがキッチンでおもちゃとして、小麦粉と水を練ったもの（パスタの生地！）をくれたというエピソードで、お母さんクリエイティブすぎる。
@shanibeer さんから教えてもらったのですが、著者のRachel RoddyさんはイギリスのThe Guardianでコラムを書いているとのことで、なるほど納得。文章も読ませるわけですね。The GuardianのRachel Roddyさんのページはおいしそうな記事で溢れかえっていました。本が気になるという人は、まずはコラムを覗いてみるのもおすすめです。
『An A-Z of Pasta』は、パスタの世界の奥深さを再発見させてくれるだけでなく、料理の楽しさや遊び心まで思い出させてくれる一冊です。これからもこの本を片手に、いろいろなパスタを作って楽しみたいです。「パスタがマンネリで」とパスタにお悩みの人はもちろん、「ずぶずぶパスタ沼にハマりたい」というパスタマニアにもおすすめの一冊です！
今朝、朝のヨガをしながら『An A-Z of Pasta』のレピューを書きたいなと思い、将来私が集めてきた料理、ガーデニング、手芸、お金、自己啓発などの本のライブラリを作りたいなと妄想が始まりました。いつの日かルーフトップのオフィス併設のライブラリができました！とHive Blogで報告ができたらいいな ☺️
The book sounds wonderful, a lovely companion. I really enjoy Rachel's stories and recipes, they're easy to bring into everyday life. It is very much food and culture.
I have recently been minimalising my library, I'm trying to get it into one book shelf (about 3m of shelving). The majority now are art, knitting and poetry. Art books and technical books about knitting tend to be very large and take up a lot of shelf.
Also I must check which books I really need and read. Ja but it’s so hard to choose and so nice to be surrounded by books 😂
I started reading Rachel’s the column on the Guardian. There are so many. It’s exactly what I enjoy reading; food and culture!
Hi
Maybe it makes sense for you to open a vegan restaurant? It seems to me that you really like cooking 👍
!PIZZA
Haha, thanks. I like cooking 😉 Operating a restaurant can be too much for me currently (but maybe in the future!) so I do vegan catering when I have energy and time. Now I take a winter break as it’s too cold ⛄️
If you ever open such a place, I am sure you will have crowds of customers - I like the way your dishes look. Where I live now there is practically no food like this. But there is one place (it has been working for about a year and it is highly praised) I want to visit it and will definitely write a post about this restaurant with ecologically clean and healthy food!
Everything looks delicious, how useful that book must be, greetings! Great post
Yes, it is a good book both as a read and as a recipe book :)