lunch today?

“What are you making for lunch today?” 

If you are a woman, living with your significant other, and a citizen of Barletta, odds are that if you meet another woman on the street, in the supermarket, at the haridresser, she will ask you this question. Even if she doesn’t know you that well. She wants to know what you’re making for lunch because maybe she’s racked her brain and needs some inspiration from you. Maybe she can sense that you don’t cook well and here she can show off her prowess by knowing more about zucchini flowers. Or finally she’s just making conversation, as that is what women do here. They converse in the street or from their balconies, until it’s time to go inside and set the table and put the pasta water on. 

Here’s a sample “What are you making for lunch today?” conversation that I overheard recently.

“What are you making for lunch today?”

“Probably ceci e fagioli but last time I made it the chick peas didn’t come out soft.”

“That’s because you didn’t set them overnight to soak!”

“Oh no, I set them to soak! Are you crazy? You have to let them soak.”

“Well then, you must not have cooked them long enough.”

“I cooked them for three hours!”

“You just don’t know how to make them. Listen to me, I’ll tell you how to make them...”

I have heard this conversation millions of times, with any and every food item in the place of the chick peas and beans. Just this morning leaving the gym my Zumba ladies asked me, “Mari, what are you going to make for lunch today?” In reality I hadn’t thought about it yet, but to satisfy them I responded, “I think ceci e fagioli.” 

“And did you set them to soak last night?” They asked, worried.

“Of course!” I replied. 

“Braaaaava Marissa!”

Well? What are you making for lunch today?

the famous ceci e fagioli (recipe here just switch chick peas and cannellini beans for the lentils).