Over the weekend I decided to take on the task of making pasta from scratch. The recipe I chose was for Tagliatelle Verdi, or green tagliatelle noodles. Unsure of the type of ingredients or what type of approach I should take to pasta making, I headed over to Capri Flavors Italian market. Capri Flavors has recently moved to a new location that happens to be two minutes from my house. Each time I go in I am greeted by one of the owners, Costanzo Vuotto, an older Italian man. The first time I went to Capri Flavors, Costanzo told me he did not speak English. “Non parlo inglese signorina,” was Costanzo’s response when I tried to ask where ditalini pasta was. After several more visits I have become more comfortable shopping there, and now know the story of Capri Flavors. The owners are a wife and husband duo, Titina and Costanzo Vuotto. Both are from the Italian island of Capri, known for it’s beautiful scenery and delicious food. Titina and Costanzo’s families have a long heritage of cooking and they continued the tradition in Capri. Their love for entertaining and teaching others to cook led them to the southern United States, and now the lucky residents of the triangle get an authentic Italian food experience at Capri Flavors.
Whenever I visit the store they always have a new display and are adding new items. On Saturday when I walked in they had a fancy new candy display, Italian playing cards, espresso mugs, and tons of truffles. I had prepared and translated a list of questions to ask Costanzo, such as, “che tipo di farina?” or “quanti minuti ho impastare la pasta?”. He was sitting at his desk to the left when I walked into the store. I figured I would leave him be for a little while before getting his assistance. I get excited everytime I go to Capri Flavors. You rarely see this much authentic Italian food and products anywhere in the triangle! I did laps around the store looking at the wide variety of olive oils, cheeses, meats and pastas. They have many premade pastas and sauces you can buy, cooked by the one and only Titina. The homemade pastas are gorgeous, made by an experienced hand. They also have a selection of packaged pastas as well. Capri Flavors has many types of espresso, but it is mostly from the brand Lavazza. Even though I am not yet 21, I went to take a look at the wine selection. In the middle of the wine area there was a beautiful spread of bread, tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella. There was also little cups of wine from Venice, but I decided to only have bread with the fresh tomato sauce. The delicious crispiness of the bread and the freshness of the pomodori (tomatoes) gave me the courage to approach Costanzo with my questions.
I walked up to Costanzo with my list and timidly mumbled, “scusi”. Costanzo came over to look at my tagliatelle recipe. I began to tell him I was making tagliatelle, I said “io cucina…”. Costanzo cut me off and began asking me about tagliatelle in English. “You are making tagliatelle verdi?” Costanzo asked. I was shocked that Costanzo was speaking perfect English, after telling me he couldn’t speak English months earlier. At that point I felt relief that I would be able to speak with Costanzo in English. He showed me premade tagliatelle verdi they were selling in the store, trying to save me from the process of cooking my own. I had to explain to him that I wanted to make the tagliatelle from scratch. He showed me some nice flours to use for the dough that they carried in the store. I ended up purchasing Caputo flour, tipo “00” which was suggested to me by Costanzo. When I began to ask him about the pasta making process, he admitted that his wife Titina does all the cooking. He pulled out his cellphone and called her to ask about tagliatelle, and then he handed me the phone and walked away. He was a trusting man. I listened as Titina told me the amount of flour (2 cups), eggs (1 egg), and spinach (1 bag) that go into the dough. She told me that once the ingredients were incorporated into the dough that it would be ready to go through the machine (which I don’t have). I thanked her, hung up, and searched for Costanzo to return his phone.
My little Saturday shopping spree at Capri Flavors was an adventure. I feel so fortunate to have an Italian market right by my house with such a rich variety of Italian foods. Going there is always magical for me! Even though I only purchased a bag of flour on this trip, I learned how to make tagliatelle pasta from scratch, and it didn’t taste half bad!
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