GENDER OF MAKERS

It would appear that women were the prime preparers of ravioli as referred to by Delazia : “Thus the idea of a single, prescribed authentic recipe for such a dish would not have made much sense to the women who spent long hours making tortellini, and who passed their skills on to their daughters.” (Dickie, John 2008, 296)   But Italian Cuisine suggests this was not always the case : “As patterns shift from the great household or country residence to the bourgeois family home with only one or two servants, we notice that the misogynistic denigration of female servants begins to lose its currency and bite.  The female cook begins to prevail over the male cook who is seen as costly, foppish and the enemy of good health.  Women are said to be attentive to regional culinary values and not only to those of their birthplace.” (Capatti, Alberto 2003, 240)  Women took the place of men in the preparation of ravioli because of the better attention they supposedly gave to the construction of the little pillows.