Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy, offers a variety of pasta made onsite. Featured here are traditional pasta con patate, or pasta with potato, bottom, and paccheri alla puttanesca di bacala, a tubelike pasta with cod, tomato, capers, olives and peppers. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
When sister and brother Amelia and Alfonso Cuomo reopened their family’s shuttered pasta factory in 2015, along with a museum, trattoria and bed-and-breakfast, they were paying homage to a legacy in Gragnano, Italy, dating back nearly 200 years.
The reincarnation of Pastificio Cuomo also served as a personal triumph over the former tyranny of dictator Benito Mussolini, who declared war on the iconic food, forcing closure of the family business in 1939.
As the country’s foreign relations cooled and World War II loomed, his Fascist government wanted to reduce Italy’s reliance on imports, such as the durum wheat needed for pasta, relying instead on domestically grown alternatives like rice.
Although Italians, especially in the south, resisted the attempt to keep them from eating pasta, the impact to factories such as that of the Cuomo family was profound. Artisans in Gragnano, which is about 20 miles south of Naples near the Amalfi Coast, have been making and drying pasta for more than 1,000 years.
Amelia Cuomo, owner of Pastificio Cuomo with her brother Alfonso, stands in front of a wall listing her family tree dating back to 1699 in the museum adjacent to their restaurant in Gragnano, Italy. According to researchers, the Cuomos are the oldest pasta-making family in the world, Amelia Cuomo said. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Their pasta is prized worldwide today for its quality and taste enhanced by the hilltop town’s spring water, climate and the use of bronze die in extruding the dough. The die creates ridges that help pasta sauce cling, Amelia Cuomo said.
She added that Italian researchers had determined that her family, which can trace its roots as far back as 1699, is the oldest pasta-making family in the world. Michele Cuomo opened the pasta-making business in 1820.
“When you have the art in your blood, (the pasta) is the same,” she said of reviving the family business. “We don’t make mistakes.”
That dedication can be experienced at Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria, which features pasta made on-site and used in a variety of traditional southern Italian dishes sourced with local ingredients and prepared by community chefs.
On a recent visit, my dining companion and I started our meal with parmigiana melanzane, an Italian comfort food favorite consisting of layers of fried eggplant, fior di latte cheese and tomato sauce topped with Parmesan cheese.
The eggplant Parmesan at Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy, consists of layers of fried eggplant, fior di latte cheese and tomato sauce topped with Parmesan cheese. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The dish arrived at our table piping hot accompanied by locally made bread to sop up every bit of sauce. It did not skimp on the cheese, with thin, melty slices tucked in between the eggplant and finished with a rich tomato sauce.
The large portion could easily substitute as an entree for one or feed up to three as an appetizer. We ate every bit, and my dining companion pronounced it one of the best she had ever eaten.
Our main dishes, pasta con patate and paccheri alla puttanesca di bacala, arrived next.
Bacala, or salted cod, is a popular dish in southern Italy — and the wider Mediterranean — usually served fried here and accompanied by broccoli rabe or in a sauce of tomatoes, olives and capers.
Pasta con patate, or pasta with potatoes, at Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy, is made using mixed pasta of various shapes. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The trattoria’s offering featured bite-sized pieces of fish with paccheri, a large, tubelike pasta originating in the Campania region, home to Naples and Gragnano.
In this case, the perfectly al dente paccheri provided the ideal vessel for the light, tomatoey sauce, which didn’t overpower the flavor of the fish.
The pasta con patate, a hearty dish of potatoes, bacon and provolone cheese, featured pasta mista, or mixed pasta, a blend of shorter cuts.
Originating in Naples as a way for factories to sell random bits of leftover products, pasta mista now is a supermarket shelf mainstay.
Paccheri, a large, tubelike pasta, is the star of an entree at Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy, that includes cod, tomatoes, capers, olives and peppers. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Pasticifio Cuomo’s pasta con patate — a traditional cucina povera, or cooking of the poor, recipe — did not disappoint.
The pasta medley was skillfully enhanced by tender bite-size potatoes and a velvety sauce. As a vegetarian, I asked if the bacon could be omitted from the dish and the restaurant was happy to make the accommodation.
Candidly, I was full after just a few bites but couldn’t resist the temptation to keep dipping my spoon into the generous portion, which was polished off by my dining companion.
The torta al cioccolato al vino rosso, a rich chocolate cake soaked in Italian red wine and topped with chocolate ganache, Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Despite our full stomachs, we were determined to end our meal with tiramisu. But Amelia Cuomo, our server, persuaded us to try a local specialty, a dense, moist chocolate cake soaked in red wine and topped with chocolate ganache.
It was delicious.
In all, a meal at Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria is a delightful experience that also harkens back to a historical era when eating pasta was a simple but meaningful act of anti-Fascist defiance.
Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy, features classic southern Italian recipes. Its cuisine is locally sourced and prepared by community chefs. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The interior of Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria in Gragnano, Italy. The restaurant is adjacent to a museum detailing the Cuomo family's centuries-old tradition of making pasta. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Pastificio Cuomo Traditional Trattoria
Address: Via Roma, 29/A, Gragnano, Italy
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Thursday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Monday.
Prices: 10-13 euros for appetizers; 13-15 euros for pasta; 16-18 euros for meat, fish and main dishes; 5 euros for side dishes; 6 euros for desserts; 7 euros for wine by the glass or 18-25 euros by the bottle; 6 euros for beer; and 2-3 euros for water and soft drinks.
Information: Phone: +39 338 39 77 517, Online: pastacuomo.com
