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LIVING & TRAVEL by hannah satz Published May 20, 1996	Albert Einstein once said: "To a plate of tortellini or lasagna and to a beautiful woman, one never says no." Einstein wasn't in Idaho when this thought struck him; he was in Bologna, where the food is more exquisite and the lingerie more sensuous than in any city I have known. Einstein was at the Pappagallo Restaurant -- one of Bologna's many esteemed eateries -- situated in the historic center of this northern Italian city. In my search for the perfect tortellini, I too partook of an exquisite meal at Pappagallo. I had spent the morning wandering through Bologna's nearby stylish shops, where I discovered the quintessence of femininity -- underwear explicitly designed to stir the depths of a woman's emotion and tempt even the steeliest of us with its subtle embroidered detail, lace and sensuality. Inquiring, I discovered that this lingerie was made in Bologna. Bologna is city of delights, but I would like to focus on those that tempt the palate -- the sumptuous and ubiquitous hand-made pasta -- and those that tempt other senses: the world's most refined and exquisite underwear. Bologna became a capital for silk weavers from the 15th century onwards. The strength of this tradition gave birth to a prestigious school of corsetry-makers whose hand-made corsets became increasingly sought after by ladies of noble birth who wished to include these precious garments in their dowries. Between 1920 and 1930, this great sartorial tradition led to the establishment of ateliers, which became the nonpareil of corsetry-making. Against such an enticing background Antonio and Ada Masotti created their atelier, La Perla, with five sewing machines, lots of courage, talent, and a visionary spirit. Today the five sewing machines have grown into five factories, La Perla boutiques in the most chic shopping addresses of the world: Madison Avenue, New York; Via Codotti, Rome; Via Montenapoleone, Milan; and Faubourg St. Honore, Paris. Ada Masotti has passed away, but today her son Dottore Alberto Masotti manages and oversees the company with the same spirit and attention to sensual detail.
WEB RESOURCES The Restaurants of Balogna The La Perla Story Eating and Drinking in Bologna Mama's Pasta Glossary She's Mama Ragu (of Ragu sauce) but if you're okay with commercial sites, she knows a thing or two about pasta. Mama's Favorite Places She likes to eat, and she likes Bologna. Process for Making a Good Pasta Sauce It's all in the ingredients. "Roma tomatoes. Think juicy sex. Think of sex embodied in tomato form. Oblong, not round, roma tomatoes are sweeter than beef tomatoes and provide the backbone of pasta molly-gnese." Recipe for Hand-made Pasta Epicurious Check out their recipe archive for countless ways to cook pasta. How you work the lingerie aspect in is up to you.	How often does a woman -- or, perhaps, a man -- stop to consider what goes into the creation of the brassiere? Does she ever consider how the manufacturer is able to ensure that the delicate Leavers lace motif is correctly positioned so that it appears in exactly the same place, covering the nipple precisely in every single brassiere in each size cup? Imagine how much lace is discarded into the trash can in order to render such precision! Or how perfectly color coded each batch of stretch lycra, tulle, lace, or silk needs to be in order to match up the little bows, the snaps and the straps that are an intrinsic part of each design. All of this has contributed to transforming corsetry from simple intimate apparel to a sophisticated fashion product. Every section of the La Perla factory is streamlined and modern, with sophisticated computer and laser technology functioning in harmony with the most laborious and fastidious hand work, executed by women of all ages. There is a machine that assures the quality control of batches of fabric, and another which tests the elasticity of the lycra. Each stage of assembly is executed by a woman trained in that specific area. I watched women working on the computer that prints the patterns and then converts them onto a template, using laser technology. Heat-molded cups are pinned by hand, one by one, onto a special support and molded into shape, using a highly sophisticated heat-based technique that ensures a perfect natural form. One woman pins the lace onto the silk, another woman stitches it into place, one woman handles the templates, another makes sure that the fabric is perfectly placed before still another woman cuts the batch. Efficiency and synchronization down to the last and most perfect detail -- checking each finished garment for quality control, and attaching the labels, sizes and model number. Before Masotti launches a new design, he carries out sociological studies that measure the social trends of women today, taking into account a woman's self-perception, the way she sees her body, and her role in society. La Perla approaches the subject as a total concept, endeavoring to exalt a woman's natural beauty at all times. Apparently this same total concept has carried over to the boutiques, where stucco-work reliefs evoke antique lace motifs. Color coordinated concave walls and curved free-standing structures create an ambiance of softness and warmth. After the sumptuous display of tactile and sensuous undergarments, I needed to satisfy my hunger pangs. Making for my favorite trattoria, I ordered a plate of tortellini, and found myself musing on the origin of these delicious morsels. Who made them, and where and how were they made? Why is it nicknamed "l'ombelico di Venere"(Venus' navel)? Like most things Italian, especially food, I found it to have a long history. Local restauranteurs were more than happy to answer my questions.
	Following an invitation to come and watch the tortellini being made the next morning, the first thing I learned was that the women who make hand-made pasta have a special name: 'sfogline'. . . the high priestesses of the temple of pasta! Bologna boasts the highest concentration of these professionals. Caught up in my quest for the perfect tortellini, I tramped from restaurant to restaurant, sampling the pasta with various fillings: meat, pumpkin, ricotta and spinach. The varieties are endless, and I never tired of eating them. Fortunately for my silhouette, I was there only two weeks. During my stay, I also tasted nettle-flavored tagliatelle, green lasagna, and gnocchi with flecks of parsley and a gorgonzola sauce, topped with pine nuts. Hand-made pasta follows a rigid recipe: one kilo of 00 grade flour mixed with ten eggs. That is the standard recipe for the dough; the filling can vary. The 'sfoglina' kneads the ingredients into a dough on a wooden board. The only instruments she uses are a flat knife to scrape away accumulated bits from the board and a rolling pin. She rolls it ceaselessly until the pasta achieves a tissue-like texture. Once the dough is ready, she cuts it into the desired shape, either with a knife or a pastry cutter, depending on the intended effect. She delicately places a dab of filling on each square and folds each skillfully. It is then ready to be boiled. If she is not going to cook the tortellini for some time she covers them to prevent their drying out. Many restaurants in Bologna keep their own resident 'sfoglina' who does this work daily. There is a competition held annually called "il Matterello d'Oro"(The Golden Rolling Pin), in which the 'sfogline' of Bologna participate. According to local lore, the world's first 'sfoglina' was none other than Tamar, the sister of Absalom, from the Bible! In the Second book of Samuel, Amnon, the eldest son of King David, falls in love with his half-sister Tamar. Feigning illness, he has the king call on him, and requests that "Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I might eat at her hand." King David agrees, and sends Tamar to Amnon's bedside. "So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes." To find the origin of the name, 'l'ombilico di Venere', I turned to an engineer named Ceria, Tuscan by birth but Bolognese by adoption. He traced the history of the tortellini to "La Secchia Rapita, " a poem by Alessandro Tassoni. "Secchia rapita" tells the story of Mars, Bacchus and Venus visiting the small town of Castelfranco. The deities decide to stop overnight at the local inn. Bacchus and Mars arise at dawn in order to complete their strategic investigations of a nearby battlefield, leaving Venus alone. When she awakes she assumes they have abandoned her. She rings a bell vehemently in order to summon the innkeeper, who, arriving breathless and panting, finds the goddess nude. Enraptured by this lovely vision, and above all inspired by the beauty of her divine navel, he is compelled to immortalize it in dough. Without waiting a moment he runs down to the kitchen, grabs the rolled-out dough from the old woman servant, and wraps it into the small round shape, ecstatically repeating the movement of wrapping the dough around his finger hundreds and hundreds of times in his efforts to duplicate that beautiful navel. Through the squint-eyed Bolognese innkeeper's infatuation with the navel of Venus, the art of making tortellini was born. Today, tortellini is still a favorite dish, and the women of Italy are worshipped not with pasta but with lace and silk, made to follow their curves exactly like rolled out dough.