Sophie Schoucair's rigatoni alla vodka

1. Sauté the onions and garlic with olive oil. Sweat them until nicely colored.
2. Add the pancetta for 5 minutes.
3. Add the peeled tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.
5. Then, leave half-covered for about 40 minutes depending on how the tomatoes cook.
6. Add the cream to the tomato sauce and adjust the seasoning. Note: pancetta is salty, so if needed, add a little more cream.
7. Cook the pasta 3 minutes less than the package instructions indicate.
8. Drain, reserving two ladlefuls of cooking water (an Italian trick!).
9. Toss the pasta and sauce over high heat. Add the reserved cooking water to finish cooking the pasta.
10. Finally, pour in the vodka. Wait until the alcohol evaporates and the sauce reduces.
11. Serve immediately.

The story of Sophie and her grandmother Marinella

"The name of the restaurant, Marinella, which I opened in June 2011, is actually my grandmother’s first name. She was born in 1913 in Beirut and grew up in Alexandria with her twin sister, Giovanna, her other sister Bianca and her brother Luigi. The Italian community in the Middle East was quite significant and operated as a network, often mixing with other cosmopolitan groups in the eastern Mediterranean (Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Russians, etc.). These Italian families, often from major port cities (Genoa, Venice, Naples, Livorno), held key roles in the Ottoman Empire, particularly in commerce, banking and transportation. Their influence declined during the French and British mandates, and again with the creation of nation-states in the region."

"Barely out of her teens, Marinella returned to Lebanon in hopes of finding a husband, but without success. Returning empty-handed, her twin sister Giovanna took the same path and tried her luck. She met Jean Medawar, born in Damascus and from a family of Syriac entrepreneurs. They fell in love and got married. Her sister visited regularly and eventually fell in love herself with one of Jean’s elder brothers, Georges. So the two twin sisters married two brothers. They all lived together. The first couple had no children, while my grandmother had three: two boys and a girl, my mother. In the house, the kitchen was the heart of the two sisters’ activity."

"Although my grandmother died when I was very young, my great aunt stayed with us for much longer. After the Israeli invasion of 1982, we lived in the villa where my mother was born, and I spent a lot of time with Giovanna. She is the one who inspired my passion for cooking and Italian culture, even if I learned a lot from my mother and my profession was taught to me in Switzerland and France. The taste of Italy and Dante’s language have been passed down to me. I met one of my best friends in Rome during a language study trip and we still have family in the Florence area. It goes without saying that the bond is still strong and that the name of my restaurant, as well as my menu, are tributes to a part of my roots and the cosmopolitan history of Beirut."

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