Sophia Loren’s spaghetti, Alberto Sordi’s Sunday lunch, Nino Manfredi and Vittorio Gassman’s lesso alla Piacchiapò in Ettore Scola’s film We All Loved Each Other So Much. When these giants of cinema are evoked—who portrayed a poor yet authentic Italy, especially through food—it feels like being catapulted into a distant era.

A country that no longer exists, where the peasant culinary tradition was simple, genuine, and capable of restoring even the brightest film stars, weary between one take and the next. As was the case for Marcello Mastroianni, who found comfort and relief in the meatballs prepared by his mother.