G. Franco Romagnoli, 82, Italian Chef
From THE NEW YORK TIMES — 12/17/2008
G. Franco Romagnoli, who, with his wife, Margaret, helped introduce Americans to authentic Italian home cooking on the 1970s PBS series “The Romagnolis’ Table” and in a series of best-selling cookbooks, died Monday in Boston. He was 82 and lived in Watertown, Mass.
His son Marco confirmed the death but did not give a specific cause.
At a time when many Americans believed that spaghetti with meatballs was an Italian dish, Mr. Romagnoli, a Roman by birth and upbringing, translated the basics of Italian cooking on a low-key show that emphasized simple dishes made with restraint.
He did his best to shatter old myths, like the idea that pasta required a tomato sauce bubbling on the stove for hours on end. “That’s as un-Italian as you can get,” he protested in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor. “Ninety percent of pasta sauces are made by the time you bring that pasta to a boil.”