Collection: La vera contadina

La vera contadina is the Mamù line inspired by rural Italian cuisine: pots and pans in white aluminum with iron handles, in the tradition of post-war rural Italian kitchenware. Sturdy, roomy, and unfussy. For hearty cooking, for slow-boiling soups, for hours-long ragùs, for polenta stirred in the cauldron. Made in Italy.

Italian peasant cuisine: its rules

Traditional rural Italian cuisine has a few simple rules: seasonal ingredients, long, low-heat cooking, generous quantities, and nothing wasted. The tools are sturdy and functional: no fragile pans, no handles that give way. The pot can withstand the high flames of the hearth, is large enough for the whole family, and lasts a generation.

The La vera contadina line brings this philosophy to Italian aluminum: white aluminum tools with iron handles that hold the heat without sagging, in large sizes for cooking for large families and for the hearty meals of the peasant tradition.

Tools from the La vera contadina line

• White aluminum sauté pan: roomy, with a long iron handle. For pasta with sauce for the whole family, or for stirring large quantities directly in the pan.
• White aluminum saucepan: large and roomy, with an iron handle. For Sunday braised meats, rabbit stew, and long-cooking peppers
• White aluminum saucepan with two handles: for bean soups, hearty minestrone, and lentil soup that cooks for hours
• White aluminum roasting pan: the large pan for roast chicken, rabbit with potatoes, and Sunday roasts
• White aluminum cauldron: for polenta, for preserves, for sterilizing jars, and for cooking in large quantities

Traditional white aluminum

White aluminum is the historic material of 20th-century Italian cuisine. Before nonstick, all Italian pots and pans were made of white aluminum. Italian grandmothers swear that certain foods turn out better in traditional aluminum. Polenta in the boiler, sauce in the pan, pasta in the casserole: aluminum transmits heat evenly and quickly. That's why these preparations turn out so well with this material.

Iron handles: uncompromising strength

The products in the La vera contadina line have iron handles: heavier than the die-cast aluminum handles of modern pots, but more robust and with a long shelf life. Iron handles don't heat up like aluminum ones and don't deteriorate over time. They're the same material as the handles used in Italian kitchens for decades, the ones your grandmother used and are still there, intact.