The smell of garlic, escallion, onions and tomatoes sautéing in olive oil is intoxicating. Alessandra Misir and her mum Maria are both in the kitchen whipping up a quick supper.

“Give us a few minutes,” states Alessandra. Fact is, that’s all they really need to spread a taste of culinary delights that commenced in the Eastern Italian coastal town of Rimini that skirts the Adriatic Sea and has since 2005 impressed quite a few palates here in Jamaica. “My grandmother had a restaurant, my mum had one too and was in the business for 15 years, so I guess it was inevitable that I would one day get involved.” And in a big way to boot! The woman who remembers her ‘coming out’ quite clearly: “I was 12 years old when I made my first real pasta,” she recalls, “And I guess I never really looked back.” Alessandra worked alongside her mother at the seaside restaurant of La Stiva where patrons could not get enough of the house speciality – the seafood lasagna.

Alessandra’s next kitchen would be miles away from Italy – Negril, Jamaica, in fact, where in 1995 she impressed many with her comforting home fare. “I started to cook immediately,” she continues, “and was encouraged by many who sat at my table.” Indeed she was catering for small dinner parties. “They loved my lasagna,” she continues. “I mean there’s no complexity.the principle is simple: healthy food made with absolutely fresh ingredients. I buy fresh vegetables daily.” Buoyed by the insatiable demands of friends, Alessandra with some amount of trepidation decided to really introduce her lasagna to the local market. “I packaged my lasagna and asked Gassan Azan of MegaMart to allow me to introduce it to his customers.” The response to her seven types of product was overwhelmingly positive. “It didn’t hurt either,” she shares, “that Azan’s mum, Dawn, loved the product too.” It’s difficult, as many shoppers have also discovered, to resist the three different types of lasagna – beef, chicken and vegetable – as well as the four pasta offerings – shrimp linguine, macaroni pasticciati (beef bolognese and cream sauce), penne in fresh tomato sauce (with an abundance of fresh tomatoes and a favourite amongst vegetarians) and penne in amatriana (tomato sauce and bacon).

Alessandra is as loved by children as she is by adults, and prepares pasta dishes once a week at Immaculate Conception Preparatory School. “My Pronto Pasta which is SRC (Scientific Research Council)-certified is low in cholesterol, contains zero trans fat and is loved by children.

They are in fact my best clients. Parents find comfort in the fact that there are sufficient carbs, protein and minerals in each serving. Perhaps like us I can get Jamaicans to eat pasta once a day.” The possibility exists, and with her new packages created by Fern Proctor all set to hit the shelves in a couple of weeks, there’s even lots more reason to be proud of her culinary adventures. “I was looking for,” she explains, “an authentic look of Italy, the colours of the flag coupled with the simple elegance of the place. my new packaging has captured it all.” Look out for the new-look Pronto Pasta, you’ll love both the packaging as well as its contents. Buon Appetito!