Viewpoints

By Judy Fayard

THE ROMAGNOLIS' TABLE. PBS, Sundays 7:00 p.m. E.D.T. For the viewer-cook inclined to split piselli, it must be said that Pa and Ma (Italian-born Franco and Irish-English Margaret) Romagnoli are a bit offhand. He says add a cup of vinegar, but what he does is slosh a slug of it into a wineglass, eye it with a shrug, and toss it in. A few Romagnoli dishes -- hot Swiss chard with olive oil, spareribs and sausages mired in thick sauce -- are the sort of thing only an Italian mama could love. But these are piffling objections. This is not the haute cuisine of Julia Child but Italian family fare, presented with a brisk, nothing-to-it insouciance guaranteed to dispel even a beginning cook's fear of frying.

Moreover, the Romagnolis are, unselfconsciously, one of the most delightful comedy teams on television. She burbles over about candied fruits ("precious little jewels") and onions ("in there being rather happy turning translucent"). His English is improvised, but he ad-libs gamely on discovering that his model for "how to tell a live clam" is quite dead. When he despairs over potholes in his pastry dough, Margaret comforts him: "pastry and pasta are always volatile." Their show is cooking con brio, best enjoyed with a hearty glass of country red and one of the Romagnolis' toasts from old Abruzzi: "I'll drink to your big feet."

-- Judy Fayard

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