Italian-born Marcella Hazan was a scholar, teacher, home cook, and cookbook author. Her book The Classic Italian Cookbook was released in the spring of 1973. When her publisher refused to submit her 1992 book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking for consideration for the James Beard Awards, she submitted the book on her own—and won, in the category of Best Italian Cookbook.  At her passing in 2013, Lidia Bastianich, herself a famed NYC restauranteur, proclaimed Ms. Hazan as “the first mother of Italian Cooking.” She has been credited with changing the way Americans cook Italian food. The New York Times polled readers after her death, asking which of her recipes were staples in their kitchens. “Bolognese” was usually the answer. She had a few recipes for the classic sauce, but The NY Times published Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce recipe that appeared in her book “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cuisine.”