The poor Baudelaire children are orphans, plunged into a miserable existence upon the deaths of their parents in a terrible fire. Rich, but having no close relatives, they are sent to live with a distant cousin, the evil and bizarre Count Olaf who is fixated on obtaining their vast fortune. Biding his time until Violet, the oldest, comes of age and provides his opportunity to swipe the dough, Olaf keeps the children, but abuses them mightily, leaving them in near despondency. So begins the Gothic tale by Lemony Snicket, told in his aptly named The Bad Beginning that kicks of his Series of Unfortunate Events.Only a few rare opportunities temporarily brighten the children's outlook. One of these occurs on being assigned the chore of making dinner for Olaf and his troupe of thug-like friends. Borrowing a cookbook from their sympathetic neighbor they discover the joys of cooking. Their culinary adventure? Puttanesca sauce - a spicy red pasta sauce with capers and olives and anchovies! A colorful dish both culinarily and etymologically.* Our children, obviously identifying greatly with the sorrowful and bleak homelife of the Baudelaire children, begged Countess Stacy to be allowed the solitary pleasure of making Puttanesca sauce, or "Pukaneka sauce" as N puts it.
*"Puttanesca" translates literally into "in the style of a prostitute," and suggests that ladies of the Italian evening may have lured in their sailor prey with bowls of spicy pasta alongside their usual wares.
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