LONGBOAT KEY, Fla.– At a time when overcooked spaghetti and Chef Boyardee defined Italian food for most Americans, Marcella Hazan dared them to try a bite of something new.

That was about 40 years ago. Since then, her many cookbooks, classes and television shows have made classic Italian cooking – this time the real deal – as ubiquitous in the U.S. as burgers and pizza. And yet Hazan – considered to have done for Italian cooking what Julia Child did for French – isn’t done yet.

Though 88, officially retired and wrestling with back and other health issues, Hazan continues to teach. This time it isn’t in a refurbished 16th century palazzo in Venice. It’s on Facebook.