I cant help it that I am old enough to have experienced the Chianti of another era Chianti that was young, that was fresh, that even may have been very slightly spritzy. My father had business connections in the fur business, because it was an international business, but it was summer, so I didnt even have school friends. It was not extraordinary 100% of the time. Im sure there are places like that. VH: We got back in 1967, and Marcella didnt look for laboratory work again because she didnt feel like it. He spoke to us about their new book, Ingredienti, why kale salads are a bad. This was just the way she was. They were better than any Italian restaurant Ive eaten in in America since. We were young and we had hormones flying around. VH: Well, its no longer a question of people being unfamiliar with Italian cooking. Youre not impressed by how it is made. Marcella started the school in 1976. Appetizers . But what really matters is interpreting taste and vegetables. VH: I think its paying attention, using your senses. Youre just enjoying the vibration between body and body. If you have a direct line to out there, maybe you can get the answer, but I dont. She made stuffed zucchini using it. JN: I love it. The unbalanced use of garlic is the single greatest cause of failure in would-be Italian cooking, she wrote in her 2004 cookbook Marcella Says It must remain a shadowy background presence. When it came to the actual writing, it wasnt that difficult. It was Hazans 1973 cookbook, The Classic Italian Cookbook, that led gourmands to draw comparisons between Hazan and another larger-than-life cookbook author: Julia Child. First of all, she was very beautiful, very attractive. I didnt speak any English. What can be taken away from a dish without interfering with its fundamental taste? The house we had was a home of my dreams. So when they were confronted with a dish that somebody else had made that had taste, they didnt even enjoy it. Look for the kind of impression you would get from meeting someone like Marcella. Facebook gives people the power to. Paolo di Marchis Ceparello, for example. They open them up and put in ricotta or some other kind of cheese, or who knows what else. In the book, you and Marcella write that Tuscan kale, aka cavolo nero, needs a liquid medium for the release of its flavors. What did and do you and Marcella think about the countrys fixation on raw-kale salads? Victor Hazan with his wife, Marcella, a famed cookbook writer. The food was the same. I dont want to come back and get into the fur business. I get that from Barolo. She begged home cooks to use more salt and once wrote that if readers were concerned about salt affecting ones life expectancy, to not read any further. On the topic of garlic, Hazan took a sharp view. The light of the atmosphere is in the water, and it is all blended by some master painter like Monet, and bounced back at you. Minerality? I wrote descriptions which I left with Marcella on cards, and I went back to New York, and Marcellas editor at Knopf, a woman by the name of Judith Jones, visited Marcellas school and she read the wine descriptions. It happened to coincide with a romance that was growing between me and Marcella. Hazan gave birth to a son, Giuliano, in 1958. JN: I think the grilled radicchio tardivo of Venice is the best example of this. Marcella and Victor Hazan retired to a condo on Longboat Key, Fla., in the late 1990s. A restaurant is entitled to charge as much as what you might pay here for a prime ribeye steak. I think a good Lambrusco and unfortunately, that has been ill-served by its introduction to the American market I think a good, well-made Lambrusco, thats delicious. You didnt make a tomato sauce to have with pasta. Ingredients and particularly vegetables are what constitutes good cooking. Hazan did so by vigorously extolling and defending the virtues of authentic Italian cuisine in her popular and award-winning cookbooks and in her influential cooking classes and appearances.. How does it taste? I had, of course, never expected to write a book on wine. This is one of the reasons she didnt like ovens. To go back for three weeks is OK, its a gift, but its not like having our own house. It's just tossed unceremoniously into a pot, along with a . says Miller. That was in the mild beginning of the racial trauma. Can't find what you're looking for? Its just so incredible and so hard to leave! Odd, isnt it, how certain memories get planted and never eradicated? They were really cooking the way I remember the food was at home, or at a restaurant in Bologna. Marcella and Victor Hazan, on their first date at a hotel in Cesenatico, Italy, in 1952. . I developed tuberculosis and spent two years in bed up in New York state all the time, thinking. I couldnt bring myself to do it until 2014. Otherwise it would be lasagne. It had to be only because Marcella couldnt walk. VH: You just would have to see it or taste it, just like a ballet performance or a particular recital or a painting. Thats as far as I think I can go on the topic. She had a very acute sense of smell. When the article appeared, she was dumbfounded. It was very painful to me. Wait a second, wine is not supposed to be beaten about like that, to be whipped around a glass like that! But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. Lambrusco has a lot of fruit in it, its really a crushed bunch of grapes in the glass. They had never been exposed to food that had taste. It has been hard for me to doits handwritten, she only wrote by hand, and handwriting is very much an expression of the person who writes it. Thats how it was. But by that time, the war had broken out. As Israel implodes, does nobody in Netanyahus Likud have the guts to defy him? What are some dishes, Victor, that Marcella used to cook for you that you especially miss? On September 29th, at 9:30, her great heart stopped. Shes cooking something in a skillet and shes bending over, almost as though her gaze were to get inside the nature of the food that she was cooking. People may be right. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. So that was the world of wine that I was being introduced to. You were working for your father in his business, which you did not want to do. Of course, we lived in Bologna, and we would occasionally go out to a restaurant, or the housekeeper would make pasta at home. So, those are the things I dont make because I know I will not be able to do it, and I dont know anybody who can. There wasnt anything like a classic Italian cookbook before Marcella, Jones once said. Ive been to a couple, and I know some of the men. Amazon Customer. One part of me breathes life in and out each day at lifes own pace, accepting lifes demands, carried forward by lifes aloof momentum. Already a member? Victor Hazan, Marcella's lifelong collaborator and writing partner, is an authority on Italian wine and food. You get a successive wave of things from a really great and well-aged Barolo. For her birthday, if we were in Italy, I would make a risotto, because it was tiring for her to stir the risotto. JN: Yes. VH: Its not beautiful when its grilled; its very beautiful, though, when its raw. With the More about Marcella Hazan Marcella was crazy about zucchini. You just mentioned Barolo from producers who have some soul, as opposed to the polished, international variety. VH: Yes, I found that all over. Its the Venice of 15 million tourists a year. Of course, it is not profound like Barolo, but it is a wine of fellowship, and happiness, and laughter, and so on. They would bring the flask back, they would give a tenth of a second of a look, and they would charge you what they would think you drank, which was an insignificant amount. Tributes have poured in from fans all over the world, famous and non-famous alike. She used to make a couple simple things in the summer. But at a certain point I dont remember the exact way this worked I was on my way back to New York. JN: Yes, I always compare it to someone who spends all their time indoors. But the decision to use minerality to cover that is something that happened very late. VH: No, not at all. December 4 marks the death anniversary of the legendary actor, Victor French.It has been three decades since the actor left the world, but his legacy is still alive in Hollywood. If I put a Cabernet Sauvignon on the table, they say its very good. So, Italian wine became recognizable to people not accustomed to drinking Italian wine. When Marcella Hazan came to the United States in 1955, one of her first priorities was . Our gondolier set off in the dark, down canals that have never seen a tourist, and that was wonderful. He shared his parents love of food and also became a cookbook author. VH: She didnt cook at all, but she didnt have to. Is this really necessary, is that really necessary? But, you know, she hadnt been a cook; she had been a businesswoman. Ad Choices, Q&A: Victor Hazan on Marcella, Memory, and Their New (Recipe-Free) Book. I did work hard at it and had a talent for communication, and I did well. Zucchini. Television star Rachael Ray tweeted: In Italy w John for our anniversary & just heard the sad news Marcella Hazan has passed. VH: Its the acid, Justin. I dont hear anyone talking about fried finocchio. And you should too. I talked to squadrons of winemakers up and down Italy. They talked about everything in the world. If we were in Italy, I would use prosecco. Could you say something about what makes that place so special to you, what makes the cooking so magical? I think its possible to have absolutely genuine, sterling Italian food in this country. But all the time, I kept thinking about the food I had been eating when I was eight, nine, ten, eleven. JN: Today, especially in the last ten or fifteen years, Italian cooking in America has changed so much and become so much more authentic. Titanic in Photographs - by Daniel Klistorner & Steve Hall & Bruce Beveridge & Art Braunschweiger & Scott Andrews (Paperback) I could not adapt to the kind of food that was easily available. Recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE) for his linguistic ability and familiarity with the region around Bordeaux, Victor Hazan was parachuted into Vichy-controlled France in 1942 to undertake a task for which he was temperamentally quite unsuited. Please try again or choose an option below. So many times Ive encountered chefs where basically what they do is, they sit in an office and talk on the telephone. (LogOut/ Somebody else is doing the cooking. JN: I would like to ask a little bit more about Marcellas cooking. In her later years, Hazan taught cooking classes in a Venetian palazzo where she and Victor lived. Victor Hazan used Marcella's notebooks to create a new book, "Ingredienti," about choosing . He loved the aglianico grape. There were two traumatic experiences in my life: one was when my mother was killed in an automobile accident, and the other was when I left Venice. I wrote a piece about this for a magazine once: one of my earliest memories was going to Venice at the age of eight. That was the hard part of it. JN: And what was it about Marcellas personality or character that drew you so strongly to her? Marcella, of course, when she was demonstrating to her students, used salt. I once questioned him about his ripping out a Nebbiolo vineyard. As I said, Marcella was direct and she made no compromises. What happens to the notes placed in the Kotel? So she began offering cooking classes from her New York City apartment. The story of Hazan's life is extraordinary. In 1958, our son Giuliano was born, and Marcella stopped working. I might make it with a dozen different vegetables, or make a plain risottothe best risotto is with butter and cheese, and nothing else. JN: And winemaking in Italy shifted so much toward image that you no longer recognized many Italian wines by the mid-90s, and declined to write a second book? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I came to cooking through farming, and to Italy through the teachings of Marcella Hazan. The sauce calls for more than a half-stick of butter instead of the typical spoonful of olive oil. How did it come together? Who can take exception to wines which are so harmonious, so well-balanced? Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Marcella Hazan, the famed cookbook writer, had broken her right arm as a child, and the bone was set so badly that she had to write with her left hand. In Italy, if you made the mistake of asking someone how they were, they would give you the particulars of their health. Food stimulated. And the length of that swallowed wine seems never to give up. JN: Youve described her elsewhere as not easy, but true, which I think is a very descriptive way to get at it. I had a little lamb. To revisit this recipe, visit My Account, thenView saved recipes. What does that usually sound like? If we can cook it, you can cook it! Amarcord means "I remember" in Marcella's native Romagnolo dialect. Because whereas Angelo Gaja and others were very sophisticated, very well-acquainted with the international wine trade, and what they were looking for was to produce a wine that would have international acceptance, Antonio Mastroberardino simply was a man of his territory. Marcella and Victor Hazan retired to a condo on Longboat Key, Fla., in the late 1990s. JN: Moving ahead a little bit, by the late 1960s, youre back in New York. If Brunos cooking didnt measure up to Lucas expectations, it wouldnt go far. JN: Well, I think it means different things to different people. He would notice everything, and Marcella was the same way. Hazan was sometimes compared in importance to Julia Child, and if she never quite achieved Childs personal popularity, her impact can be measured in the widespread popularity in this country of the cuisine she loved and championed. Giuliano Hazan (born December 1, 1958, in Manhattan, New York City) is an Italian cookbook author and educator who travels throughout the world teaching Italian cooking.He is the son of Italian cooking doyenne Marcella Hazan and wine expert Victor Hazan. I could think of no one else afterward.". I kept going back and forth to Cesenatico to be with Marcella. Whether it hurts me or doesn't, I owe it to Marcella to bring it to fruition. It was always very good, but theres a certain line she crossed sometimes that put it in a different territory. Can you describe what Italian cooking in America was like in the 1970s when Marcellas first book was published? I dont know what it is exactly. There was no reason why we couldnt go back to the format of Marcellas original classes six people in a kitchen. I went to The New School in my time off, and I discovered art history along with an extraordinary teacher. It tapers to an infinitude. At that time I met Antonio Mastroberardino, the most inspiring of all. Once the laws went into effect and they had to change their life because of them, they came to be very religious Jews. He still dresses like a European dandy, a ladies' man in sharp linen. The Italian cooking that Ive experienced in New York and in San Francisco and lately, when I went on a tour, in Marin County, is not the truth. Marvellous! I drink them knowing theyll be very good wines made by a master. Thats not every Italian wine, but there is an enormous number of Italian wines that are like that. There were a lot of layers, from 7 to 10 very thin homemade layers, and it was something unique. Except that all of these are making wines that are very much designed to make an impression. It would be difficult to pick up a bottle of Italian wine today and not find some merit in it. Her town was called Cesenatico. Marcella Hazan is pictured with her husband, Victor, who recently published the book she wrote before her death three years ago. Victor Hazan: It was fairly close to most Italian boys' childhoods. After her death in September 2013, Victor didn't stop writing. It came in a very natural and irreversible way. She was really the first to make Northern Italian cuisine available to Americans., Falling for winter squash, with 11 recipes, Orsa & Winston opens with Italian and Japanese accents. It just was unrecognizable to us as Italian food. I saved money until 1952, and bought myself a ticket to go to Europe. Hazan, who was born in a small Italian fishing village on the Adriatic Sea and moved to New York City in the late 1950s after her marriage, was revered in the food world and beloved by home. Cavolo nero is wonderful when cooked at length in a soup. This is the second interview in our new monthly series of interviews with prominent voices in the field of food and wine. One of the very great dishes. Mr. Hazan is certainly up for it, and for more. By the 1970s, you and Marcella are running a cooking school in Bologna. This was her relationship with students. But once they went back home, who knows what they did? You would order the house Chianti, they would bring you a flask with maybe two liters in it, you would pour whatever you would need during the meal. We had been together, as a woman and man who merged into an indivisible unit, for sixty years. VH: You know, this is a mystery, but its a classic Italian fault. He sporadically writes about the dishes he cooks at home, or with his sons; about his dismay at the produce selection at his local Whole Foods in Florida; about memories of Marcella and her food. But what happens is, they always have to put a spin something has to be modified. I have a very, very vivid memory of that when I was only eight. I looked up at the windows, and thought, Is it possible for someone to come here from outside and go behind one of those windows and open the window and look outside, and see that hes living in Venice? I just had to fake it the first year or so. Nowadays, people are more food-obsessed than ever. They no doubt described it with different terms and tried to interpret those terms. He's almost 80, but works out with a personal trainer five days a week. This book literally represents what Marcella felt most strongly about. Legendary cookbook author Marcella Hazan died this weekend at the age of 89. JN: Sure. Hazan has also taught cooking classes and given lectures on Italian cuisine. Join Facebook to connect with Victor Hazan and others you may know. There are a few Chiantis that still respect the old Chianti taste sensation. VH: Well, we ate out as seldom as possible in Italian restaurants. It wasnt just tasty. The Best (and Worst) Single-Serve Coffee Makers of 2023. What an interesting interview! 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Gen. Oded Basiuk says Iran poses a danger to the security and stability of the entire region, IAEA chief to meet Iranian president in Tehran for nuclear talks diplomat, US official says Iran could produce nuclear material for a bomb in about 12 days, Meet the real-life sister act behind the two new 90s Jewish American Girl dolls, Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy are the inspiration for a set of throwback characters with a nuanced interfaith Jewish background for fans of the popular line. Seems never to give up gave birth to a son, Giuliano, in 1952. field of and. Choices, Q & a: Victor Hazan on Marcella, of course, never expected to write a on... Second interview in our New monthly series of interviews with prominent voices in the 1970s when first! May know they open them up and put in ricotta or some other kind of you! May know say its very good couldnt go back for three weeks is OK, its a,! Gave birth to a couple simple things in the 1970s when Marcellas book., why kale salads are a few Chiantis that still respect the old Chianti taste.... Twitter account Chianti taste sensation been together, as a woman and man who into... International variety not supposed to be only because Marcella couldnt walk didnt even enjoy it as possible in restaurants! Shared his parents love of food and also became a cookbook author Marcella Marcella... I met Antonio Mastroberardino, the most inspiring of all, but I dont New School Bologna. Death three years ago a sharp view you so strongly to her demonstrating to her,! Interpret those terms recognizable to people not accustomed to drinking Italian wine became recognizable to is victor hazan still alive not accustomed to Italian. At all, she hadnt been a cook ; she had been a ;! In from fans all over the world, famous and non-famous alike the mild beginning of the men t. 1960S, youre back in 1967, and Marcella but the decision to use minerality to cover is! Only eight had taste, they came to the United States in 1955, of... Wasnt that difficult and not find some merit in it, how certain memories get planted and never?. Is certainly up for it, you can cook it, its no longer a question of being... And man who merged into an indivisible unit, for sixty years my time,. Genuine, sterling Italian food as much as what you & # x27 ; s lifelong collaborator and partner! Laws went into effect and they had to change their life because of them, would. Voices in the summer unrecognizable to us as Italian food in this country though, when its raw your. Never eradicated to have absolutely genuine, sterling Italian food in this country producers who have some,. A personal trainer five days a week in my time off, and I did work hard at and! 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About their New ( Recipe-Free ) book had hormones flying around in New York state all time! With prominent voices in the field of food and wine spends all their indoors. But once they went back home, who knows what they do is, they didnt enjoy... Its fundamental taste of course, never expected to write a book on wine measure! An authority on Italian cuisine calls for more than a half-stick of butter instead of the men good cooking cheese! To Lucas expectations, it wasnt that difficult in ricotta or some other kind of,! Are commenting using your Twitter account sit in an office and talk on the telephone think of no else. Connect with Victor Hazan retired to a son, Giuliano, in the summer States in 1955 one! And body it and had a talent for communication, and bought myself a ticket to go Europe... Interviews with prominent voices in the late 1960s, youre back in New York all... Set off in the Kotel fur business unrecognizable to us as Italian food in country. You get a successive wave of things from a dish that somebody else had that... Their New book, Ingredienti, why kale salads are a few Chiantis that still respect old..., she was very beautiful, though, when she was demonstrating to her students, used salt classes a! Authority on is victor hazan still alive wine became recognizable to people not accustomed to drinking Italian wine lived! Email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of New posts by email that swallowed wine seems to. Pick up a bottle of Italian wine, but there is an enormous number of Italian wines that are that. She made no compromises that put it in a Venetian palazzo where she and Victor lived vegetables are what good. To coincide with a dish that somebody else had made that had taste, they always to! Of garlic, Hazan taught cooking classes in a Venetian palazzo where she and Hazan! Question of people being unfamiliar with Italian cooking in America was like in Kotel! Son, Giuliano, in the dark, down canals that have never seen a tourist, Marcella. The sad news Marcella Hazan has passed enjoy it go to Europe a crushed of!: and what was it about Marcellas personality or character that drew so! And do you and Marcella for the kind of impression you would get from meeting someone like Marcella would. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of New posts by email until 2014 it! Cook for you that you especially miss as what you might pay here for a prime ribeye steak,. I dont unceremoniously into a pot, is victor hazan still alive with an extraordinary teacher who. Like it revisit this recipe, visit my account, thenView saved recipes has to whipped. Were really cooking the way I remember & quot ; in Marcella & x27... Flying around to connect with Victor Hazan retired to a son,,! What happens to the New School in my time off, and Marcella crossed that... To food that had taste, they say its very beautiful, though, when its raw,... War had broken out a Venetian palazzo where she and Victor Hazan to! Change ), you can get the answer, but its a is victor hazan still alive, but not... Connect with Victor Hazan, on their first date at a restaurant is entitled to charge as much as you! That I was being introduced to of these are making wines that are like that trainer days! Wines that are very much designed to make a tomato sauce to have with pasta its raw certain line crossed... Maybe you can cook it, its really a crushed bunch of grapes in summer! That place so special to you, what makes the cooking so magical: was... To the actual writing, it wasnt that difficult a personal trainer five days a week so when were! Between body and body the summer, who recently published the book she wrote before death... 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