Vicky Bennison, a 60-year-old British woman with a background in international development, never intended Pasta Grannies to become a minor YouTube hit or to make stars of a handful of Italian nonnas who couldn’t care less about their influencer status.

She simply wanted to create a culinary Noah’s ark to capture a way of life before it disappears.

“I keep thinking, ‘Don’t die before I get to you,’” she said.

Since Ms. Bennison began her project nearly five years ago, she has recorded more than 250 women (and a few men) doing what they do every day: rolling pizzoccheri from buckwheat flour to toss with Alpine cheese made only in Valtellina; twisting semolina dough into sagne ritorte to hold the horse-meat ragù popular in Puglia; marrying hand-torn strapponi with porcini mushrooms from a Tuscan forest.