Chef Italia
madonna del piatto Perfil
everyday good Italian food
Puntos de CocinarComerCompartir.com
Acerca de mí
I am Italian and I love to travel and cook. I live on a magical mountain overlooking the green hills of Umbria, in central Italy. I like - immodestly - to see myself as an alchemist. I started my professional life as a research entomologist, studying the intricacies of chemical signals among insects and plants. Now, together with my family I welcome people to our farmhouse in Umbria try to teach simple of Italian home food. Isn't that magical? Bringing people together around wonderful wholesome food, it really is like alchemy.
Influencias de Cocina
I feel like I have been cooking forever and it is almost true. As I kid I lived in a central area of Perugia, my hometown. At that time it was perfectly safe not only to walk alone to school, but to return home before my parents went back from their office jobs.
As a 6 years old I already knew how to switch on the fire under the pasta pan. By the time my parents where back, the water would be boiling and we were able to eat quickly. We had pasta for lunch on working days. Roast chicken with potatoes on Sundays.
If our everyday meals were low profile, holidays were an entire different experience. In fact, a gastronomic extravaganza.
Half of my extended family is Sicilian and most of them live in Umbria. For Christmas or Easter, it was not unusual to have large parties of 15-20 people.
At each of these occasions, not only my mother, but all my Sicilian aunts and some uncles embarked in a sort of food contest. The contest functioned as follows:
1) each day of a holiday would be spent at a different house, i.e. Christmas at our house, New year’s Eve at zia Ida’s, New Year’s day at zia Anna and so forth
2) each day there would be a multicourse lunch or dinner
3) each meal would be different from the previous
There was no winner to the contest as all were wonderful cooks. These celebrations happened throughout my childhood and I remember them as an almost magical experience. There was no separate food for us kids. No junk food, no sodas. We were served a feast of elaborated dishes, all homemade, the results of the hard work the week preceeding the holiday. Images of crostini with chicken liver paté, lasagne, pasta incasciata, cardoons, veal rolls, stuffed pigeon, all sort of roast meat, big bowls of fresh salad, piles of sliced panettone, baskets of mandarins and nuts, all is impressed in my mind as a dream
So, my cooking school was my family. My inspiration is what is fresh and seasonal. And even though I love traditional Italian holiday dishes, I favor what can be done quickly after a long day of work. I cook everyday.
Recomendaciones
Libros de Recetas Preferidos
- Il Talismano della Felicita’ (Ada Boni)
- the bible of traditional Italian food
- Made in Italy: food and stories (Giorgio Locatelli)
- modern Italian cusine made easy
- Complete Italian Food (Antonio Carluccio)
- a dictionary of everything you need to know about Italian Ingredients
Restaurantes que recomiendo
- lots of them
- but you need to come to Italy!
Comentarios
- 04 de Junio de 2012I am so glad we are friends. I look forward to seeing many of your new recipes.
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- 10 de Febrero de 2011Ciao! Noi siamo della stessa zona. I'm from the Island of Malta cooking Mediterranean Food. Mi ha piaciuto il tuo blog.
- 31 de Enero de 2011Letezia - OK! I made your Spiced Persimmon & Orange Jam. I have photos and a review. Do you want me to email everything to you? I don't have your email address so I can't attach the photos. Let me know where I can forward the photos and the review. Thanks! - Amos
- 25 de Enero de 2011Chef Madonna - Not only do I love your recipes and hungrily anticipate trying them, I am crazy about Umbria! A most beautiful and haunting place, and one of my favorite places to be. I resided for a while near Piana, by Lago Trasimeno and Castiglione de Trasimeno. So many outstanding meals - and some of the finest sausages I have ever eaten. I am really looking forward to sharing the virtual kitchen with you and I hope you will try something from my postings from time to time. Cooking well is its own reward! best regards - Amos
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- 15 de Abril de 2010thanks for you email on the polenta..yes I'm Italian on both sides..Goris Gattos Baldocchis Landuccis...etc. I started cooking Indian food because for me it was so different and I love the many steps and precision.
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