It was in the autumn of 1998 that an Italian friend of the family, Manuela, who lived with our family in Gouda for a few months, introduced me to the Italian cuisine. She bought tagliatelle from our local supermarket and served this with homemade pesto and insalata caprese. I had never heard of a cheese called mozzarella before and that pesto had such an amazing flavour... I just loved it. That night she taught me some words in Italian, like scolapasta (colander) and millenovecentonovantanove (1999). It was that night that my interest in Italy and the Italian cuisine started.
Manuela did not realize the impact she had on me, until we met again in Rome in 2006. While having lunch in a great little café inside a bookshop in Trastevere I told her that she was the one that inspired me to follow an intensive course of Italian language and culture in 2003, in that same beautiful capital city. My experience of living in Rome for three months as an 18-year-old was amazing. The people, the food, the hospitality, the language and the lifestyle attracted me so much that I went back to the South for a student exchange programme in the year that I met Manuela again. This time I spent some time in Siena, lived for half a year in Modena and explored various places in Emilia-Romagna, Toscana and Puglia.
Manuela did not realize the impact she had on me, until we met again in Rome in 2006. While having lunch in a great little café inside a bookshop in Trastevere I told her that she was the one that inspired me to follow an intensive course of Italian language and culture in 2003, in that same beautiful capital city. My experience of living in Rome for three months as an 18-year-old was amazing. The people, the food, the hospitality, the language and the lifestyle attracted me so much that I went back to the South for a student exchange programme in the year that I met Manuela again. This time I spent some time in Siena, lived for half a year in Modena and explored various places in Emilia-Romagna, Toscana and Puglia.
Cooking and baking have been interests for a long time already but I can certainly not call myself an amateur chef. I do not know a lot about cooking techniques, I have no knowledge of food and wine pairing and very often the food that I cook is not according to a recipe but just a matter of throwing some things together that seem nice to me. For really good food and a chique dinner my brother has always been the one to go to, with me being his assistant in the kitchen. But when I lived in Modena this all of a sudden changed. In the communal kitchen of the student residence I became the ‘chef’ and all the students that I was cooking for were being my assistants. Maybe this was a sign that a lot of young people do not really know how to cook at all?
My love for the Italian cuisine only became stronger when living in Italy, and when cooking for friends once back home this was almost always, guess what, Italian. They loved it. And I loved Italy, where I went back every possible time I could. Sicily became my new area of interest when I started dating an Italian from that part of the country (my family and friends were waiting for the day that this would happen, although I had always said I did not like Italian men!). I fell in love with cannoli siciliani, cioccolato di Modica, ragusano cheese, cous cous con pesce, pomodori ciliegini di Pachino, pistacchi di Bronte, Nero d’Avola, all sorts of Sicilian pastries and biscuits, and of course, more than anything, gelato and granita siciliana. But all good things come to and end and, maybe I was right after all, Italians are great people, but cultural differences, backgrounds and expectations made it to difficult to share a life together.
For a while I thought I had enough of Italy, but here I am again. This time Piemonte is my new home, where I live on a hilltop town, surrounded by vineyards and hazelnut orchards, in the beautiful Langhe area. It was a study programme in food culture & communications that brought me here, but for various reasons I decided to withdraw from the programme and start my self education project, of which this blog is a result (you can read more about it in my first blogpost). I am now exploring the world of bagna cauda, tajarin, agnalotti del plin, panna cotta, Barolo, Moscato d’Asti and many, many delicious cheeses like Robiola di Roccaverano, Castelmagno and Testun. There is so much to try and so much to learn!
Luckily I am not alone here on the top of the hill in the Langhe. My boyfriend, lovingly called the Drover (since he showed me the movie Australia on one of our first dates, and I not only fell in love with him but also with Hugh Jackman, the Drover!), is part of my Piemontese food and culture adventure. He is a very passionate self-taught private chef, baker and beer brewer from Adelaide, South Australia, and my team mate in limoncello making. Together we explore the local area and visit markets, cheese producers, contadini (farmers), butchers, beekeepers, distilleries, wineries and osterie for the finest ingredients, the most delicious wines and the best experiences in dining out. We aim for eating in an environmentally friendly and ethical way, by choosing as much organic as possible, source local products, get to know the story behind food and support fair trade for products that can only come from far (chocolate being number one for these two chocoholics!).
On this blog you will read my stories, my observations, my discoveries, my trials of cooking and baking, my questions and my food adventures. Not only will I write about Italian culture and cuisine. I will happily share my thoughts and stories about the Netherlands, Australia, China, Georgia, Germany, Spain, France and every other corner of the world that gets my attention.
Many corners that will be, for this food loving cultural anthropologist…
My love for the Italian cuisine only became stronger when living in Italy, and when cooking for friends once back home this was almost always, guess what, Italian. They loved it. And I loved Italy, where I went back every possible time I could. Sicily became my new area of interest when I started dating an Italian from that part of the country (my family and friends were waiting for the day that this would happen, although I had always said I did not like Italian men!). I fell in love with cannoli siciliani, cioccolato di Modica, ragusano cheese, cous cous con pesce, pomodori ciliegini di Pachino, pistacchi di Bronte, Nero d’Avola, all sorts of Sicilian pastries and biscuits, and of course, more than anything, gelato and granita siciliana. But all good things come to and end and, maybe I was right after all, Italians are great people, but cultural differences, backgrounds and expectations made it to difficult to share a life together.
For a while I thought I had enough of Italy, but here I am again. This time Piemonte is my new home, where I live on a hilltop town, surrounded by vineyards and hazelnut orchards, in the beautiful Langhe area. It was a study programme in food culture & communications that brought me here, but for various reasons I decided to withdraw from the programme and start my self education project, of which this blog is a result (you can read more about it in my first blogpost). I am now exploring the world of bagna cauda, tajarin, agnalotti del plin, panna cotta, Barolo, Moscato d’Asti and many, many delicious cheeses like Robiola di Roccaverano, Castelmagno and Testun. There is so much to try and so much to learn!
Luckily I am not alone here on the top of the hill in the Langhe. My boyfriend, lovingly called the Drover (since he showed me the movie Australia on one of our first dates, and I not only fell in love with him but also with Hugh Jackman, the Drover!), is part of my Piemontese food and culture adventure. He is a very passionate self-taught private chef, baker and beer brewer from Adelaide, South Australia, and my team mate in limoncello making. Together we explore the local area and visit markets, cheese producers, contadini (farmers), butchers, beekeepers, distilleries, wineries and osterie for the finest ingredients, the most delicious wines and the best experiences in dining out. We aim for eating in an environmentally friendly and ethical way, by choosing as much organic as possible, source local products, get to know the story behind food and support fair trade for products that can only come from far (chocolate being number one for these two chocoholics!).
On this blog you will read my stories, my observations, my discoveries, my trials of cooking and baking, my questions and my food adventures. Not only will I write about Italian culture and cuisine. I will happily share my thoughts and stories about the Netherlands, Australia, China, Georgia, Germany, Spain, France and every other corner of the world that gets my attention.
Many corners that will be, for this food loving cultural anthropologist…
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