When I was re-structuring the house, I demolished a few partition walls, and discovered a room that the previous owner had used for her work as a milliner.
In this room I found old fashion notes, paper patterns, fabrics and unfinished hats. Her tools resembled some of those that I use in the kitchen, and the dexterity needed for both jobs made me want to try them.
I thought that if I am able to twist a tortellino into shape, I should be able to do the same with the fabric for the hat; and if I can shape noodles into the various shapes, surely it wouldn't be hard to fashion the rim.
What I really needed was the secret ingredient in ramen.
For days, I have been trying to give a truly personal touch to the soup that my new customers have asked me to prepare, and I think I've finally found it. My guests are a couple who have recently moved to the area and are organizing a house-warming party. They wanted to find a chef who could prepare ramen for all their guests, and some of their friends who had already tasted my dishes gave them my phone number.
The first time I ate this typical Japanese delicacy, I was with my father at an official inaugural dinner.
He is a diplomat, and the whole family often followed him during his appointments around the world. Thanks to his job, we were able to travel to many countries, but that dinner in Japan will always stand out in my memory.
I was 15, and not really enthusiastic about squeezing myself into an elegant suit. But both I and my sister Francesca both knew that he really liked us to attend these dinners, so we always did – although we would huff and puff about it. The waiters brought this steaming-hot dish of consommé, noodles, eggs, pieces of meat and a variety of spices. I had eaten in many parts of the world and discovered flavours I had never imagined, but the fragrance of those spices made me curious – and made my mouth water!
I was so keen to taste it that I took a spoonful of scorching-hot soup and burned my tongue as if I had put it in a furnace. The ramen splashed all over the table, as I screamed with pain. The rest of the family were as red as beetroots from embarrassment.
And now, every time I am in my kitchen preparing this dish I smile to myself, but that was the moment when I decided I wanted to make cooking my life's work.
I became a personal chef because it allows me to experiment in the kitchen as much as I like, and also to travel around the world.
I have always had the itch to travel – even if just for short trips – because it is in my blood, although it's always nice to return to my new home on the lake. Unlike my previous homes, I feel that I have finally found the ideal house for me.
Maybe because it helped me to discover by new love: hats.
A new love...
There are hats all over my house.
There are hats all over my house, all made by me. When my friends come to visit, we spend hours trying them all on to see how they suit us. OK, so we're a bit vain, what can you do?
And while I'm getting the food ready, they start drawing the models that they want to try on during their next visit.
It's tough to make all the hats my friends ask me for, but it's a lot of fun.
Last time we started laughing uncontrollably, because Giulia insisted on trying on the coolie hat that she said I used as a lampshade.
We laughed so much...
The one I have in the kitchen is not a hat, even though it seems like one. This one really is a lamp.
It was created using the PET-lamp project by a Spanish designer who, during a visit to Cambodia, after observing the effects of the pollution caused by plastics, involved the local people in making these objects. It pleases me to know that these lamps were assembled by hands with the skill to weave the coloured wool and palm fibre.
And talking of hands...
I still have lots to do for tonight's dinner. I have to roll out the dough for the pasta and dry the noodles, but I also need to finish the stitching on the hat that I want to give to my guest's wife.
This is what I like best about my work – surprising customers with an unexpected gift.
I just hope it's the right size – otherwise it can always be used as a lamp.
Company info
×
Privacy policy
×