My early years
Born in Piedmont, exactly in Bra in the province of Cuneo, in November 1971... from my surname, Forno, and from the region of my birth, the destiny of becoming an expert lover of Piedmontese cuisine was already marked.
Daughter of Piedmontese parents, I owe my name to the famous soubrette Raffaella Carrà who was the star of TV in Italy in the 1970s. But from the national Raffaella I think I only got the sound laugh!
My grandmother Giuseppina, who lived to be 105 years old, was a skilled cook, as was my mother, both of whom specialized in traditional Piedmontese cuisine.
From them I inherited the passion for cooking, especially the art of making homemade pasta, the beautiful ravioli del plin with rabbit ragout that Grandma Pina used to cook for hours on low heat on the wood stove. Yes, because at that time we raised rabbits at home and Uncle Giovanni made the wine in the big wooden vat by crushing the grapes with his feet.
What good times, what good memories! I also remember the cheese that my mother made with the milk of a baby goat that someone had left tied to the gate one summer evening...and then there was my dad's garden, always full of happy vegetables, and then the peaches, apricots and tomatoes harvested in the months of July and August to make jam and preserves.
Not to mention the rainy days when we kids would put on our boots and set off in search of snails.... Mmm so good with salsa verde!
What can I say? Other times, other nature, other tastes but always the same great passion... Food!And do you know what my favorite snacks were? Freshly beaten eggs with sugar and red wine and the legendary bread with butter and sugar! Nutella was not yet so widespread and like ice cream in the summer or strawberries in May, some things were still pure “first fruits
And so, these indelible memories are the basis of my destiny in the kitchen. . Recognizing just the scent of one of those products of the earth, brings me back to the childhood and the memory of the past, touching my heart and bringing back a smile.
Piedmontese cuisine and dishes,
a stage that has accompanied me
all my life.
In search of my way
I studied foreign languages, even if my parents wanted me to be an accountant (me???) to then work in the family business. When I was 20, my adventure around the world began. 1992: First destination: Brazil! Wow. Beaches, sea, sun, palm trees and... an exotic "chiringuito" with which I began my work in the restaurant business. A great experience for being only 20 years old, but certainly the richest and most wonderful of all.
E 5 years went by to the sound of samba until I returned home in 1996. Italy was always close to me. So, after a while I left for other destinations: England, France and finally Switzerland. Yes, it was a big change, but I had reached a turning point and I needed an extra gear to make the breakthrough. So in 1998 I enrolled at the prestigious Montreux Hotellerie school, the Centre International de Glion, on Lake Geneva. An enchanting place, an excellent international school (we were students of 72 different nationalities) run with the Swiss rigour that would have opened the doors to the world... Another 5 years, but then back home again... the call of the origins was always stronger than anything... I was probably starting to need a place called home.
Back to the origin
Back in 2002, I took that wealth of experience accumulated over the previous 10 years and spent the next 15 years working in hotels and restaurants. Thinking about it now, I realize how much passion drove me...there were never any free Saturdays or Sundays, when everyone was partying, I was working and my friends were often my customers .I’ve always considered it a very hard work but fun and never monotonous, many moments of smiles and joy. Lunches, dinners, parties, events, an always cheerful atmosphere. That's what makes my job enjoyable: the atmosphere.
When the family came along, the commitment that this type of work requires was too hard... 2 small children, so many things to take care of outside of work, in short: things had to change. I was on standby for two years until that the little cooking school, which in the meantime had started as a joke between friends in the kitchen, suddenly became a job opportunity. The region was attracting more and more tourists every year, wine lovers, passionate lovers of good Italian food and black truffles, captured by the beauty of the Langhe hills and the beauty of Piedmont suddenly became interested in learning the Piedmontese cuisine, the one that my grandmother and my mother had taught me and that in recent years I prepared in the kitchens of restaurants.
The present
So, in the country house where I live today, among the greenery and the love of my animals, the doors are always open for those who decide to take a cooking class, living an experience made of “hands in the dough”, dabbling in being a cook for a day. An experience full of flavors, colors, emotions and lots of fun. Because cooking is kneading, peeling, cutting, blending, cooking, chopping but also laughing, joking, relaxing and sharing. How many things can be done in a kitchen! If you then wash it all down with a good Piedmontese wine, between one laugh and another, then it really becomes an unforgettable moment...
This is how I want all my cooking classes to be: unique moments spent learning with joy.
A return to the simple things where it doesn't matter if you already know how to cook or if you've never fried an egg in a pan. This is not Masterchef or Cordon Bleu. This is my home open to all those who want to learn about the traditions of Piedmontese cuisine and live for one day a true and genuine experience.
