She is a chef, a food writer, and a cookbook author, and she has learned the secrets of cooking from her grandmother, Nonna Fernanda. Chef Ale Gambini’s bio is a mix of working experiences, successes, and a passion for good food that runs in her family’s blood. Born and raised in Milan, in Northern Italy, Ale moved to America twelve years ago following her husband and, once here, her love for the Italian culinary tradition became her job.
“Food is a medicine, we need to eat well,” she underlines when presenting her latest book, No Ketchup on Spaghetti. The Complete Guide on how to Shop, Eat, and Cook like an Italian, on the occasion of the 5th annual Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. A guide on the do’s and don’ts of Italian cooking, already available online at Amazon and Barnes And Nobles, and in all bookstores, from the 14th of December.
Ale, what is special about your book?
There are tons of cookbooks about Italian cuisine. Mine is slightly different, it is not only about recipes; the first half is a guide with tips and tricks from friends who are chefs as well. Another topic I touch on is Italian-sounding, products that look Italian but are made somewhere else. Their quality is not as good as ours and they are a huge loss for the Italian economy.
How has your career in the food business started?
When I was in Italy I was a musician, I played with great artists and for TV shows. But when I moved here, I felt the urge to do something for our culinary tradition, because I was shocked to see so many mistakes made here! In my family, food has always been essential so I felt I had to do something.
What happened then?
I started writing about food in 2013 in a blog that I eventually renamed A Queen in the Kitchen. I was also collaborating with magazines and newspapers: my main topic was authenticity when talking about Italian food.
What did you do to promote that?
I am an Italian food ambassador and I am also a recipe developer. I do have a small business of catering called Q Cannoli & Cookies, specialized in making authentic cannoli, and I have been a part of Fresh Up Your Life, a web series that aims at making people aware of fruits and veggies from Italy. It was funded by the European Union and I was involved as a producer, as author of the format, and as host. Lately. I have been also part of the project I Love San Marzano, to promote real San Marzano tomatoes. I am also very happy to be part of I Love Italian Food, an association that creates projects to promote authentic, 100% Made in Italy in the world. Alessandro Schiatti, its founder, wrote the forward of my book. Food is one of the engines of our economy, so we need to export it and protect it. This is a contribution I wanted to share, too.
What is the thing you enjoy the most?
Teaching is the thing I love the most. By being a cooking instructor, I’ve learned that people need to understand the ingredients. This book is a tribute to my family, my nonna, and to Northern Italian cuisine, which is not very well known, yet. We have twenty regions in Italy and every region has very specific and different recipes. In the USA, Southern cuisine is much more widespread and known.
What’s something you would like to convey to people about cooking?
Also the simplest of recipes can be good and ingredients are key.
In your opinion, what is the secret of our food tradition?
To me, it’s the Mediterranean diet, which is the best diet out there, it is very well-balanced. Italian cuisine is naturally an example of it, with all its outstanding products. Many have been awarded by the EU and this means that the quality has been checked under very severe controls. These products are healthy, natural and cannot be made anywhere else.
Can you give me an example?
Parmigiano Reggiano, for example, the king of cheeses! One of my favorites, and it’s made with ingredients that are only sourced in a specific part of Italy, Emilia Romagna, versus an industrial parmesan made somewhere else, with ingredients that are not allowed in the original one. We have almost 300 products labeled with DOP and PGI trademarks, so Italian food is all about high-quality ingredients. In this regard, I would call myself more of an Italian food ambassador than a chef or a culinary teacher, because this is my main goal.
It is not always easy to find all the ingredients tough.
If one of my recipes suggests using speck from Trentino alto Adige, you should use that, but I know it is not so easy to find it everywhere. Maybe better not to use a substitute at all and just try to follow the recipe as much as possible.
What’s your favorite recipe in the book?
Tenerina cake, which is a traditional cake from Ferrara, a beautiful city. To prepare it you just need to have dark chocolate, salted butter, eggs, sugar, flour, milk, and sprinkles. You can make a delicious cake in no time and it melts in your mouth.
Sounds very simple. Another simple thing we can all do?
Handmade pasta. To make it you only need two ingredients: type 00 flour and eggs, 1 egg every 100 gr of flour.
Any tip for those who are lactose intolerant?
Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are naturally lactose-free so having a piece of this cheese with Aceto Balsamico di Modena is a nice treat.
What do you think about restaurants that don’t have authentic Italian dishes on their menu?
Some Italian restaurants have to please the customers, so they have to add dishes that are not Italian because people want to order that, as well. So they have to. Alfredo sauce is supposed to be Italian but I have never heard about it in Italy!
Are stereotypes about Italian food changing?
I think there is a long way ahead of us. I think in cities like L.A. the answer is yes, but probably it is not the same in smaller villages.
What advice can you give to our readers?
When you are cooking, follow the little tips I give you in the book and it’ll all feel and taste like when you traveled to Italy. Sometimes recipes may vary, also in Italy. Some people are very strict but there are many differences, even among families, or between two different regions. What really matters is the quality of each ingredient.
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