TO START

I'm Martina, I'm 31 and I was born in Ravenna, a Romagnola doc! Certainly do not think that I am like our azdòre (housewives) skilled pasta makers of the tradition, let's say that I am a Romagnola Quanto Basta (just enough), a Romagnola Q.B.

I have lived for seven years in Rome away from home, there I started my dream job. I am a theatre performe but since several years another passion grew, the art of baking. I don't remember exactly how I started, I just know that when I'm in the kitchen I relax, I turn on the music, mix, blend and bake as if there is no tomorrow.

Since I started I have tried all the classic recipes and sometimes dabbling in the art of "open the fridge and invent". What I find beautiful about pastry is to see the ingredients transform at each step, for me it is still incredible to see egg whites whipping and becoming a white cloud. Who says there is chemistry in pastry is right! I especially love to cook cakes of all kinds; I think chocolate and dried fruit are my favorite ingredients.

A SWEET PASSION

From Romagna with love

HOORAY GLUTEN FREE!

Lately I have approached gluten-free preparations, this to match my passion to my sister's strong intolerance. Although it is not at all easy to use gluten-free flours that have a texture and react very much differently from wheat ones, with several attempts I have always tried to find the right balance to make the dessert as close as possible to the original. It's like a personal challenge to prove that gluten-free is possible!

PITOST CHE GNIT L'È MEI PIUTOST

(something is better than nothing)

Of course I also have a history of burnt cakes, cookies so hard to throw them into the wall (and break the wall) and puddings that sag, but pianì pianì (slowly slowly) I have honed my self-taught skills and knowledge and, more important, as my grandmothers' pupils. At first we take it as it goes and then, over time, we improve.

PREST E BEN NŰN STA INSEM

(fast and well done don't go together)

Pastry is patience, dedication, calculation but also improvisation. So give yourself time, dear readers, and enjoy the process as much as you will enjoy the result.

Recently I have put together a recipe book that I keep with pride and a pinch of jealousy: a collection of dishes from the Romagna culinary tradition as my grandmothers do, sweet and savory. In my new digital cookbook you will find some of those recipes that most represent Romagna and contain the essence of the past. The first results exceeded my expectations because, you know, grandmothers are always grandmothers, the hand is different, it comes naturally to them. "Grandma how much water do you put in?" I always asked, "but, I don't know, just enough " they always answered.