MARCELLA’S BLOG
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SAME PASSION, SAME BEAUTY
Yes, Leigh Hutchinson is exactly the same. Hard work hasn't dampened her passion and desire to do well. This is what happens: they say opening a...
COOKING TOGETHER IS…
... de-tox. Nothing better than a good sleep, a sincere laugh, a deep smile. Cooking together brings the smile. Chris and Scott decided to take a...
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Marcella Ansaldo
Native of Giglio Island, Marcella has founded and directs the school GiglioCooking in Florence, with simpathy, passion and energy.
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WHY ASKING FOR A MENU THAT YOU WILL NEVER REPLICATE AT HOME?
The success of the Private Lessons https://old.gigliocooking.com/project/private-lessons/ at Gigliocooking is that they are really "private". You can book the day and the time of the day, then you have to decide what to cook, based on food restrictions, your will to...
ASMERET AND THE FISH IN CRAZY WATER
“Pesce all’acqua pazza” - fish in crazy water - is a simple preparation, typical of Naples and the Amalfi and Sorrento coasts. It is fish boiled in sea water and flavored with the colors of the Mediterranean: a clove of garlic, a small chili pepper, sprigs of parsley,...
LAS TRES SEÑORITAS…
...became four by the end of the course. Daniela, Andy and Isabel during the first week of cooking class with the family group "this is love". See: https://old.gigliocooking.com/2025/01/18/this-is-love/ Smiling, respectuful, always on time, interested since the...
THIS IS LOVE!
Before Elizabeth and I were engaged, she would come to my home with her pans to cook, as what I maintained at home were rusty and not very good. We went shopping and I asked her, if we were get married, what type of pans would she want. We settled on a…d and 30 years...
EMBRACE THE CUISINE
…. As cooking together is a large warm hug. Many years ago, sitting at a table in a restaurant in Firenze with my dear friend Sue Campbell, she was able to take out from the bottom of my stomach the secret dream. The dream was so deep into my viscera as was almost...
WHO COOKS HAS MANY FRIENDS
Oh yes, you might think. Who wouldn't go to dinner with someone who knows how to cook? Ivano & Debra But this is not – or at least not only – what the article refers to, that is, not to the “ability” to cook. I am not referring to starred chefs or people who spend...
AN ANCIENT PLACE
This is the impression I get when I enter here. Ancient, yet familiar, welcoming, warm: a place where you feel good. We are in the Atelier Deltos, by Simonetta Rosatelli. The smell of paper, of glue. Around there are brushes, presses, cutters, an indecipherable...
MARE-CELLA
My name is Marcella. Writtenin this way, In English it would be pronounced the same way, "Marsella". The vowel E transforms this word into other meanings: a cella, or cell, of the sea for the Italian language. "Sea -Mare" suits me, as I was born on an island. The word...
THE TREE OF ROSEMARY
When I cook I like to use fresh herbs. In my frontyard there are several. Often, during cooking classes, I take students and guests out to collect the herbs we need. To tell the truth, I don't just let them collect what we need; we collect a sprig of different herbs,...
TALENTS
Many years ago, at the start of Gigliocooking, my dear friend Sue Campbell told me, in an assertive way: "Your school attracts only special people". Today I dare to say that the people are all special, although in different ways and although often they don't even...
UOZINMAIFRIG 4
Uozinmaifrig is not my own phylosophy. WIth this invented word - which is actually the way we spell "What is in my fridge?" - can summarize the entire Italian Culinary Style. More than an Italian Cuisine I always talk about style: use what is available at the market,...
THE ITALIAN WATER
When I was a little girl I used to do a simple game at table with my sister: competing on best color of our water. I know that pediatricians, pedagogues and parents will be terrified to these words: I used to drink wine since I was very little, maybe 5 or 6 years old....
THE GUFFY OIL
The name does not correspond to what the adjective means in Italian - And in English, as well. The island of Giglio, as we Gigliesi like to say, is a "republic apart". We know each other and "recognize" each other with nicknames. Each nickname means the story of a...
THE BEHAVIOR OF THE FOOD
The behavior of the food can teach us something about our behavior. At the same time, we can treat food in the same way we treat people. A big example? Tempering! What does the verb “to temper” mean? It means to be able, with proper manners, to calm a person. A...
THE GIRL OF THE CORN
Each family has its own seeds. Many varieties, each in small plots, each adapting the microclimate of the plot of land. We already know that Italy holds the scepter of bio-diversity. E' per merito di It is thanks to people like the Girl of the Mais, of the love we...
FAQ: WHY IS THE FLORENTINE STEAK SO BIG?
The Chianina is the bovine breed raised in ValdiChiana - from which it takes its name -, the area of Tuscany known in the US as Under The Tuscan Sun, from the famous novel by Frances Mayes. The Chianina was once used in the fields as a working animal: tall, sturdy and...
SAME PASSION, SAME BEAUTY
Yes, Leigh Hutchinson is exactly the same. Hard work hasn't dampened her passion and desire to do well. This is what happens: they say opening a restaurant is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. It's true, I know something about it. Responsibility comes...
AN ANCIENT PLACE
This is the impression I get when I enter here. Ancient, yet familiar, welcoming, warm: a place where you feel good. We are in the Atelier Deltos, by Simonetta Rosatelli. The smell of paper, of glue. Around there are brushes, presses, cutters, an indecipherable...
MOLECULAR COOKING TECHNIQUES
The young chef Oscar will be at Gigliocooking in October to teach us some techniques to embellish our dishes with "special effects". Contact us at info@old.gigliocooking.com for further information. Here is the program: Program for a Molecular Cuisine Cooking Class...
PRESENTATION of QUANTIC CUISINE
I have been absent from my blog for a long time. I start posting again today, with this new small venture: a philosophical idea on cooking, perfected by the mathematical subject of my friend Emy Narbone. Saturday 18 May We look forward to seeing you at the Fiesole...
THE MILL OF THE VALLEY “DEL DOLCE”
As reported on page 45 of the book "Giglio Beato Scoglio", by the young writers Armando Schiaffino and Domenico Solari published in 1970, in the Valley del Dolce there is a mill built by a certain Fra' Rocco, testifying to the profitable agricultural activity on the...
WILL WE BE ABLE TO SEE AGAIN THE CHESTNUT FLOWERS IN GIGLIO?
"We come to the chestnut trees", we said. "Ai Castagni" had become the name of a place. It was the destination for autumn walks. Now the trees are almost all withered. Chestnuts make beautiful flowers, elongated on the branch, white, impalpable. A few years ago I...
BORN ON AN ISLE -TENTH NEWSLETTER
Dear Friends, I have the privilege of being born here. My musculature was formed by diving from these rocks, then swimming, getting out of the water and climbing as long as I could hold the heat under my feet, then running down onto the smooth granite and diving...
THE QUEENS OF GIGLIO ISLAND
Barbara and Alessio found their modus vivendi on Giglio Island. In spite of those who say that there is nothing to do on the island, here is a great example of research and industriousness. Barbara and Alessio are two professional technicians, she is a surveyor, he is...
OPEN CLASSES – July Calendar
Open classes are lessons that everybody can join.Joining this lesson is a different experience: there is more "spreading" of the different jobs and there is more "sharing" with the others. Anyways, in our lessons there are never plenty people. You will learn to make...
OPEN CLASSES – June Calendar
Open classes are lessons where everybody can participate.Joining this lesson is a different experience: there is more "spreading" of the different jobs and there is more "sharing" with the others. Anyways, in our lessons there are never plenty people. You will...
OPEN CLASSES – May Calendar
Open classes are lessons where everybody can participate.Joining this lesson is a different experience: there is more "spreading" of the different jobs and there is more "sharing" with the others. Anyways, in our lessons there are never plenty people. You will...
OPEN CLASSES – April Calendar
Open classes are lessons where everybody can participate.Joining this lesson is a different experience: there is more "spreading" of the different jobs and there is more "sharing" with the others. Anyways, in our lessons there are never plenty people. You will...