Maria Gerace - Designer / Mykita

The first time I met Maria Gerace she came to a Saturday lunch at
my apartment, we started at noon and parted at 4 in the morning.
Mussels, crêpes, late night pasta, and many bottles of vino – that
was the perfect start of a friendship that would always circle
around food, wine, and long conversations. When I go to Maria’s
kitchen she makes cannelloni for me – not a couple but 20 (you can
find the recipe on meikepeters.com). In her kitchen, she’s my
Italian mamma who always takes care that my plate (and glass) is
never empty! Maria grew up in a small town in Calabria, close to
the sea, right at the tip of Italy’s boot and far away from the
life she was longing for. She was raised by her grandmother who
planted the seed in the young girl’s soul that a good life is
always connected to good food and to people to share it with. At a
young age Maria was already used to patiently peeling pounds of
fava beans in the evening in front of the TV; to making passata in
the garage once a year with the entire family, each member having
at strict role in the procedure – a hierarchy that only slowly
alters with age. Food was never just prepared for oneself, but
always shared with the whole family. The famous Sunday tomato sauce
enriched with polpettine, a weekly ritual, which smell and taste is
so deeply woven into her memory, was a frugal feast in her granny’s
kitchen that no family member dared to miss. The young ones brought
their boyfriends and girlfriends, the aunts and uncles sharing
laughs and stories, a constant flow of people pulled to the kitchen
of a woman who held everything and everybody together like a
magnet. Once a year the family would gather and go on a
‘pilgrimage’ to slaughter a pig at a small village close by. The
blood would be collected immediately to make sanguinaccio,
cooked with cocoa, sugar, and spices it was turned into a rich
chocolate sauce that the kids loved. Even for the young ones it was
normal that every part of an animal was used, that the whole family
would always be involved in every food endeavor, and that there
were recurring culinary rituals that marked the flow of the year
and made it special. Traditions that everyone was longing for.
Although her curiosity and hunger for life made her leave the south
of Italy to study industrial design in Milan, to travel and
experience the world and widen her view, to then settle in Berlin
with her husband Jan and work as an eyewear designer, Maria’s voice
always mellows when she talks about her granny, about Italian food,
and the sea. You can find all the blog posts about the Meet in My
Kitchen podcast episodes including my guests' recipes on
meikepeters.com under 'Meet in Your Kitchen'. INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast/ GUEST:
https://www.instagram.com/maruzzella_bln/ RECIPE:
https://www.meikepeters.com/meet-in-your-kitchen-marias-cannelloni-al-ragu
MUSIC: Martin Stumpf FRÜHSCHOPPEN SPONSOR: Ferrari Trento SOUND
MIX: Kraatz Studios https://kraatzstudios.com/ MEIKE PETERS:
Newsletter: https://www.meikepeters.com/subscribe-2/ Blog:
https://www.meikepeters.com/ Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/eatinmykitchen/ and
https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast/ Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/eatinmykitchen/ Cookbooks:
https://www.meikepeters.com/cookbooks/