Who am I?
Hi!
My name is Jessica Montanelli, but you can call me Jess!
I was born and raised in the medieval town of Siena (Tuscany, Italy). Although I was mostly raised in the countryside, about 15 km away from the town, in a super-small village surrounded 360° by hills and fields.
How it started...
As a teenager I always dreamt of living in the United States, dazzled by the many TV shows I was watching in which life seemed to be perfect and happy. At 18 I decided to realize (in part) this dream, so I started searching for Italo-Americans bloggers and contact them to know if they could help me get there. Where? Los Angeles of course.
During the flight back from LA to Rome, I watched a movie that subconsciously changed my life: Julie&Julia. I didn't know much about cooking even though I was always watching my mom, but after this movie, I started cooking more. And more importantly, I started appreciating food on a different level. My mom got me "The way to Cook" or Julia Child that Christmas and I started from there.
In 2013 I moved with my boyfriend (and my cat Pinkie) to The Netherlands to follow his studies.
I kept cooking and my recipe books kept increasing, so in 2014 I decided to open a food blog (as an escape from my day job), and I promised to myself I would not give up; I had to persevere if I really wanted it to be my future career.
Over the years I started to appreciate more and more the traditional Italian cuisine, the recipes that are hundreds of years old and are passed on by generations. Those are the recipe that I want to bring to you, to let you discover a piece of history and culture from my home country.
All the recipes I share are either from my family or from old Italian cookbooks and are tried and tested many times.
A little bit more about me
WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY:
- Cheese, lots of cheese. There's no need to add anything else here.
- Pasta. Especially if handmade, a good dish of pasta is good for the soul. Pasta is almost sacred to me.
- The smell of summer breeze. As soon as the temperature raises, I love the smell of the air, especially in the morning and after dark.
- The sound of walking on fine gravel. I know it may be weird but I really love this sound, it relaxes me.
- Seeing new places. I love to travel and especially go to Countries I've never been to before.
- Walking in nature. There's nothing better than taking a long walk in the countryside. I mostly like the sunny winter days (if it's not too cold).
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:
- Truffles. I hear they are delicious but unfortunately, the smell gives me nausea so it's a no-no for me.
- Living in the city. I know it's practical but I need my daily dose of nature full immersion to survive.
- Monotony. Doing the same thing over and over really brings me down. I need change, I need challenges. Sometimes it's difficult to keep up with my head.
- Crowds. I don't mind it if people stand still or sit around but I hate walking in a crowd or being cramped in a small space with too many people. Ugh.