Irene Strappa
WORKS AT: Trattoria Anna Maria
WHERE: ITALY – Bologna
“I’m Irene, from the Marche region, from Fermo. I love my land very much: its products, its landscapes and its customs. I have lived in Bologna since 2009. I have always been curious about food, and slowly I approached the kitchen. Create something using ingredients that expresses itself, to tell a story. I started working very early in the restaurant business, covering various tasks, but always curious about what was prepared, and how. For some people, what is on the plate is just food but for me, its more than that. The way I see a dish, is much more: a dish tells a lot, if one wants to listen. And by giving a value to what you can listen to, you can learn a lot . When I knocked on VSB’s door, I found a cooking and tradition school, not just a laboratory for the art of sfoglia. Alessandra has taught me to recognize the value of this precision, to work on and care, to protect it. Learning this job has changed my life: I often practice various combinations of fillings, flours, creating doughs-I like it very much. I like to tell stories, obviously through the hands. Once I graduated, I began my career at Angela Traldi’s gastronomy and fresh pasta in Ozzano dell’Emilia, also a student of VSB- Bologna, where I continued the discourse of self-production and tradition undertaken at school. Now I work at the shop of Osteria del Cappello, a historic inn in the heart of Bologna, supplying the counter of the same shop and taking care of the production of the restaurant. Every so often the owner leaves me free to include a special pasta in the menu, and this is always the most stimulating part for me. My dream would be one day to open my own shop, where not only can I find traditional pasta, but also the more personal one, which I am gradually experimenting with. This is a book of endless tales.
LINK:
https://www.instagram.com/lapastadiirene/
https://www.facebook.com/irene.strappa
https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/5850862/trattoria-anna-maria/
THE TEACHER SAYS ABOUT HER: Genius and madness.
Alessandra Spisni