‘Us women need to make some noise,’ says chef Valeria Piccini, of two-Michelin star Italian restaurant
- The chef-owner of Caino, in Tuscany, grew up around food and has always loved cooking
- ‘I didn’t know what the Michelin Guide was. But when we got the star, it was amazing’
This is your first trip to Hong Kong. What have you been up to? “We haven’t done much sightseeing, more eating. I’ve enjoyed what I tried. There are many things I’ve never had before, like snake soup. I would have liked it more if I didn’t see the live snakes. I’m scared of them!”
What are your childhood memories around food in Tuscany? “I always liked eating and cooking. I started cooking with my grandmother. Every Sunday she made ravioli with ragu. That’s where my passion for cooking began. I grew up on a farm where we had sheep and goats, so we made cheeses like ricotta. I miss it. I made cheese until I was 20 years old and, in 1980, we sold the farm and the animals, and grew vegetables instead.”
What did you like about cooking when you were a child? “I liked making ravioli. When we didn’t have time to make the dough we would mix ricotta with spinach or other vegetables and roll them into balls, cover them with flour and boil them without a pasta dough. These are called nudi, or naked – without a cover. I liked working with my hands.”
How did you meet your husband, Maurizio Menichetti? “I met him when I was around 13 years old at his secondary school. He was 15. Think how long I supported him, 41 years! When I was 14 years old, my parents wanted me to have a proper education so I went to his chemistry school, as it was the only institution near our home. During that time, I got to know my future husband. When I got my diploma, at 18, I married him.”
How did you start working in his family’s restaurant, Caino? “Every morning on my way to get the bus to chemistry school, I passed the restaurant. I would get a later bus to spend more time with Maurizio. He was always in the restaurant so I would stick around and eventually started working there. My mother-in-law, Angela, saw my interest in cooking.”
What did she teach you? “She taught me everything about traditional Tuscan cuisine. She was a very good cook. When I started working there, the restaurant had already been open for 10 years. It was a trattoria serving local Tuscan food. My mother-in-law and I had a very good relationship; we never fought.”