Marzia Riva

A special vegan chef!

Listening to Marzia talk about food, projects, inclusion and harmony, wellbeing in the fullest sense of the term is something that I would do every day if I could! Rarely have I found a person so open to life, to discovery and with a degree of research and awareness that is really inspiring.

To speak of Marzia isn’t easy as she is so much more than what you would imagine, even though the social media have told of her journey and her cooking. It’s not enough. She is much more.

So let’s ask Marzia to dedicate an interview to us not just to discover her, but to find the most authentic and complete value of the verb to cook

 

Marzia your journey didn’t start in the kitchen: the kitchen is, if anything, a docking area which became a new departure. You had the courage to leave a stable job in Human Resources to dive into a new adventure: where did that courage come from?

 

I always loved Human Resources. I loved working in complex organisations and being a part of that.  I explored every aspect of personnel creating a solid competence and professional experience of more than 20 years. I have always considered people as a value that in a business make a difference, as a real resource.

Cooking though is that which identifies and represents me, which made me discover my place in the world. Even though I loved my work, at a certain point I felt the need to give life to my project which until that moment, for differing reasons, had remained locked away. With a continuously more active attraction to the cooking world, to food, to nutrition and catering, I couldn’t ignore the call that I felt so strongly. Happiness has no price and I chose to be happy, dedicating myself to the wellbeing of others and reinventing a profession, putting myself on the line.

 

The first thing you concentrated on was study and research and you’ve got to the point of collaborating with the greatest names in vegetable catering in Italy, such as Pietro Leemann and Simone Salvini. What did you appreciate from these experiences and what did you learn from these masters?

 

I studied lots and with different teachers; I never stop studying, I never see the end to research and the critical and constructive analysis that I can be better; from each teacher you can learn a lesson.

The curiosity and hunger for knowledge is a characteristic that has always marked me out since I was a child and that has given me momentum and stimulation. My experiences have been signative and fundamental for the choices that I then made, allowing me to realise how important cooking is to me and my thoughts.

 

Then you wanted and searched for your own path, where cooking could express your world. The Taverna degli Arna  (Tavern of the Stronghold) is the realisation of your big dream, a story made of hard work, commitment and dreams which come true: how did you think up this space?

 

In my head I imagined a lot of times how La Taverna degli Arna should be. From nights out with friends in which we fantasized on spaces and ideas to making notes in my diary to create a business plan, calculations on feasibility and  finalising the project, making it every day more real. I always wished for a comfortable place; that could transmit serenity, put people at ease and make them feel at home. A peaceful place, in which to share, include and gather socially to talk of anything to do with culture and education around food.

 

Then a particularly happy meeting in your life: Ferdinando A. Giannone, biologist and nutritionalist, and together you gave life to a new project: tell us why Effemme Scienza e Cucina (FM Science and Cuisine) was created and what it does.

 

Effemme was created through the sharing of values, passion and common objectives. We started working timidly but quickly became aware of how much our union, with our uniqueness and professionality, gave life to a project even greater than that possible to pursue alone. Our intention is to promote and sustain a style of life based on wellness, through lucid and recreative moments, sowing that little seed of awareness that we hope can grow freeing people for their own choices. We do this through moments of scientific disclosure, nutritional and gastronomic, the base of which is the culture of food, sociality, inclusion, social gathering, alimentary education, sharing,  enjoying, respect, environmental, economic, social sustainability. We start with the person and arrive at the organization, widening our project to companies with aimed projects of evolved welfare of integrated nutrition.

 

It hits me that your cooking isn’t minimally by chance, but a study, a balance and a declared objective of wellness. As for the ingredients: how do you choose them and what is the rule of 3?

 

For someone like me who studies and notices everything, nothing is left to chance, obviously a dish for me is a real project. Once the “project” is clear, I can relax and let it come together.

I choose ingredients taking into consideration seasonality and that which the vegetable garden offers, based on the territory and that which I want to communicate through my dish. Then I consider the colours, flavours, consistency and temperatures…and to this are added many other considerations. I have learned to harmonize my preparations creating a play of balance where there are always present at least three different shades for every element I consider.

With time and my work with Ferdinando, from an aesthetical and taste viewpoint I have awakened also the aspect of nutritional balance in which this “rule of three” returns.

 

You organise cooking classes where you don’t just teach the processes and cooking, but you manage to transmit to the participants a much wider and open vision of food, seeing it in its totality this analysising even where the food grows, who produces it and how, how it is packaged and much more responding to your beautiful need of really ethical food as well as healthy and a source of wellness. How do you choose your suppliers? How much research is behind every single decision?

 

I dreamt of a cooking school that wouldn’t just be a place to learn how to cook. I’m not interested in just transmitting the gastronomical aspect but my courses I experience as an occasion to share and divulge culture and joy. I’m very careful with the choice of ingredients that they’re not limited to quality or the biological choice but look to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. I try to transmit the love for food and the respect we should show for same, for those who have produced and worked for it and for those who bring it to us. As a consequence, the choice of suppliers is through a detailed search. Then, creating synergy and virtuous ties has allowed the creation of a network that permits me to be in contact with suppliers whose value aspect are similar. Thus starting as suppliers they become real partners and friends.

 

I much appreciate your attention to a food that represents also a social responsibility, where you select producers also for their inclusive behaviour requalifying people who would otherwise be out of work. Do you think it is possible to promote such a high grade of awareness around food? How can a message and a value of such importance be disclosed?

 

I don’t only think it’s possible, I believe it’s our duty. Every one of our actions has a consequence and our work can’t only be geared towards the enrichness of the individual, whether ego or money, buti t must have the ability to be ethical. We have the opportunity, through our actions, to do good and help others. This condition allows us to better our general state and repays very well, enriching under many aspects. Cascina Biblioteca (Cascina Library), the biological vegetable garden from which I purchase vegetables, is an example, employing unemployed or disabled people, just like La Tenuta Almerita (The Almerita Estate), for extra virgin olive oil or Local to You.

 

Your book Emozionarsi in Cucina (Get excited in the Kitchen) opens the eyes to a world of ingredients and possibilities from which the reader can easily understand how many limitations our “traditional” cooking has and even more how reduced and untrue the impression that vegan cuisine is a privative cuisine; it seems that in this sense your book launches a gentle provocation: how would you define cuisine of a vegetable base?

 

The intent of the book is to allow the reader to approach and discover vegetable cuisine, like a voyage among aromas, colors and ingredients. I don’t think the traditional cuisine has limitations but I definitely think that there are still a lot of prejudices towards a completely plant-based cuisine. Through my dishes, and the telling of my story and how I fell in love with this style of nutrition, I try to unhinge this principal and instead highlight a concept of inclusion of the vegetable cuisine, that allows to lower any barriers and find fulfillment and happiness.

 

Your analysing of food at 360 degrees has also pushed you into a wonderful personal initiative for which you volonteer in the eating disorder department of Niguarda in Milan: what is the message you would like to launch to those searching for a new and more balanced relationship with food?

 

Collaborate with valid workshops to bring animation and culture of food and nutritional education inside the hospitals is an honour for me, apart from sustaining them, I collaborate with them with enthusiasm. I learn something new every time and experience strong and unique emotions.

I believe that we all need to learn to have a good relationship with food and our emotions. We should take more care of ourselves starting with nutrition and a healthy style of life, which doesn’t mean dieting or depriving ourselves of something. Prevention, through an aware behaviour, is important for living healthily.

 

Our site is called vege-table precisely to give weight to the word table: for Marzia what does it mean to sit at the table with those dear and taste a fooo which has been so well studied and prepared with love?

 

For me the table is a place to feel good, where caring and sharing food and the emotions evoked is a real and true act of love. It’s an intimate moment, of pure sharing. Around the table ideas, projects, confrontations, serenity and laughs are born and I like to do this with the people I love.

 

Leave us your social and web details….because we certainly don’t want to lose sight of you.

 

With pleasure! You’ll find me online with the website Marziariva.it or latavernadegliarna.it and for the project together with Ferdinando, effemmescienzaecucina.it; our dishes can be found even on the project delivery ARNADELIVERY.it; on the main social networks such as facebook, instagram, pinterest, twitter you’ll always find me as @latavernadegliarna and @effemmescienzaecucina

 

What do you wish for in the future?

 

That the Taverna can become a focal point, a crossroads of people, experiences and emotions. That it can always be alive and bustling with people that want to experiment and learn. After this rigid stop, dictated by the pandemic, I can’t wait to re-start and welcome you and spoil you through my cuisine, courses and many initiatives.

 

Thanks for how you are and for your teaching of “taking care” which I find one of the most beautiful and potent verbs of our way to exist.

 

Click here to read the excellent recipe of Springstime Gnocchi