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Melisa Schilliro: A loveless kitchen is just a deli
Who hasn't ever found themselves smelling a scent somewhere,
trying to decode what it reminded them of, where it took them?
I think we all dream with the scents of our childhood.
And that's what's lovely about food: that it leads us back in time,
to other places, and to different people.
I also have a very important story to tell:
when I was a child, about six years old, I used to live upstairs
to the house of my grandpas. Obviously, Italian.
It was a family tradition to meet up on Sundays to eat the agnolotti
my grandma, and my two aunts -also Italian- would prepare.
For me, that ritual was something incredible.
I'd went downstairs early and enjoy seeing how they prepared everything.
There was a big table where everything was placed, full of flour...
and today I tell you this and I can almost smell the tomato sauce.
And it is one of the nicest memories I have of my childhood,
and it was where we'd meet, my cousins, my uncles, my family.
But what happened? When I grew up, one day I realized my grandma
had passed away and had never gave me that recipe.
And it was sad because I said "I will never again taste those agnolotti".
But, luckily, one Sunday, I was looking at my aunt's Facebook wall,
and I saw this picture.
They were the agnolotti, the very same agnolotti she was making for
her sons and her grandsons.
Immediately I told her she had to give me the recipe, so we're
working on that.
(Laughter)
These recipes, as the one I'm telling you about... probably while you're
listening to me you're also thinking of one that you
identify yourselves with, with your family, friends, or some place.
They are recipes that pass on generation to generation,
and that end up turning into a legacy.
Something that goes beyond time. In a family tradition,
that we like remembering to celebrate those nice moments we spent together.
For me, cooking is... besides being something I enjoy very much...
a creative act, too...
of taking the ingredients around the house to make a good dish.
To make something for others, or for ourselves, why not.
And it has a lot to do with this, with details, with finding the special ingredient,
to prepare it the way others like you to prepare it for them.
Going to eat at somebody's place and finding that one meal waiting for me
that they know is my favorite.
So yes, besides everyone loving food,
and me getting into this mission of rescuing my family recipes,
I also got into another one, which was trying to inspire others to cook,
since I cook so much.
So I what a started to do was taking a lot of pictures
with my cell phone (if you looked in it, it's full of pictures of food)
People ask me "Why is your phone full of pictures of food?".
But it's what I love, so I cook and take pictures.
I started to share those pictures, and people started to like it.
And I had so many that I made a whole album, in Facebook,
and started uploading all those pictures of things I cooked...
... I hope I'm not getting you hungry ...
(Laughter)
... And I saw everybody started talking about this...
and that people started sharing their one recipes...
A friend also asked me for photos and recipes for a cooking blog,
that other people commented on, and had a lot of views...
My food was becoming famous...
And it happened to me that even my friends
although they had already tasted my food and all,
started telling me my photos inspired them.
When they got back home at the end of the day, tired,
they'd think of my pictures and say "I just can't not cook me something".
(Laughter)
And that was my goal, ultimately.
My goal was to try to prove, especially to the people that I know,
that if I came to home after working all day, so tired,
and that I made myself some time to cook, then others could do it as well.
Time to eat well, and to cook, above all.
So I kept doing that.
As I said, cooking has a lot to do with detail.
And for me, it has a lot to do with love.
Because it's a spark you have when you say "I'll cook", which really means
"I'm going to do something I like for myself, or for others".
This is a picture of the first recipe I cooked for my nephew, who is one year old.
And when I cooked this recipe, obviously inspired in him,
because they're banana muffins ...
... you can't see them there, but they're banana muffins,
he's very small, but you can tell it's the food he likes the most
because it's what he eats most enthusiastically.
I always enjoy cooking very much, but the truth is
when I was doing this, I never cooked with such joy
and with such enthusiasm, just by thinking about coming and giving
them for him to taste.
Obviously, he liked them a lot, and it was a memorable moment when he took
a muffin from his mum's hands and said "No, I want to eat it myself."
To me, obviously, that's something I will never forget.
It was my first recipe for him.
And something I dream of is that, when he's older,
he'll want to come to eat at his aunt's.
I also had another dream, many years ago, which was,
not only invite my friends and family to eat at my place,
but also to bring my food to many more people.
And that dream is another one coming out of the oven these days ...
so, in little time, I'll have another place,
where lots of people will come to try my meals and my dishes.
(Applause)
So, well, what I wanted to tell you today is that, for me,
a loveless kitchen is just a deli.
And forgive me because there are some good delis.
But I want to inspire you and make you go today wanting to cook more,
to eat healthy, to eat well, and to cook, to do something for others.
That if anyone in this room realized that their kitchen looks more
like deli than an actual kitchen, then you're in time...
you can transform it.
If you're not motivated, try to get inspired:
think of yesterday's flavors, the flavors of your past.
Those flavors that bring you the best of memories.
Because of the people you shared them with, because of the place,
or for any reason.
So, well, cook more, cook better, and
cook for those who mean a lot to you ...
as my grandma did with her agnolotti.
Thank you.
(Applause)