I often look at this photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not because it represents my first steps in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But because she represents the person who changed my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Italian woman like there aren't many left today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don't remember her following a recipe even once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also don't remember seeing her stressed about a meal, even when the whole family arrived unexpectedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She did everything with disarming ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As if cooking wasn't something she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As if that was just who she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She could turn a few tomatoes, some basil, a piece of Parmesan, and a handful of flour into a meal everyone would remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the most incredible thing is that she never tried to impress anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She simply did things with love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her kitchen, nothing was complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No sophisticated techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No staging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No search for perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only simple products, gestures passed down from previous generations, and immense generosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, even today, I have never found that taste anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In retrospect, I understand that it wasn't just the food that was exceptional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her gentleness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His generosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her way of taking care of others without ever expecting anything in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she cooked, she wasn't just preparing a meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was creating a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without knowing it, she taught me everything that truly matters in this profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Respect for products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The importance of sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pleasure of hosting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And above all, this idea that the most beautiful cuisine is not necessarily the most complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's the one that touches people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years later, when I'm cooking in a villa on the French Riviera or around a large family table, I often think of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'm thinking again about that little Italian restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flour on the countertop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To fresh, handmade pasta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To this extraordinary woman who made excellence seem incredibly simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a photo of a child learning to cook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's that of a grandson who doesn't yet know he's receiving the most precious of inheritances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if my clients appreciate my cooking today, it's because a large part of what they taste still comes from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of his love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From his generosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And everything she has passed on to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Je regarde souvent cette photo. Pas parce qu’elle repr\u00e9sente mes premiers pas en cuisine. Mais parce qu’elle repr\u00e9sente la personne qui a chang\u00e9 ma vie. Ma grand-m\u00e8re. Une femme italienne comme il n’en existe plus beaucoup aujourd’hui. Je ne me souviens pas l’avoir vue suivre une recette une seule fois. Je ne me souviens pas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":5789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5790,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5788\/revisions\/5790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anthonypichon.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}