Melissa Forti
I am in love with all the ladies
eating pastries at the confectioner’s.
Madams and misses –
with ungloved fingers –
choose a pastry. How they
become children again! […]
There is one that inquires,
thoughtful about the choice;
one that picks fast,
heedless of color and shape.
One, while swallowing, already
thinks about the following one, the next;
and overlooks the trays
with greedy eyes.
Another – the sweets increased –
moves the desperate white
fingers, smudged with jam,
to the julep!
Another, with charming mastery,
sucks the extreme tip:
in vain! because the cream
comes out the other side!”
Guido Gozzano
Beauty. From whichever angle you observe the art of baking, all you can see is a beauty which pleases all senses. Sight: those soft sponge cakes, those clouds of meringues slightly seared on top, the colours and texture of the shiny glazes. Smell: the sweet scent of butter and sugar, cinnamon, boiled fruit, caramel. Touch: as Gozzano says, those fingers streching out to the next pastry, the soft and superb substance of small cakes and cream puffs. Taste: what else can we add?
Today we are having a cup of tea with Melissa Forti, Rome-born baker, who lived in England and Los Angeles and who is now flying North for new delicious projects. With her second cookbook out in December, the self-taught baker has enchanted the world of pastry with her skills, kindness and style.
Before we talk more thoroughly of your profession, I would like to investigate your upbringing and the presence of culture in your life. Music has always been present, tell us how.
MF: “The man I have always called “uncle”, who was actually my mother’s first husband, and who has always been part of my life being a loving second father to me, was a musician. He used to play the viola in the RAI (Italian National Television) orchestra. I owe him the love for symphonic music and for teaching me how to listen to it. My mother is a piano player graduated from the Conservatory and my real father has been a DJ for a great part of his life. Music, in every version and form, has always been a part of our everyday life. I am really grateful for this”.
Culture was such a habit at home, that you found yourself sharing memorable moments with family friends as prestigious as the Italian writer, illustrator and painter Colette Rosselli, better known as Donna Letizia, and Indro Montanelli, considered the best Italian journalist of the twentieth century. What was it like to be their guest as a child? We know that the superb green of your Tea Room is an homage to them. Why?
MF: “When I was a child, I had the luck and honour to spend much time with them. Colette was the mother of my mother’s best friend. We used to spend Christmas and other holidays all together. The story about the green colour is true. When I slept at Colette and Indro’s house, in Piazza Navona, Rome, I remember the amazing terrace covered by a huge canary- yellow awning and I have an even clearer memory ofthe studio where Indro used to spend a large part of his time, immersed in his books. That studio was painted in the same shade of green I used for my tearoom. I promised myself, as a little girl, that one day I would paint a room in my house with the same colour, as a memory of some of my favourite people”.
Staying in the field of culture, we know that you are a passionate reader and collector of antique cookbooks. Give us some examples of special findings you have experienced recently.
MF: “I adore old cookbooks. I look for them everywhere. I also love cooking supplements in old magazines. Among the books I own and love there is one titled Royal Baker and Pastry Cook published in London in 1902 by the Royal Baking Powder Association. You might think this book has something to do with the Royal Family, but, as a matter of fact, it was written for the Royal Baking Powder, which is a product still on the shelves today. It is a lovely book”.
We know that your journey through the baking world has been quite an unusual one, and everything started during a trip to New York. How did you understand you wanted to become a baker? What was your previous job and, especially, what was the spark that made you choose to open your own business and pursue the path of Hansel and Gretel?
MF: “It happens frequently in the life of everyone of us to have an unclear idea of who we want to be as a grown-up. Few people have the luck to know that since childhood and to achieve success while pursuing their dreams. I have done all the possible jobs, from waitress to shop manager in England, from flight attendant to interior designer. I used to blame myself for not having a homogeneous career background because the fields I had been working in had nothing to do with each other and I felt I was wasting precious time. Later, I learnt that each and every job I did helped me in what I am doing now. It was like attending the school of life, made of many subjects, and in the end, when I “graduated” and followed my way, everything turned out essential. I am a naturally curious person; I have seen many things that I like and pastry-making has never been one of those. I was afraid baking was too perfect an art and I am not perfect, so I felt overwhelmed by the idea of following a recipe accurate to the milligram. During a period of profound change and following the loss of some fundamental beliefs in my life, I asked myself one question: what do I want to do with my future? I could not find an easy and fast solution, so I decided to stop and listen to every signal life was sending me. Slowly, but always in motion, experimenting. I believe I can say baking chose me and not the other way round. Perhaps, when we close in ourselves or we create limits to our potential, the universe listens to us and puts in front of us the things we fear the most. To face them, and win them, so that we can understand that there is really nothing we are incapable of doing if we commit ourselves. The decision to start my first business has taken place without much thinking, but very naturally. It had to happen in that moment and it did; little head and plenty of heart, like everything I do. Sometimes I make my life more difficult because of this”.
What do you remember as the most difficult thing at the beginning? How did you overcome it? What are the positive memories and, in general, the feeling of that period in a new independent enterprise?
MF: At first, it was a period of trial, of insecurity, fears, recklessness. These are fundamental things to start your own business and, without them, few people would. On the other hand, great excitement, immense joy, a wish to do and succeed, gratitude, a desire to grow up and healthy ambition. These are also indispensable ingredients which compensate the worries and, thanks to them, we can go on in spite of the difficulties.
Businesswoman and baker. How did manage your career as a woman? Did you experience competition, aversion or positive reactions?
MF: Thank you for this question. No one ever asks me that, but it is very important to me. I can say that I manage my career and my being a woman every day with a few inner and outer conflicts. As a woman, I had to put aside some wishes I had in my heart for some time and dedicate myself to work. This, of course, has generated a conflict in me and, therefore, I decided to fight for my right to work and to be a woman. It is not fair to have to give up on one thing for another. Unfortunately, the risk in doing this is very high and it is up to us to put a halt to this. It is not an easy task. My world, as any other work environment, has its difficulties in terms of originality, creativity, respect for other people’s work, honesty and integrity. Everyone has been through this. I never look at what other people do. It is a harsh rule of mine. I do not want to be, even only unconsciously, influenced by other people’s work. I do what I love, the way I like it and when I feel like it. I get positive reactions every day from the wonderful people who follow me! They are many and plenty of them have done that since the very first day with love and support. This is a huge gift for me.
Let’s talk about your books! You are now at your third book published, Live, Love, Bake. The first two were: The Italian Baker and Melissa Forti’s Christmas Baking Book. What will we find in this latest one?
MF: This one is a mouthwatering blend of memoir, culture, and delicious recipes for classic and modern baked treats. I share the story of my culinary journey. Starting with my heritage, I have focused on typical recipes from my native Rome―including ricotta cheesecake, biscotti, and zeppole―accompanied by gorgeous images of the Eternal City. I chronicle my personal and professional evolution as a baker with images from my beautiful new café in Copenhagen, Cafe Duse, and personalized recipes for tiramisu, red velvet cake, meringue, and others.
Finally, I look to the future, with classic bakes updated for contemporary diets, including vegan chocolate cake, gluten free pound cake, and dairy free apricot galette.
In the last few years You lived in Germany where you took part in some TV shows. What was this experience like?
MF: “Yes, in Germany, I took part in a TV programme called “Kitchen Impossible”, a programme where famous chefs find themselves in different countries of the world and duel against one another by creating dishes without knowing the recipe, but just using their taste. A starred chef, Tim Raue, visited my tearoom, and failed in trying to make my Tiramisù cake. When I was asked to take part in it, I absolutely had no idea how famous the programme was. I realised it only after watching it. Now numerous people from Germany are following me and it is thanks to this TV show. My book is in its fourth printing in Germany!”
After Germany you came back to Sarzana, Italy, permanently. Can you tell us about your recent projects you are most proud of and future steps?
MF: “I came back to Sarzana four years ago. I am very happy I did, although I have done and seen amazing things lately during my travels abroad. An adventure I am very proud of is “Cafè Duse” by Melissa Forti, created with the German 25Hours Hotel chain, in the historical centre of Copenaghen. It’s a Cafe inside a new hotel in an old building which was home to the Royal Copenaghen Porcelain Factory, and, later, to the Faculty of Law. Morever, there will be television in Italy, then a tour for the promotion of the new book and then…. I cannot say anything else at the moment! Forgive me!”
Anxious of following your next interesting projects around Europe, we thank you for this conversation and we invite all our readers to follow you and to go and buy your delicious books!
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on January 10th, 2020, n° 02/2020
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