When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.
It helps immerse yourself in what you potentially want to do. Being involved, learning firsthand and observing the craft and absorbing all you can, makes it easier to define what you want. It will also ultimately make you a better Chef. Culinary school, or even a single class, is a great bet too.
Yoga has trimmed my body in a way that the gym never could. I used to be a gym rat, but I switched to yoga and am now almost 10 pounds lighter. One important thing I’ve gotten from yoga is breathing. When I’m cooking, the top part of my body collapses down. It cuts off my diaphragm.
These days it’s cool to be ethnic and to be different, but when I was a kid, it was not cool – at all. My friends would come over and my mom would make crepes with eggs, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. And they’d be like, ‘What is this?’
I keep my skin – especially on my face and neck – out of the sun. My brother died of melanoma eight years ago, and I’ve got SPF on all the time, 24-7. It makes you realize, the sun is a wonderful thing, but it can be a very devastating thing. So sunscreen is key, and a lot of laughter, too.
Food was always a big part of my life. My grandfather was one of 14 kids, and his parents had a pasta factory, so as a kid, he and his siblings would sell pasta door to door. After he became a movie producer, he opened up De Laurentiis Food Stores – one in Los Angeles and one in New York.
All men want to be treated like kings in a relationship, and I think if women don’t indulge that sometimes, their men are likely to stray and look for someone who can give that to them.
I eat a little bit of everything and not a lot of anything. Everything in moderation. I know that’s really hard for people to understand, but I grew up in an Italian family where we didn’t overdo anything. We ate pasta, yes, but not a lot of it.
My family truly believes they are better cooks than I am. They see me as Giada, not as a celebrity chef. To them I’m just me – their granddaughter, niece, etc., and they’re older and wiser. I like that because it keeps you grounded.
The summer before I went to culinary school, my family wanted me to take a job on a movie to make sure that I was making the right decision. I think they hoped I would change my mind about culinary school.
I think you can tell the food is close to my heart, too, because I’m doing what I do best.
Talking to other people while you’re cooking, it doesn’t come naturally.
I’m most comfortable in T-shirts, but they have to have some style to them.
As long as you’re eating well and moving your body every day, age is just a state of mind.
Don’t expect too much from yourself. What I like to do when I have a day off is make various cookie doughs and freeze them. Then I always have that on hand if I need it.
It’s almost ingrained in people that, just like you can’t be a smart model, you can’t be a good-looking cook.
If people are made to feel uncomfortable in the kitchen, they won’t go in there. That’s why I think children learning to cook can be such a wonderful thing.
In order to keep your husband, you have to make time for him. Rather than going out to dinner, I like to spend time for just the two of us.
I love to do yoga, even if it means getting up at 5:30 in the morning. It helps me breathe and stop all the chatter in my head. That can help you get through everything.
It’s pronounced wee but spelled O-U-I. It’s all you’ll want to say when you’re sitting at one of the thousands of little cafes that line the streets and you’re looking at a menu full of foods you just want to eat for days. And then you wake up early, and the sun is rising in shades of pink over the white buildings as you make your way through the sleepy streets until you’re upon the fresh markets!
The French and their food. They put each meal on a pedestal.