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Marla Gulley Roncaglia Author of: Bella Baita View Home Base: Piedmont, Italy Interests: Food, Travel “Food, fun and whatever else comes along…” is how I describe my life in the Italian Alps of Piedmont, Italy these past 9 years. |
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Food has always played a central role through out my life, having lived in a home that always seemed to have an overflowing table full of interesting people with animated conversations whilst enjoying my mothers exceptional country cooking. Her fruit pies were legendary and it didn’t take me long to travel down the culinary path. I discovered that when you can tickle people’s taste buds, there will always be work and eager eaters gathered round your table. Pursuing my passion for genuine, fresh food, both professionally and at home, I have cooked, baked and taught my way from university through a long stay in the high altitude of Colorado’s ski country. My career, mainly as a pastry chef, took me from an intimate European style upscale inn to a long stint building and running a central bakery of a huge multi unit ski resort where we baked our hearts out for the masses. I landed in Europe about 15 years ago, working mainly in alpine resorts and later as a chef for a British Art school. After meeting my future husband in the small Tuscan town where we were both worked, we decided to return to his family’s alpine home in Piedmont, opening the idle rooms and naming our B&B , Bella Baita, after his family’s former restaurant,” La Baita: (mountain chalet). We created an association to promote ecological and sustainable mountain tourism to better promote our not so well known area, through offering locally sourced Piemontese family style meals, cookery classes and short break culinary tours in our immediate area. We enjoy sharing our Italian adventures in the mountains of the Chisone valley and hope you’ll read along as I share our slice of Turin province and greater Piedmont. |