Antonietta Imperatrice
The time for cooking

Antonietta Imperatrice, cook and owner of one of the oldest trattorie in the heart of Naples, tells us about her idea of tradition. Starting from her family’s story, she talks about her father, who came from Puglia and taught her some recipes from his birthplace. As fave e cicoria (fava beans and chicory), that “she’s the only one able to cook” and proposes to her customers. She also tells us about her idea of eating out today. Her cuisine respects tradition; it is a simple cooking, whose principal ingredient is time, so short in the contemporaneity. From the recipe of the “genovese” to that of the Neapolitan ragout, the chef of the “Osteria della Mattonella” explains us the importance of the time while cooking, but also her favourite dishes, her recipes, her idea of tradition – also concerning the gender roles in the kitchen – and of the Mediterranean Diet.