Reader Interview: Nina the Rugby Player

Please welcome Nina and her unusual expertise in culinary arts, thanks to her Italian-German ancestry.

I’m Nina, 40ys old, stay-at-home-mom and rugby player, peer-to-peer breastfeeding counselor, Italo-German living in Bremen, Germany, have 2 children and a husband plus a demented grandmother I care for. Here’s my cooking blog:http://tofusofa.antville.org/ which is pretty abandoned as I have other special interest blogs on women’s rugby and feminist mothering. They’re more on top of my list at the moment.

• What do you remember about family meals and your mother’s cooking style when you were growing up? I come from a rather dysfunctional family and my mother was never the best cook or housewife, so one of the things I missed the most when my parents separated was my father’s (Italian) cooking. My mom could make a decent pork roast and pretty good bolognese sugo, and that’s about it. I learned most of my cooking from watching my father cook, as I wasn’t allowed to help, and from both my grandmothers.
• How is your cooking style different from your mother’s?  Well, she did not cook unless was told to. I love to cook for lots of people and that’s why I have a family.
• What is your favorite gadget? Really sharp knives. I have a wonderful Zwilling Santoku knife which I adore.
  Do you entertain, and in what circumstances? What is the biggest party or meal you have hosted to date? I like to have friends and neighbours over for Dinner. Back in the days I catered for a DIY PunkRockShowBooker and was out there cooking mostly vegan or vegetarian buffets and meals for visiting Bands like the Cro-Mags etc.  The weirdest job ever was a buffet for the opening party of a S/M brothel…. I was also working as a “professional” chef and when I started that job (I had no professional training) the very first evening we shoveled out 450 meals.
• Can you share a typical daily menu? Weekly menu? Today we had a Risotto. I call it Smugglers Risotto, as it’s in honour of my grand-aunt Angiulina. It’s made with Italian sausage (lughaniga) and extremely tasty! I don’t have a weekly menu as I love to shop for groceries and always find something special on one of the wonderful markets we have here (but which are crap compared to the markets in Italy…).
• How has your cooking style evolved over the years? As a kid i was a picky eater. Every kind of meat had to be well done, plus I was eating mostly pork and turkey. I wasn’t a diverse eater, when i was at a Greek restaurant for the first time I thought they were going to poison me and I really hated Dolmades (I love them now and make them myself with fresh wine leaves from my garden). I guess the “break”  came when I really got into cooking, in German schools you had to do an internship in 9th grade and as I was lazy and always hungry I decided to do it in a restaurant. I had so much fun and they even gave me some money! After that, I really started to become interested in cooking.
• Can you recommend any cookbooks, TV shows or websites that have inspired you?
  I love the BBC shows from Antonio Carluccio, I really love Giorgio Locatelli’s “Made in Italy” Book. It’s a bit odd that I like two Italian chefs that made their career in the UK – but on the other hand both of them come from an area near to my home village (near Lago Maggiore), so I kinda “get” their style of cooking. I also love the “Zu Tisch in…” (Cuisine des Terroirs) Series of French/German Broadcaster ARTE, they are incredibly good! But most of my cooking books are in German or Italian…
  And I used to get a lot of input from foodblogs, such as http://kochtopf.twoday.net/, http://nutriculinary.com/ and others.
  I started blogging very early (around 1999), but my food blog is much younger, it only started 6ys ago…
• What posts on CM have you enjoyed? Do you have suggestions for future posts?
  I enjoy every post as I like the very down to earth, yet “professional” attitude. I bet with 6 children there is a lot more to consider, be it economical or organiational. I loved the “rice washing” post! Just keep it going!
• What is the most unusual dish you’ve ever made? Rheinischer Sauerbraten (a special roast made from horse meat). Wasn’t as good as I expected, but was my own fault. I had shortened the marinating time…
• What is the oldest item in your kitchen? The newest? OMG! I have no idea! I got some pretty old glasses. And the last thing I purchased was a new dishwasher.
• What would you like to change about your cooking style in the coming year? I’d love to think a bit more ahead, I had lots of stuff going to waste in the last months which is a shame, but I love to buy groceries that much…. Plus I try to not buy any conventional meat anymore, only organic. So we’re heading towards a week of veggie meals and then a good Sunday roast

Please share a favorite recipe and cooking tips.
OK, this is veggie and yummy:

My daughter loves it! I stole the recipe from a Moevenpick-Restaurant where they used cottage cheese instead of Mozzarella. But I hate cottage cheese! Try it with buffalo Mozzarella, but cow’s milk Mozzarella (fior di latte) is just a s good as the Balsamico is the big “Player” here.