The story of the Italian cook who is three times rebellious

Saint SebastianViviana Varese (Salerno, 1974) is a force of nature. A chef who has made her mark in a potentially hostile environment, that of haute cuisine, without compromising her values. She now runs the gastronomic offering of a luxury hotel in one of Italy's most exclusive corners, Passalacqua, on Lake Como. She also has a rebellious grill restaurant in Milan, Faak. She grants an interview to ARA at the Gastronomika congress, where she gave a lecture that left us stunned.

Varese has previously described Italian haute cuisine as “white, heterosexual, homophobic, and sexist.” And she states that things are getting worse. In Italy and in the world. “I think we are very proud of Spain right now, of the president you have. Because he still defends diversity, he still tries to counteract hatred, this wave of the right-wing movement that is advancing again, of hatred, of feeling more important than the other, of feeling more masculine than the other. And, therefore, in my opinion, we are taking steps backward in dignity, in respect for others,” she says bluntly. She opened her own restaurant at the age of 21 and, therefore, has been her own boss. She already knew a lot, as her family had a fish restaurant. Not having anyone above her helped her to mitigate the sexism and homophobia in the sector. She held a Michelin star for fifteen years in Milan and also had one in Sicily, at the foot of Etna, so success has also been a good mitigating factor. But what she could not avoid was racism because she is from the south.

Varese loves history, so she goes back to explain the present. The unification of Italy, diversity, and the transfer of wealth from the south, from the Bourbons, to the north. “Unification is sometimes difficult for us southerners because it was dictated by taking land and riches, not by the idea of creating a single Italy.” “In the past, I suffered from this form of racism, there are people who think they are better than others. First there was racism against southerners, then there was racism against Albanians, then against Romanians. And now against Arabs and Africans,” she denounces.

The love for repositioning debates and knowledge and, as we said, for history is what has occupied his conference, in which he has explained the gastronomic offer of Passalaqua, in homage to Catherine de' Medici and to monsù cuisine (which came from the mixture between the aristocratic cuisine of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies fused with French cuisine, which was fashionable. In fact, monsù comes from monsieur le chef). Catherine de' Medici, Italian, was the one who created éclairs and macarons with her chefs and who popularized the use of fork and knife. She became Queen of France by marrying Henry II of France, and then all of this has been attributed to the Gallic country. “In the end, you understand that most of us haven't invented anything. The only one who invented was Ferran Adrià, who completely innovated cuisine,” says Varese, who has a deep knowledge of Catalan cuisine. He was at El Celler de Can Roca and at Enigma, and only has words of gratitude. “El Celler was a machine of incredible creativity and, above all, with people who shared knowledge. There was no jealousy for the recipe or the technique; it was simply an exchange of knowledge, which for me is an incredible act of generosity. This also happened with Enigma, which was quite a few years later”.

The body and the planet we inhabit

Viviana Varese is now an award-winning chef, but her reflections go beyond cooking. She talks about our bodies. The woman from Salerno, at a very young age, encountered the disease of obesity and had to deal with it psychologically. The relationship with food of someone who dedicates themselves to cooking is not a minor issue. “Now I have lost a lot of weight. I am not ashamed to say that I am on this treatment similar to Ozempic, because I was also becoming diabetic. I owe a lot to this medication”.

To finish, let's talk about the planet. She assures that the word sustainability has been overused. “Many companies have built nonexistent and false narratives. I prefer that we talk about a conscious cuisine, that is real, not a fantasy”. For Varese, everything can be political, including cooking.