Ciao everyone! My name is Rosangela Atte and I was born in Naples, Italy. I moved to Canada in 1997 with my husband and my then 2 year old son to find a better future. I now have 4 children and I am a chef and owner of Capri Bakery and Bistro in Maple Ridge, B.C.
I am passionate about Italian food and culture, especially Neapolitan. I am Napoletana through and through and I love to share my passion, and knowledge with you! I grew up in a very large family, and my maternal grandparents helped my mother raise my sister and me as she was a single mother. My grandmother influenced me in every way! She was such a strong passionate woman, she was a master in the kitchen, and a perfectionist! I remember my grandfather Pasquale, coming home with bags full of fresh fish and seafood that he bought at the market. He placed them on the table and said: “Adria` aggia accattat o pesc frisc!“
That’s Neapolitan for:”Adriana I bought fresh fish!”And my grandma couldn’t have been happier to cook all that fish that was still moving! My home was always full of people, laughter, tears, drama and food, always food! My home life was scenes from Sofia Loren and Mario Merola movies everyday! No matter where you had been, what you had done, there was always food on the table and a glass of wine for you. In 1980, after one of the biggest earthquakes in Italian history, my grandparents bought a farm because they couldn’t live in their apartment at the 7th floor anymore, and that’s when my passion for food developed in a full blown obsession!
My grandparents hired farmers to farm their land and had all sorts of veggies, fruits, chickens, rabbits and geese. My uncles made wine for the family with the grapes that grew on the farm. We had two giant walnut trees that were so full of walnuts! Every September, my cousin, sister and I would pick the nuts, break the green outer shell, peel the fresh walnut, exposing the white, tender flesh of the walnut, and ate so many! The best thing you’ve ever tried! We would all go to our first day of school with our fingers all stained from the green shells. We would jar tomatoes every summer, pickle eggplants, make limoncello, jam, and bread. Instead of going to school with cookies, we would pick mandarins from the trees on our way to school. We ate only seaonal, non processed foods and we were all healthy, fit and we never heard of food allergies! I would have parties with friends, just so I could show off my cooking skills and see their reactions to the food I had prepared with so much love! I just loved it so much!! My cousin, sisters and I would have “spaghettate di mezzanotte“! Midnight spaghetti! We would stay up ‘till midnight, and have spaghetti aglio e olio or with fresh tomatoes!
Everything revolved around food, and I want to take you on a trip down memory lane, so on my blog you will find authentic Italian recipes that have been passed down from my nonna to her children and grandchildren, and also some recipes that I have developed through my years of culinary school, work, and living in this beautiful, multicultural country. Bottom line: I LOVE FOOD! And I know that if you’re reading this, chances are, you do too! So let’s go on an adventure and taste Italy, one bite at time. Andiamo!
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/chefrosangelaatte/