The Pasta Queen talks about life in Rome, Pasta and Growing Up Italian

EPISODE 319. This one was truly a long time coming as Sabino and Rocco finally sit down with The Pasta Queen herself. On this episode, they talk about Pasta Queen’s upbringing in Rome, what brought her to the United States, her passion for cooking and why/how she started creating cooking content, and her latest ventures with her very own sauce brand as well as her very own cookbook!

@thepastaqueen

Pre-order her cookbook here
https://tr.ee/5qdVbxgyy9

Go try her sauces here
https://tr.ee/IMnZOE0PRm

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Grazie a tutti!

Chapters
0:25 – Intro to Pasta Queen
1:00 – Fake Carbonara
5:00 – Process of her videos
9:00 – Speaking dialect
11:00 – Why she moved
14:00 – Why Campania has the best food
22:00 – Italian/Italian-American
28:00 – Marrying an Englishman
31:00 – Adjusting to America
39:00 – Starting YouTube
44:00 – The Pasta Queen’s Influence
46:00 – Leonardo DaVinci riddle “details”
50:00 – Pasta queen sauces
56:00 – What grinds her gears
1:00:00 – Favorite pastas
1:05:00 – This or That?

Soo guys this is the basten and you’re now watching growing up Italian just gorgeous just [Music] gorgeous growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up Italian podcast growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up time growing up Itali growing up Italian podcast growing up Italian growing up Italian growing up Italian podcast growing up Italian wo I’m so loud that’s what being Italian is right yeah I’ve been um you know I don’t know if you’ve been following the pasta wien service announcements huh what the hell Sabino you haven’t watched one no I mean I watch your videos but pasta Ser is that like when you send the the mess message scam when I scream and I’m like why do people put cream in carbonara yeah why you guys put cream in carbonara all the time yeah should I should I admit it should I admit it no you I’m going to be honest because I’m safe space I’m not a liar okay so I’m going to tell you the truth downstairs in our store you know I’ve been working since I’m a kid my dad opened when I was four years old so you see how we have the steam table E when we used to make the cabona for the customers it would be heavy cream and bacon so I’m not going to lie but from doing this and watching your videos what am I doing here maybe the teach us or two yeah but how are it’s a big tray it’s like theil you know how do you makeila pasta no you got to make it cabon you got to eat right away the real cabon you can’t have it in a h you got to eat it right away it’s got really like semi raw eggs yeah exactly so yeah you don’t want to play with that one put it in the fridge three days later go on it you know if you if you if you put carbonada on a steam table too wouldn’t the eggs cook yes so that’s why I mean it depends how steamy it is oh it’s steamy it’s hot nice and hot it’s hot you have a scrambled you have like AA beautiful it’s delicious which is so good you know what’s so crazy is that we know each other for a while but this is our first time meeting yeah I think we did uh I I think I was like right at the beginning of pasta wi it was like July 2020 MH M and we did uh with your cousin right Rosaria yeah yeah and uh we did the first podcast over like Instagram live thing during the pandemic yeah yes super makes crazy times crazy times but it’s crazy to see how far along you came and I remember the first time I saw her I there’s a there’s an actress I think you you guys look alike Sophia vagara have you ever heard that before well she gets the comparison I don’t know what you’re talking about okay but when I saw I was like me this This Woman’s beautiful cooking like what’s going on here and then you know everybody loved you are you hitting on me or no no no no at all no no I’m just saying that for your content you’re no no no never never respect though I know know know just I’m like this people don’t know very well I tried like I was saying tobino even though you don’t follow my pqsa that’s the queen Service Announcement that’s righto how could you not know that bro I mean how could you not know I just learned it five minutes ago you know but no I was you know I so they have been a different side of the cooking uh because I have I have such strong opinion about Italian food that I decided to do these like service announcements where I take some of the most frequently asked questions whether on DMS comments on any platform like Tik Tok YouTube and IG and then I answer them uh knowing how uh much people want to know about that subject you know so based on that you you know people are are saying what happened to you like why you screaming what that like um actually um do you even know me like that’s actually me I’m a little aggressive I have a strong sense of humor but I also like poetry yeah I could tell I could tell some of your videos you like have these beautiful words I’m like wow she put two and two together I could never do that you know yeah I love like I that’s why we don’t do like those kind of videos yeah yeah you have punch lines you know I mean you have like nice yeah yeah like one of my favorite subjects at school uh was poetry Italian literature so I read a lot of books a lot of poetry books a lot of the biggest operas you know like dardi Bach which are basically like big poetry Poets of Italy I love poetry so with that being said right before you do a video do you think of the lines before like what what comes first the food and then the lines or the lines the food the food yeah like I I think I think that uh I’ve always had this very witty way with words and very quick and and sometimes in my mind like something you say makes me think of 10 things so I can kind of like make uh analogies on the spots that’s that’s incredible because I know a lot of my friends that do the same thing you do on a different level of course but they they um like almost make the punch lines first and then when they’re cooking they got to like no I never do that I mean era ER is my best friend/ social media manager do we ever prepare anything never I love that I love why nothing is prepared nothing is crypted it’s just a genuine reaction and spur of the moment like I’m like you know I did something and it reminds me of something you know yeah but there’s never a moment where you’re like a damn I should have said this you know what I mean no she doesn’t look back look at you no naturally talented huh I just keep moving improv you you’re good at improv I love so that’s one thing that maybe it has been a little clearer since I been now oops it’s true look at mosino it’s true where are you going that’s such an Italian thing right when something drops when someone’s talking so like um when I was um when I was 13 um I did uh improv in theater uh in Rome and then I was in my first feature movie for the cinema in Italy by 14 years old wow can you believe it you can still find the movie they play it every year every summer in Italy amazing I’m not gonna tell you for since how long but so I I think if anybody’s watched one of our podcast episodes they know who you are everybody in this community in Italian American Community am I known Sao think yes I will say no a little bit a little bit I don’t know good cop bad cop here there might be like I’m like who’s this lady she faking her accent you’re you’re undeniable everybody knows who you are the a mascot wow what’s very rare for you I mean you’re you in particular is because I feel all the Italians I know know you and all the Italian Americans and it’s not a lot of people that have both some people have one and some people have the other wow but you and Jan LCA qcp are the only two see that have both I mean zuga is authentically Italian yeah and and he’s meaning um he really is naano like and you know is it is say I just made that is really like even his um demeanor and his Essence is aano yeah and I told him like you naano like you need to like own up to it and so he actually speaks Italian pretty well yeah he’s learning we were talking about we’re all on Dual lingo now me and Roco are have a streak right now we’re going just a real we speak dialect so like for me to know to speak with somebody like you of course I have to brush up Roma dialect I do you speak do you prefer to speak dialect or proper Italian both I mean Roman dialect is like my comfort zone like I’m like I feel like warm and fuzzy when I can speak Roman dialect because it’s like I grew up speaking Roman dialect um but you got a you got to also know Italian you know what I mean and Italian is a language in itself um uh and then there’s like probably I think I studied it once I think there’s over 50 dialects in all of Italy yeah probably more actually no sorry there’s 20 regions no no no no there’s there’s uh close to 25 dialects that’s what I researched on but there’s sub dialects too yes maybe Napolitano because then in our little Villages where we’re from already like my mom and my dad’s town they speak different and have different words for things over 30 recognized dialects there you go over 30 Yeah so basically Italian is what everybody can understand each other with and then regionally I mean you know Ealy wasn’t Italy until you know fairly recently when we talking about the 1860s right yeah so that’s when it came together and before it was very very um individual identities you know you had each region as and that’s why the cooking is so different and even the languages are so different region to region yeah it makes sense what I was going to say to the point that we feel you’re so well known in a community what I know you for is making pasta what I want to know about you now is kind of your journey from Roma to Coming to America yeah that that’s that’s an interesting one yeah I I don’t I have no idea like why why why you came here like Italy’s the most beautiful place in the world in particular Rome you walk around it’s literally a movie I you I I I totally it’s something I get asked this a lot actually because it is is so beautiful and you’re like why do you love Italy so much but you moved away from it it’s kind of like a bit of a you know Catch 22 it’s not catch 22 it’s like an opposite how do you say that it’s like you love Italy you represent Italy you’re obsessed witha but then you move away from it why is that would you ever go back to Italy 100% I even as a matter of fact my family is all between Rome and napl so I have most of my family in Rome and kazera they make best buffalo [Music] mozzarella by us they do Salo you know Salo e e like is in C but EOL in particular okay we’ll talk she knows she knows she guys she was engaged to be married with a gentleman from that area and she spent 3 years eating buffalo mozzarella lactose intolerant yeah she became lactose intolerant because of how much buffalo mozzarella she at but yeah so yeah that region when it comes to the fresh M sorry so let’s go back because otherwise we’re gonna do you want to say something about the region though no but what what we were just saying we’re safe we’re from the same the the reason why said EO is because when I get by our parents Hometown literally on the way from the airport I stop there and get a buffalo mozzarella and the last time the all the years I went they used to be very small yeah ever since the the pandemic now they only do like the half kilo ones so I went with my Z you had the breeded Mo Buffalo Mo like that yeah the 12 pounder yeah amazing I’m not crazy about that one the Buffalo Mas yeah it’s a little harder that’s why right cuz it’s braided it’s all tied up and that’s I’m saying you got to go where my family is from excuse me excuse me in our kazer all right we’ll check it out well I’m in a little village Sant oh yeah yeah yeah it’s safe to say though I think we would all agree C the whole reg is the best cheese but you know you know what it is right what is it cuz we have the best cows I don’t know it’s undeniably we have the best buffalos but uh the thing is that because of the volcanic um influence over the land and the soil and the water being full of mineral content because of the ashes the general uh richness of the soil is so much so that everything tastes so much better is the high content of minerals we we’ve heard this about tomatoes a lot it’s so I mean but never I never heard about it from because the cows are eating abely of course they’re eating off the land and and it’s it’s you know the Romans used to call camp Camp Felix which means it was the file land Latin for it’s so rich phelix you know like it’s a happy fertile Rich uh land I like history lessons on a I feel like you’re full of History lessons in content too yeah I mean I love I mean I my dad is basically a historian okay um not by trade is’s a civil engineer but by Passion so when we were kids we go like raid thean katoms you know and like find uh little ruins of bases or whatever of pre-roman times yeah so I I wanted to be an arch ologist uh when I was a little kid um but going back to your original question I grew up in a family of farmers um I mean my family has been farming since we know that we can track the genealogical tree so we’re talking about the 1700s wow that we know of that’s incredible because that’s as as far back that that we know we have owned land and we’ve been in the farming and agricultural you know my grandfather austino was the deputy mayor and president of the Goro agolo Gano we uh produced uh wheat for the region um and and Main produce you know we had uh uh Vineyards and uh vegetables produce wheat and um we can go back to the 1700s in the farming uh on the land owning and the farming MH that’s all my father my family’s ever done I’m just curious to how do you know from the 1700s from like a journal or something or like your family has it all documented we have um one of our family member who works for the church uh and uh they keep the oldest records because you know the church used to actually um keep meticulous records of every land that people own exact true so she works for the church and we can track down to a certain point on paper how long the family has been in the farming and the land owning and to this day we own land that produces wheat so back to my story um I grew up in the dirt Okay so I used to go with my grandfather on his Lamborghini tractor we would tag along my brother and I my cousins be like running in the in the dirt while he was like plowing for potatoes and and all sorts of different you know harvesting harvesting wheat and that’s what I did I lived in Santa Maria gab uh from the age of 2 to 6 years old so I went to kindergarten there for a little while and I was living with my grandparents and they have a big estate that we still on to this day and we all live together as Italians do you know how much we love that all in one compound um and then we moved back to Rome I was born in Rome went down south with my dad’s family and then moved back to Rome for my elementary school by age six six and a half so I then finished my schooling in r home in the city center I lived near TR and I went to school in Campo de fi so near all near everything everybody talks about when when even when I was just there everybody it’s it’s a hot zone right there it’s hot and there’s a lot of uh little restaurants it’s very iconic and uh yeah it’s it’s super super iconic yeah what just made a lot of sense to me like just putting this all together as we’re talking the fact that your family owned farms and and land land shows why you have so much respect for food and ingredi particular ingredients that’s why my old hair Flav because I’m so obsessed with the the wholesomeness of ingredience and also because back to the Mount vvus and what it created for the land just much like in Sicily where they have Mount Etna you know some of the the richest soils are near volcanoes you know the best wines are near volcanic soil and um and it’s just so rich in um nutritious Nutri nutritional value uh but also like in flavor like it bursts with flavor you yeah and with being a family that owns a farm there’s a lot of situations where you know our family we both come from farms too like on my dad’s side and his we know my there isn’t you know in that area funnny enough I was talking to my dad about it there isn’t many families that don’t come from Land yeah exactly Ian you’re not wrong Farmers yeah exactly like it’s not industrial um major factories there it’s land it’s the C Felix yeah exactly but what I was going to say was what I noticed from growing up my Nona would always whatever the vegetables were that day is what lunch was so having dry pasta in the cabinet maybe you have uh badan today you know Shara de you know broccoli rob you know you just use whatever vegetables you get from the land and then whatever pasta is in the cabinet so it is fair to say you are the pasta Queen I mean that’s why I I started with that concept I joined Tik Tok and it was just my name nadina and then uh very quickly I realized that that was 2020 2020 yeah by the way could you say your name a little slower cuz that was crazy Nadia Karina Muno okay n kinao NAD kinao that fast so very quickly after I I started on Tik Tok I changed to from my personal like my individual name to a concept because I realized and funnny enough um there were no Italians on Tik Tok uh from Italy I mean it was very new Tik Tok it it hadn’t taken off in Italy and so my audience was the Italians abroad the Italian American community and I started going viral in this community and I realized how passionate I have never seen so much uh patriotism than italian-americans about Italy like I think the that that being away from the Homeland makes you more obsessed and more productive of it as you know as opposed to the regular Italian who lives and grows there and and takes it for granted yeah I’m here everything is beautiful but when you’re away from it m it’s Nostalgia it hurt isn’t it this is exactly why we do we do what you just said is why we do that yes it’s not a lot of it’s not a lot of people that understand it and she does but she sees both sides that’s why you know it’s because it’s because I now consider myself Italian American because even though I was born and raised in Italy uh I’m in America and I’ve been now for almost nine years it’ll be nine years in October and um I am an Italian American can can I give you my opinion why you say that why you I I think the reason why you say that is because you’re Italian through and through but America gave you the opportunity to become who you are and you ask me why I came to America yeah to me America is the land of opportunities the land of Freedom uh there is um you can be anywhere El the mentality you can be and um expand and grow and people support it and they’re like uh I don’t know there very ambitious and very uh you know go getting MH and um and I have always been like that and I actually moved to England when I was 18 to study and I went to for a study program um didn’t speak the language at all guys I arrived in England I was like the weather was bad the food was questionable fish and chips I mean actually I I I learned to love it fish and chips it was proba favorite no it’s not push too far a fish and chips is like it’s like bakalao I I could I could relate to it you know like a a Christmas Baka okay H but anyways so I was already of that mentality of how can I go out of my comfort zone how can I learn more cultures how can I go out of this you know and I love Italy but it’s like you live you know my my grandparents was like you’re going to get married you’re going to be in the village you’re going to carry on the Family’s Legacy uh we go to church every week very prideful you know that 10,000 people and that’s all you know you know what I mean it’s true of course yeah does this resonate a little bit I have cousins in Italy right now that that’s the that’s the exact situation and I thought about it guys and I was like I think I’m gonna die if I do that I I didn’t everything me and I thought I can’t do that to to leave to leave your comfort zone to change change your life it takes Amica is America yeah you know it’s like this this this there was a huge migration of of so many different Europeans Coming to America and they made their life and they they created Empires you know the Irish the English the the the Dutch the Italians so so how did exactly the conversation come about where you made the decision okay I’m going like where were you at in life were you did you feel like at a point where you were stuck I was in England I you have to understand I went to England back and forth from Italy okay so my mom was very upset with me um but I was like I I want to learn first of all I want to learn English uh I think I need it I’m not just going to know one language I want to I want to be able to speak to so many different people I want to I want to learn learn about different cultures I I wanted to learn English I wanted to also study public relations because I I thought at that time um like I love talking to people I did theater but I also want to learn PR um because I think it’s a great way to uh relate to to a bigger Community you know what I mean it’s I I love PR marketing um and then I actually met my husband there so my husband is briish yes oh nice and uh he’s blonde blue eyes I was like you know I come from Rome the south of Italy everybody’s got a certain look and I was very attracted to this exotic uh blonde blue eyes Viking I wow that is different that’s different I never seen this before I’ve never seen this before it’s not common you know from The Stereotype Italian Stallion boyfriends that I did you did you initiate talking to him first oh yes I’m very aggressive it always it always works like that when the woman’s interest like English like you know and I I you can never read the English people they’re very hard to read you know they say one thing are they thinking about another I’m like Italian I’m like I if I like you I tell you let’s go you know what I mean like there’s none of this like well you know no no games no games that’s one thing I like about New York is that it’s very similar to where I’m from yeah Rome it’s very aggressive it’s very in your face it’s very like we we say one thing we mean that thing we don’t say one thing and mean another thing yeah and if we don’t like you we say it if you failed that a job you will be told you failed that a job and you kind of like hustle um versus some other cultures where you never know if you did something wrong and I think it’s not good for you to not know where you failed because then you cannot better yourself I like that like hey you you effed up you did this and you weren’t supposed to do it and you’re like oh okay you know now I can grow from this you know you know I can get a fresh Quality Pizza with the freshest ingredients I’m talking like homemade dough PE Romano grated inhouse of course where cuz and these cold fire pizza and wings that cold fire is at the heart of who they are oh they’re that spot that’s located all in the Northeast and they have a bunch in Florida right yep man I love when you have a good recommendation for once Crispy Crunchy Savory and sweet order what you want on Uber Eats listen guys from now to the end of the year December 31st on the Uber Eats app you go to Anthony sanini shop and you get get a nice $25 off when you use the copini got to use the copini terms apply C app for details we’re very excited to announce a long-term partnership with the SoDo gromia out from Australia these guys got a really really interesting restaurant uh concept where all their profits go to all these Italian Charities theodo has a very interesting story so their first generation Italian Australians they’re basically Us in Australia the zotto was created in their parents and grandparents honor so that they can pay their legacy forward 100% of their proceeds goes to people in need Charities and the Arts did SoDo will be supporting us this year so you know the content is going to be even better bro and who knows maybe at some point we’re going to have to take a trip down on huh I was always curious how the Italian Australians made food it’s time we find out so so you and your husband so was best to okay so back to the point I was aggressive I was like okay I really like you and he was like oh yeah like you do I’m like what’s going on here did you what was your first date with him do you remember um yes so we were set up by a friend a common friend that I I’d been there studying for a bit and I knew a you know I was kind of like interning um for a jazz band um and I was selling CDs um and you know merch at venues like jazz clubs in London which was really really cool actually and um they were friends and um they said you know you studying Pi like oh you can do sales you can s our merch you can come on tour with us um and then um they knew my husband’s father um and they said oh this kid is uh coming back from Los Angeles uh he was studying there he’s moving back to England we want you to meet him and uh so he had a little bit of American accent not only he was blonde blueeyed but he had an American accent I was like oh I like Americans he like a movie star and from Los Angeles I was like he looks like Ben Affleck that’s great a mixture between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon I was like oh I already always idealized American movies Hollywood it was kind of cool you know what’s crazy is that he he already had a foot in the door in America too yes his mother traveled and he had sales job and traveled and the reason why we then went back to Florida is because he actually was there when he was little he was there for a couple of years he still had some childhood friends so when we actually went from London we went from London back to Rome my kids were born in Rome and then we came to America because of two of our biggest clients with our marketing company we had with marketing for financial institution and Banks um I think there was HSBC it was one of our clients big bank that is everywhere um and we had a big client on the east coast in Philadelphia and my husband was traveling back and forth from London to Philadelphia it was getting crazy um it was the biggest account I never seen that kind of um contract the 10 times 10 times more remunerative than any other clients by that time we already had three kids I have four now and we’re like if we want to give the future that that we want to create a future for our kids we need to make a lot more money yeah and it’s it was really down to like creating the best possible scenario for the kids and moving to America was a was like a no-brainer to Mo create one of our English offices on the East Coast where do we go do we go to New York do we go to Philadelphia the weather is not my favorite in New York what the hell is going on every time you make a really good point you’re true it’s true it pops off it’s true no my the weather in New York I’m not used to it being from the south of Italy you know we’re close to North North Africa it never snows right never snows crazy to and you know in the summer it’s 120 F so I’m not used to cold weather so when I already in England it was I was depressed because the the the the sunshine is not predominant there they say that yeah they all say that and it’s it’s rains a lot and it’s very cold in the summer sorry in the summer too actually it’s very cold um and when I came to New York once in February uh I think I had worst time in Central Park I wanted to go and take a walk I didn’t know Central Park was that big and I got stuck and my face froze halfway through trying to get on the other side of Central Park it was you know Valentine’s February 14th my husband was like oh let’s go to New York it’s so romantic and I’m like I am never living in New York I I cannot like I I was Frozen um he said romantic yeah what’s romantic the rats running around especially Central Park took me to the National History Museum I thought it was very lovely yeah we saw a lot of culture I was like oh this is cool the fashion the shops the restaurants I mean you got to say between Florida and New York the food scene here is a lot more elevated but you cannot beat the the Gulf of Mexico Beach es of course true where you know the sand is like Crystal like this white sandy soft on your feet you’re like oh so pleasant and the water is always warm even in the winter I was like okay I’m going to Florida I’m like there’s a Nob brainer yeah and how did you get adjusted to Florida when you moved there you just loved it from the start uh very hard for me because I come from Rome and what part of Florida are we talking about Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Tampa Bay and now Tampa Bay for I I’m not familiar I haven’t been there but from what I’ve heard it grew a lot in the last five years a lot yeah right I mean I’ve been there now for eight and a half years and I was so lucky because I went in there at a time where you can say was kind of like not the cool place to be MH it was in like Miami Palm Beach Fort Lauderdale Naples Naples Marco Island you know like exactly or Key West all these fancier location I went in there and I found this old 1920 Chateau it was abandoned Chateau means Castle right yeah it’s like a a French inspired um Mansion ni I wouldn’t say it’s a castle no it’s like a country home that’s what a shadow is and um there was this old architect you know I live on the borderline border of Bair in Florida near Indian Rocks Beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches in my opinion um that I’ve ever seen I mean it’s basically the same Beach of the Bahamas yeah it’s on the other it’s it’s on that line we share the golf of Mexico and um I found this 1920 built in the 1920 in 1920 um so he 102 years old 104 years old actually this year we celebrated it and gra and this amazing architect from New York um was creating this French shuttle for the mayor of Battle Creek um Michigan who wanted this summer home in Florida and this guy was the guy that invented carbon copy paper he was like um like we found an old patent online he invented you know carbon copy paper and he patented and he moved to Florida and that was his wish to create like a chateau I ended up buying it it was uh owned by very interesting people through the decades and um and I ran over it it was abandoned uh burnt down and I bought in 2016 for a steel and now it’s worth because of the the the way Florida has expanded over the last since Co basically everybody been a lot of people from the West uh West Coast moving from from Up upate and now the market you know like the real real estate market is crazy like my home is like you know yeah God bless God bless congratulations I was lucky I was lucky you guys got I mean but it’s welld deserved from sitting here with you today I realized a lot like everything that you do online as pasta Queen your brand it all makes sense now because of all your experiences yes from where you were were raised from going to England from meeting your husband to working the contracts he had and just what you indulge in like you like to read and you’re very philosophical it all makes sense to me now you’re not a fraud you’re not a fraud you’re not a character it’s your brand is really who you are yeah I mean you know the the the reason the first Inception of pasta win was actually in England where I started a YouTube channel which totally failed not fail but it was it failed it was before its time that’s why you know what I mean I I wasn’t a YouTuber I don’t know how to do I ey definition production um at the time I didn’t have the means to invest in a video team high definition cameras editing YouTube is is very hard so was this P YouTube was P Queen YouTube it was it was called pixie dust why I will tell you another time dust pixie dust it’s it’s not a St name magical okay pixie dust I thought more like a superhero or something okay so there is a thing that I have and it’s I you know my kids my husband or whatever even my family it’s like you know the Labon that finds the B of gold this this there’s an element of uh luck and magic and a little pixie dust you know what I mean I believe in magic but anyways that’s for another day another story but um the reason why I started that YouTube channel which I named randomly um just based on something um I didn’t even know there was I had a premonition about pasta win but it’s because England is so different than Italian culture they’re so conservative they’re so reserved they are so um muzzled quiet in manners you’re not supposed to speak too loud and and I went into there and I was a fish out of water and I stuck out so much like I was too loud I was too bold I dressed too provocative uh the way I talked was too [Music] um uh like bad bad behavior bad manner ill man man mannered they they have rules like drink like you know like the Fork’s got to be here it’s got to be you know I talk and my mouth open and I I’m eating I throw stuff and and I was like wow like I am so different and people kept on pointing it out why do you do that why do you say that why do you speak so loud uh oh you’re oh say this in Italian Pizza Pasta and they’re like okay guys we’re not just about pizza and pasta here and it kind of made me almost like I was like I got to teach in my culture I oh I’m going to take advantage of how different I am not to feel belittled but to create a point to make a point you were you were early in your time if if you’re doing that while you in eng yeah they were belittling me for being different so I was like I’m going to show you that it’s cool to be different and you don’t have to you know what I mean each one is unique each one of us is unique even in Italian culture so that YouTube channel did not do well you moved to Florida I had a thousand followers after 9 months I was exhausted I was like I can do this this not making any money tough you gave it a break I I basically went off of it 5 years until Tik Tok was my launch platform because it was so easy I didn’t have to have a team I didn’t have to invest any like big equipment or whatever it was just me and my iPhone and I was filming myself and cooking at the same time selfie mode basically selfie mode that Tik Tok appr my brother came along he helped me film and I filmed him and I always see your brother in your videos yeah yes he basically my um my twin I mean we’re only one year apart oh yeah yeah yeah we call that Irish twins yes yes I heard is it the same same year or a year later no no 15 months ago oh okay okay that’s Co yeah I was going to say crazy but you know what’s funny you said you know you live in a chateau for a minute I thought that you were in Italy like in the beginning of Co it looks like it in the back I was like oh you know she’s from Rome so I was like oh she’s got to be somewhere in Rome so were you going for that like Roman ask Vibe for like I think my my it’s not quite Roman I would say it’s more of like middle it’s got a little bit of a taskan yeah yeah yeah yeah what was the first video or what was the moment okay oh look at this guy I about to fall I I listen I have a cut time so I want to get the important questions in you know was there a video that or what was the moment where you’re like okay this is for Real my lemon creamy spaghetti you know my mom saw that video and made it and now everybody’s doing it um there’s a bunch of pasta Queens on the internet now everybody’s a pasta Queen there’s only one pasta no but there’s one OG she got she got she just gave you a look but I’m saying there’s like 400 now the Basta princess the noodle princess the yeah princes I’m like the chicken Palm Queen see you know what I mean that’s what I’m saying um but I love it you paved the way you paved the way man I love it I think it’s fantastic it’s beautiful and you know what people that are successful would never look down on people trying to do something you you want to see that right I want I want it all because we all you know I was saying this yesterday to a friend fellow food blogger she was like oh do you think we’re too competitive if we go I’m like what competitive it’s like no I like there’s 8 billion people on this planet I’m like we collaborate yes collaborating and not competing the small-minded people look at it as competition ah the the real we go together we’re stronger and also what is the purpose what value are you bringing are you are you what are you competing for like why don’t we bring value yeah and entertain people that they we are entertaining people we’re we’re making people happier yeah what I love about your content especially this is why you’re always number one to me you make a dish but you explain every single thing you’re putting in there and why you’re putting it in there ingredients yeah you you’re very thorough and you you give a good analysis when other not to give like any Shades other accounts but they just throw the food in there it’s like all right well I don’t know how much to put because you didn’t tell me or why am I putting this in there what what use is that you know I mean you’re very informative with you’re cooking and your there is a there is a quote that comes to mind down from my literature love do you know a guy called Leonardo DaVinci yeah I don’t know him personally never heard of well I I’ve I’ve had the pleasure but he says details make Perfection and Perfection is not a detail what does that mean to you gonna have to think about that one exactly that’s that’s deep I gotta write that one down and read it three or four times I got to read that every before I leave my house details it’s like a ridol okay let’s Solve IT Dyan there is looking at me he’s like I know the the answer to that one Bravo Dylan Bravo he’s Swiss so he is very very detail Orient I love Switzerland you have a good team around you by the way I like I like it I like the energy Lely they’re lovely I have the best team I mean look how Alexis and she’s on the Block too and she’s a big fan of your panota I appreciate it I love that okay R solving details make Perfection and Perfection is not a detail so what do you think it means kind of sounds like Rome wasn’t built in a day kind of thing meaning okay yeah meaning like you’re G to try it’s it’s a little things that make make it all work so in this instance because we were talking about the ingredients of the food yeah you get the best olive oil the best tomatoes you possibly can you’re get the perfect the best ingredients you possibly can yeah is what makes that’s right the dish what it is that’s right but you see Leonardo ordered in a specific way because he talks about details make Perfection and Perfection is not a detail right so it means you can’t force it right it’s not a detail singular so it means that Perfection is achieved by layers and layers of flavor and details just like just one detail there’s a lot to it it’s more just salt and pepper Bravo you know look at the lasagna lasagna is so many details coming together and everyone well thought of and and put together and everything thing you do in life if you are dle oriented is the difference between someone who’s like taking life in with a with like a professional approach versus a dilatant or an amateur like when you’re amateur about it like oh I do it in my spare time ver a professional goes no I leave and breathe and I do this seven days a week yeah have you seen the difference absolutely yeah absolutely well so uh that’s what I I look at pasta this way I was going to say go into details specific details do you ever get like oh you’re making this wrong or why you putting this like do you ever get that in any comments mostly I get it from um from families that have their own way of making something and they’re like I don’t do it this way my n doesn’t do it that way I’m like well that’s fantastic for you I I don’t know well done I don’t know what to say I mean applause applause that’s what I do um you know if you want to put rot versus Bina lasagna every family between North and South does it differently yeah yeah every family does it differently for sure yes so when we’re talking about details I think it’s important to talk about why people should go out here today if you’re watching this yeah get in tune with you if they don’t know already but purchase your cookbook oh guys we’re supposed to talk about the saces that’s that’s what that’s what we’re getting into so you have a whole line of sauces okay guys so listen there’s five sauces that I created with the finest ingredients exactly no artificial flavors no colors no sugar no artificial preservatives because I wanted to create the most authentic flavors that I could possibly with Italian ingredients and give give them to the people of America so they are now available nationwide at Walmart amazing congratulations you deserve you deserve all of this and more from seeing you all these years you you truly deserve this if there’s anywhere I’m getting jar sauce it’s from you yeah and and listen these these are I tested by Italians approved like my dad was on on the research and testing team this is not a joke this is not like industrial I give someone at ASE and like let them run with it and forget about it no no no no I worked on this for two years they were cooked in my kitchen they flew to my kitchen they they are very well thought out and very DaVinci style detail oriented and of course I am bringing my collection of love and knowledge about Italian cooking into a book called The Art of Italian cooking which is out on November 12 amazing amazing across the United States and Canada is this your first cookbook this is my second second cbook my first cookbook is the pasta Queen a just gorgeous cookbook and it was an instant new New York time bestseller Canada conations that’s amazing yeah actually I was so proud because I didn’t know how many followers and how many fans I had in Canada but it was an instant New York time besteller and a bestseller on Canada which made me automatically an international bestseller that’s that’s a very that’s an important title to have people trust you and I I trust you with you’re cooking why wouldn’t I you know why wouldn’t I want want your cookbook yeah I think Rocco you should take one of these and make some for the absolutely absolutely how many types of sauces do you do you guys have four oh there’s five oh five okay there’s a lemon tempress which is that’s the number one what like the pasten signature Mega viral you know Kylie Jenner loved it and re shared it I cooked it for drewberry more I mean it was it was an instant sensation so I’m bringing it out um and it is inspired by a Sophia Lauren original recipe so this is not like people are like hting on this Fresh Cream is not really Italian I’m like guys this is based off of a Sophia Lauren which I then made mine of course but it’s a Sophia Lauren recipe that I read many many years ago great so anyways lemon temptress marinada spicy vodka for cheese and oh of course one of my favorite that’s it’s a a very very very popular recipe in Rome can can I ask you for that sauce the lemon temptress yeah what’s the best pasta shape for that sauce o so many I mean I the number one I would do a spaghetto yeah yeah okay I could see that nice it’s it’s it’s what like you know spto you can do aino you can do a f I would say a long strand because it’s so romantic and also it’s called The Lemon temptress when you eat this it’s got a little mesmerizing effect okay so make sure you eat it with the person that you want to mesmerize okay okay sao’s going to be having that Rocco’s already got it covered Rocco’s got it covered what’s happening with you Sabino any romantic yeah you know you know here and there maybe that’ll that’ll help it for sure you got to use the lemon T so you got to all right so I got to buy these and basically put it break if emergency and then you take out the lemon T you got to keep a bunch in the Bantry break him out as needed besides Walmart where could people buy it online um is there a website Direct a lot of third party sellers right now that it’s been at Walmart for over a month um you can just Google the basten sauces okay and it will give you options to buy it for everyone that’s interested we’ll put it in the description Walmart has an exclusive gotcha for the first six months but there’s already third party sellers that will that’s great um but in in in about four months uh the sauce will be uh going out out to different stores outside of Walmart as well awesome list I know you got to head out soon but we’re we’re going to get to the we’re gonna Rocco’s gonna have some fun questions for you but I have one question before we do the fun the fun uh the fun questions I think right now you’ve been very nice about the Italian Americans and you kind of been putting on like aach I want to say right like you know Italian Americans but what’s one thing about Italian Americans and Italians from Italy and from you making an adjustment from Italy to here that you were like kind of shocked by or you were like wait we don’t do this in Italy so you shouldn’t do it like is there something that uh grinds your gears you know yes chicken alfredo chicken alfredo really wraps me the wrong way that’s such a typical but it makes sense that’s my favorite dish though that’s with broccoli too right yeah with broccoli broccoli why we from the same region yeah but I had I’m American you know what I mean so yeah but you’re I’m kid King you go down to C you ask for chicken alfredo they’ll chase you out with with the with the wood and Spoon what about chicken parm is it authentic or no n you can answer your own question Sao no okay so yes right I’ve been keeping the pce we want we want to get a little we got to get numbers here what do we you know the thing is that it’s the I think there certain no NOS you cannot do certain things in Italian culture MH and I wish we could have stayed a little bit more authentic like the Olive Garden what’s happening there all right maybe we should do this what are the Passa Queen’s no no maybe you give me your your most important three no chicken alfredo okay no chicken parm anything with chicken for that matter is cancelled no chicken at all no chicken with pasta okay not chicken with pasta no it’s just something that is uh so if you go to Italy I just want to this is why I do the service announcement I want to protect you from the Italian anger mhm when you go to Italy and you think that you’re going to find chicken PM in the restaurant and the waiter basically double charges you yeah because now you’ve created a diplomatic incident yeah I’m basically saving you money you understand what I’m saying I’m being kind to the people of the world coming to Italy as to certain things you’re not supposed to ask or do what about cappuccino after dinner you like that one no I mean everybody knows and you will see the waiters and even the logal ridicule you and then they they will get also a little bit mean yeah where they will put stuff in your food really and uh why is it because you can’t have milk after dinner or something why why what’s the exact rule why why it’s not you just don’t do it it’s like why why do you keep your long nails when you’re cooking because I want them long I don’t want to get them wait oh wow yay mind blown why you got your nails CU I don’t want it I don’t want to okay so cappuccino okay it’s a breakfast drink it’s like what is one thing that is just a thing what is a thing watching football on a Sunday why you watch football on replay on Monday because it’s a thing that’s true yeah you watch football baseball whatever you do I don’t know day on a certain day but why don’t you record it and watch another day because it’s a thing that’s what we do capuccino it’s a thing for us it’s a breakfast drink you come to a restaurant and I made several videos about this as a gesture of kindness to mankind don’t do it you got the stuff in your food H you get double charged H why because people are like okay this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about so we’re going to take advantage of you it’s Unwritten rules Unwritten rules is what it is it’s a golden rule no capuccino after 11:00 a.m. it really is a big thing why a woman capuccino that’s not true okay well at your own risk and Peril well I gotta ask you this one man do you put cheese on your Seafood you know this is a controversial thing because there is certain things that are allowed with seafood like some dishes like for example my drunken salmon which is a salmon creamy as fresh cream some uh dishes in the south of Italy with muscles come with pegorino did you know that rotto musos and pegorino very is other nalian spin there is certain exceptions but as a rule if you are at the restaurant and you’re adding spaghetti Al or clams or whatever there is no way you’re going to ask for a Baran or sprinkled on top they are going to ridicule you you’re going to get poisoned on your way to the airport nice nice That’s classic I think we got five minutes left so rock you want to do rapid fire let’s let’s have some fun super quick ones all right all right you ready yes I’m always ready I need the pasta Queen’s best three pastas uh spagetti those are my top three and I think they’re the top three most popular in the world about pasta dishes in particular ah like no no I think that’s what you asked but I’m I’m curious so do you always have this problem no no I’m just we’re trying to get we’re working on it we’re working on it we’re working I I can tell that you’re working on I just I just I just met him so we’re trying to build the chemistry who’s this guy what’s he doing here okay so um pasta dishes lasagna number onean just because I am obsessed with it and I think I could live off of those three for the rest of my life and I’ll be totally okay with that yeah putanesca that that one’s it’s the Alles gers the anois the real tomato you know the real the real Italian the real the real Italian restaurants have a banesa I mean in Rome they do it’s a camp SL Roman uh often intermingled dish how how can you tell that an Italian restaurant is authentic they don’t uh uh put uh garlic bread as a first thing if they bring the garlic brag you are in trouble do you use a lot of garlic in your cookie moderately not like in uh I mean I you know I’ve seen things like 15 gly cloves in the tomato sauce I’m like What’s Happening Here you trying to K the vampires 15 that’s it I love that we usually put one one M slash two and it’s always the essence of garlic um it’s not like you know burnt and yes there’s several things that you know we do differently all right so now I have to ask you because this is always controversial when we post it do you consider noi a type of pasta I consider noi a main dish so a Primo okay so why wouldn’t it be pasta cuz it’s potato based so listen this is controversial and that’s an excellent question because there is different ways you can do thei you can also do AO like they do in Sardinia with simina flour and water so that’s a bastao you’re talking abouto is a different thing yeah you’re talking about the the bread that in Sardinia it’s like flat right no that’s in ROM okay when I’m talking abouto is like a little Cavatelli type which is called in sard which is simina and water that’s that’s a pasta but when you make it specifically with potato flour and egg Is AO yeah you’re not going to say I’m eating pasta today I’m eating yo right and uh yeah it can it can kind of transcend but it’s has to me it has its own classification ASO and it is a main dish I agree with you I like that and I’m trusting all your takes so more takes I’m going to give you I’m going to make you pick between two types of pasta okay all right without thinking which one you prefer okay ready yeah lasagna or manot lasagna you know this Las all the way you like manotti or no oh yeah I mean I love uh we in in Rome we got like canelone yeah yes um I love it it’s like a it’s it’s a Sunday stable you know but lasa because I’m also lasna is closer to to my heart to my how I was raised right love that ra ravioli or stuff shells how do you say conon conon so ravioli or conilon conon is like a large shells uh to me I’m a sucker for ravioli um I don’t know I really love ravioli I’m obsessed because you can make so I don’t know it’s also like the egg yeah you know the stuffed shells are like the heavy durum wheat it’s a dry pasta it’s a little harder the the egg pasta with the ravioli with the feeling it’s just such a celebration a pillow of love right see a pillow of love you’re right I love that yeah Cavatelli or fili cadelli that why because they’re very similar homemade they’re both very similar one just a little um I think it’s just how was raised is more popular in the South the catell it’s a little smaller too right it’s smaller see doesn’t quite look like a vilo I mean the vilo is no yeah it’s C our family does it lazy though they don’t really do the twist you know it’s almost like look like a casar got it got it you get what I’m saying I get it uh spaghetti or badini ah you know I’m Roman so I’m supposed to say badini yeah that’s what I would think too you know because we have badini ladri is like kind of iconic shape but because of Manan heart I would say spaghetti oh you stay true you stay true the comp I love it yes I mean yes I I love the spaghetti uh bakeri or Roni aroni all the way oh okay yeah yes like the the little ridges you like that they grab onto the sauce there’s a nice crunch is also not too big of the size P are gorgeous but they’re a little bigger they’re more like a unique one of once in a while every day right all right stop all right all right that’s last one no come on last one uh I was going to say uh Pap or t t why it’s the same thing no it’s more it’s more I’ve been more accustomed to it having been brought up in the region of C yeah it’s more common T than Pap Pap is more like you go up to Tas they do wild boy papel they use papel a lot more down there neighbors even in in Rome that c yeah it’s more common so I I love it’s more familiar to me it’s closer to home absolutely I love that all right so we want to thank you from the Bama Hearts to coming we know we know your schedule’s crazy and you to take time to come meet us hold on I I saw the video going B how you doing but you didn’t ask me you weren here you asking Italian americ you want give say how you doing are you trying to discriminate no no no give us your best how you doing how you doing oh okay I that I like that I watch the Sano I love that TV show so funny I love I didn’t expect that at all I love it so much is there anything else you want to say before how you doing doing you doing thank you so much for being here thank you so much thank you for having me guys make sure to check out the pasta sauce is the cookbook if you haven’t watched pasta Queen what are you doing cookbook the art of Italian cooking is going to be incredible there’s from Cocktail appetizers all the way to desserts all of my top most favorite recipes that I’ve collected through my entire lifetime really traveling from region to region I’ve encapsulated all in this one by no means it’s an exhaustive encyclopedia of every Italian Dish ever created but it’s my top over 100 recipes that I cherish and love love that and then the pasta sauces I love that guys make sure to support if you’re absolutely if you’re a fan this is this is your way to support as real as it gets Nadia thank you so much thank you Rocco thank you Sab