From Brazil to Mantua for a story of departures and returns!

Gabriela Da Silva is a young Brazilian entrepreneur. She moved to Mantua as soon as she came of age to ‘find her way’ and did so by retracing in reverse the same road that had led her great-grandparents from the Venetian and Lombardy countryside to the Brasil.

We have known Gabi for a long time because her company, Impresse Design Creativo, is inside the R84 Multifactory, a shared workspace that now houses one of the hospitality venues dedicated to working-holidays travellers with roots. We have often talked about Brazil and her Italian roots and when she found out about the Italea project, she didn’t hesitate for a second: ‘in August my family will come to visit me, we have to organise an Italian-Brazilian dinner!

It’s 6 p.m. and Gabi greets us with a big smile and two aprons in her hand: they have Italea written on them and a dedication to the Dagostim and Piacientini Family, ‘a souvenir for this special evening’!

The communal kitchen of R84 comes alive: our exceptional cooks, mother Maria and aunt Rita start slicing, browning, stirring, alternating at the cooker with the rhythm of those who have been cooking together for a lifetime. On the cooker a large pot of polenta and a casserole with marinated hen ready for slow cooking: a dish that alone tells the story of the Italian people of emigrants. Slowly everyone arrives: Gabi’s daughters and husband, the oldest aunt, Rita’s husband, Gabi’s sister with her nephew. The two hours of preparation do not last long when there are worlds to tell: the stories of recipes that change names and ingredients from one side of the Atlantic to the other, are mixed with the tales of the family stories of those who left, those who stayed and those who returned. In questi giorni in Brasile si festeggia San Donato e si prepara la polenta.

Arrivals, departures and returns taste like our dishes, familiar and exotic at the same time.

The table is a riot of colours and dishes: ‘in Brazil, we don’t make starters, first courses, main courses… we put everything on the table and everyone serves themselves’. There are 15 of us, but at the first bite, silence falls: SO GOOD!

Polenta is made with a very fine flour that leaves an almost sweet taste in the mouth, and is accompanied by a creamy cheese and egg dish, la Fortaiawhich is vaguely reminiscent of a salted mascarpone, and with the gravy from cooking the meat you can’t help but make a scarpetta! ‘In Brazil we use a country hen with very firm meat, we went all over to find one that looked like it!’ Maria explains. Gabi claims that for the Fortaia the best cheese is Asiago, Rita makes sure that even in Italy there is no salt in the fresh pasta dough, her uncle opens a bottle of wine stating that it is ‘better to let the Italians do it’: it is a Lambrusco! The Po Valley in August did its part in creating the perfect atmosphere: outside, tropical heat heralded an impending storm.

We smile at this mirror game.

Before saying goodbye, we ask Maria and Rita to tell us what it means to be Italian descendants for them: ‘it is very emotional for us to have Italian roots and at the same time to recognise ourselves as Brazilians, to have chosen Brazil as our homeland, they are two nations that we carry in our hearts.

Let’s skip dessert—we’ll have to take a trip to Brazil to make a sbrisolona!