In Fernanda Giamello’s kitchen, you won’t find her using measuring cups, a scale, or a kitchen timer. She cooks, bakes, and teaches by sight and feel, relying on her years making traditional Piemontese recipes with her family. The results are rustic, humble, and delicious.
Visit Fernanda at her home that’s tucked into a hillside just outside the historic city center of Alba, and you can see hazelnut orchards from her porch and laundry drying on clotheslines in the sun. With doors left open to usher in the breeze, her kitchen has that familiar feel that embraces you like you’ve walked into your Italian nonna’s kitchen. A large farm table, brilliantly topped with a stainless steel work surface, anchors the kitchen and serves as a gathering spot for espresso. Elsewhere, well-loved kitchen tools hang at the ready, antique soup tureens are proudly displayed, and china cabinets house vintage linens and dishware that Fernanda uses throughout her classes.
Fernanda grew up in nearby Barbaresco, an area known for producing some of Italy’s best-valued wine from Nebbiolo grapes, and Fernanda’s father preserved the region’s heritage by raising and growing everything himself on their family farm. Not only did they have cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, chickens, and goats, but her father also grew grain, vegetables, and fruit.
