Steve Smulders
Cooking is more fun when you get inspiration from a real chef. Here are 5 fun Italian TV chefs that you can follow via YouTube – or other social media.
1. Federico Fusca – Che spettacolo!
Federico Fusca (Pistoia, 1988) is a TV chef who is very active on YouTube and Instagram with longer and TikTok-like ultra-short cooking videos.
In the past, before the corona period, he was an 'ordinary' cook in various restaurants, but for a year now he has presented himself as an influencer and showman.
Indeed, he is immediately reminiscent of Jamie Oliver with his unpolished and enthusiastic presentation. Fusca specializes in Tuscan cuisine and also the Tuscan dialect in which, for example, the hard t of the letter c ('tsj') is softened ('sj'). The hard c ('k') is even completely eliminated and replaced by a kind of 'h': havolo instead of kavolo.
On Instagram he has almost 1 million followers and 2.000 short videos. He has been presenting on YouTube for a year now and there you can follow his presentation more easily through the online transcription of the text.
Also in Rai Uno's TV show, It is always noon, broadcast every working day from 11:55 AM to 13:30 PM, he cooks.
He published his cookbook in 2022 Che spettacolo – Le mie ricette facilitate e veloci per un risultato al tòppe with 80 quick and easy recipes.
In 2021 chose Forbes Fusca as one of the 20 best foods influencers on Instagram.
Links
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@federicofuscachef
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/federicofusca
TV: https://www.raiplay.it/programmi/esempremezzogiorno
Cookbook: https://www.amazon.it/che-spettacolo-ricette-facili-veloci-risultato/dp/B09SL7VMR8
2. Ruben Bondì – Cucina in balcony
Ruben Bondì (Rome, 1997), like Federico Fusca, is a chef influenced by the corona epidemic. He decided to break his isolation by cooking on his (small) balcony and asking bystanders and passers-by what they wanted to eat.
Bondì is one of Italy's leading experts in kosher cuisine, fusing Roman and Jewish culinary traditions. Due to the special setting in which he cooks, little is needed to make his dishes: a camping stove, a frying pan and a little imagination.
His videos on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok are nice and fast. On Instagram and TikTok they are also subtitled in English, while on YouTube you have the online transcription. Like Fusca, he recently presented his first cookbook: Cucina con Ruben.
Links
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@cucinaconruben
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cucinaconruben
tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cucinaconruben
Cookbook: https://www.amazon.it/Cucina-Ruben-Bondì/dp/8830902713
3. Max Mariola
Max Mariola (Rome, 1969) is a cheerful chef from the older generation who has appeared a lot on TV since 2001, on the channel of the Red shrimp (the Italian Michelin).
Nowadays, even stimulated by the difficult corona period, he is active on Instagram and YouTube.
Very recently (February 24, 2024) he opened his own restaurant in Milan! He published a number of books of which The sound of love. 120 ricette fatte con amore is the most recent.
Mariola's kitchen is based on a number of simple but solid pillars: the use of quality ingredients, the importance of purchasing well from reliable suppliers, seasonality, products from the own region, fewer ingredients than many but of lower quality, sustainability, tradition, freedom.
Links
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ChefMaxMariola
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefmaxmariola
tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chefmaxmariola
4. Nonna Pina e il suo nipote Luigi
A real Italian is allowed in an overview like this nonna of course not missing. Yes, even the grandmothers have found their way into modern social media! This is where their digitally better-educated grandchildren come in handy.
In the case Nonna Pina is her grandson Luigi Gramma. While nonna while messing around and chatting, Luigi takes care of the recordings and asks the questions necessary to clarify the preparation process for the viewer.
The duo clearly click and quickly became so popular that they appeared on TV in the program Di Buon Mattino.
The videos not only discuss nonna Pina's recipes, but also her family life and she sometimes makes trips with her grandson, to Palermo for example (and the TV studio).
On TikTok you can have a translation follow along, on YouTube there is the transcription in Italian and on Instagram there are subtitles.
Links
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@luigigramma
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luigigramma
tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@luigigramma
5. Giallo Zafferano
Finally, there is the video channel of Italy's most famous cooking site, the Saffron Yellow (yellow saffron). This is an almost inexhaustible source of information, presented clearly and smoothly by a range of different chefs, with no fewer than 2,6 million subscribers.
The reference to the website is useful giallo zafferano where you will find the complete illustrated description of the recipe. There are now more than 4.000 videos on YouTube. Instagram and TikTok contain shorter videos, sometimes with the entire recipe.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GialloZafferanoTV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giallozafferano
tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giallozafferano
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