Marta Meo is a private chef and founder of Sardea, a project that brings Venetian cuisine into the homes of the city.
Starting from the beginning: where did this journey begin and what drove you to become passionate about food as a moment of encounter and knowledge between cultures?
When we talk about Italian and Venetian cuisine, like all regional cuisines, we are always talking about family kitchens passed down orally through the thread of knowledge transfer among the women of the family.
Today, we can approach cuisines from all over the world and try to understand their meaning, and that’s what we somehow try to do when we hold a workshop: more than giving ingredient measurements, we try to convey the essence of that dish and Venetian cuisine, also providing a historical context to things.
We try to enable everyone to learn to understand by themselves, to decide if a dish lacks flavor, if it could be interesting to add a contrast, or perhaps even remove an ingredient.
So, observation of what we do, preparation, tasting. Then we compare, adjust, and taste again. Most of the time, it’s beautiful to see how people, even faced with ingredients they may not know well, can understand what the taste and smell direction of a dish should be. I believe that learning is very much about this, or rather, this is what interests and fascinates us.
This journey doesn’t have a beginning because I’ve always liked food; it has always been something I’ve thought a lot about. Flavors, proportions, aromas, but also the smells of markets. When I was little, my parents would take me around the Mediterranean to visit archaeological sites with the Fiat and the Canadian tent, and we would pass through these markets that, to me, as a child then, seemed smelly.
Today, even those smells and aromas are part of my baggage, of my memory. Then at a certain point, food became my job, just under ten years ago, but the encounter between cultures is something that has always been part of my life, it’s the education I’ve been given.
It seemed to us that in your work you place a lot of emphasis on both practical and theoretical/historical research, is that correct?
Every ingredient has an origin, it grows in a place after going on a journey through history. Venetian cuisine is full of ingredients and beautiful stories to tell that come from far away, stories that continue to excite us, and we try to share them with those who choose to cook with us.
Tell us a bit about your cuisine: are there any timeless classics that you like to propose more often? And which ones are most appreciated by guests from outside? Unforgettable for us are your masanete and the dessert with baicoli, mascarpone, and mustard.
Every season has its classics, we don’t decide them, nature does. We just find them at the Rialto market where we shop every day. For several days now, you can find the ‘castraure’ (the first cut of the violet artichoke of Sant’Erasmo), and we have already used them in as many dishes as possible! They are often an unknown ingredient to our guests, especially in their raw version, but they always receive great success.
And finally, what bond keeps you tied to Venice? Tell us about the relationship you have with this city.
I was born here, I observe Venice, and sometimes I wonder if it’s still worth it, well, the answer is always yes! For many reasons: for its beauty, for the interesting people who live here, for the lagoon and the sea, which for me are vital elements that I couldn’t do without.
Beatrice really chose it, she came here as a university student, or rather, she specifically chose to study in Venice to be able to live here, almost 10 years ago now.
Some aspects of this city, especially in recent years, can sometimes be frustrating. However, seeing so many young people still bending over backward to live here convinces me even more that this is still an extraordinary place to live.