The prestigious and most preferred Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of a range of fine and handpicked ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian peninsula since antiquity.

“One of the biggest strengths of the Italian Mediterranean diet is that your palate is never bored. The diet satisfies the taste without sacrificing the pleasure of tasty food, because it lets you eat in a healthy and varied manner,” says Chef Cristian Marino.

Cristian Marino, 39, is a food stylist, recipe developer, and an author from Milan – Italy. His blog, ChefCristianMarino.com, features a hearty mix of savoury, sweet, healthy, and indulgent recipes. He believes every diet should include a little bit of spice because balance is the key to life!

Cristian Marino was a little busy when we caught up with him to talk about his experience during the pandemic. Cristian (a chef who learned cooking from his parents’ restaurant located in Calabria in Southern Italy) was gearing up for publication of his new book (The “Recipes” of my Smile) plotting out recipes for the coming holidays and deciding what recipes he’d cook for his clients.

“I don’t know how I got talked into lemon and prawn risottos. The menu is still changing day by day,” he reports. “Right now, it’s risotto with shrimps, clams and dried tomatoes.

Cristian had pursued his higher education at ‘Hotel Institute Maggia School’ in Stresa, which is considered the best hospitality school in Northern Italy.

Moreover, Cristian also used to work for major hotel chains like-

• Radisson Blu and InterContinental (in Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania) as an Executive Chef,
• For Marriott International (in Surabaya Area, East Java, Indonesia) as a Complex Executive Chef for the two pre-opening hotels,
• And for two Italian restaurants inside a prestigious hotel of ‘Costa Blanca’ as an Italian Head Chef (in Calp, Spain).

Moreover, Cristian loves the simple, unique, and timeless, as well as inventing new recipes and finding the potential in any old recipe, no matter how difficult it can seem initially. This is the major reason for why big hotel chains hire this brilliant chef.

Cristian retains ingredients original and one-of-a-kind by maintaining the quality and showcasing the uniqueness of each recipe. Cristian loves living between Dubai and Italy, but also wherever needed around the world. Among all, he is now a chef consultant for the global hospitality sector.

 ‘The “Recipes” of my Smile’: Everything you need to rustle up a feast

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a dramatic shift in people’s attitudes towards cooking. “And for many peoples, it’s been about falling back in love with cooking, about having a bit more time to maybe explore different recipes and try new things,”

-Cristian

‘The “Recipes” of my Smile’ is a cumulative result of the experiences that happened during the pandemic. Not to be forgotten about the incident when Cristian was held as a victim of human rights violations in Kuala Lumpur.

Cristian also wrote about his journey spent in the last 12 months (during the pandemic year) across countries like Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Bucharest, Dubai and Calabria. Along with that, he has also mentioned the 12 recipes that he had cooked during the quarantine period which was wholly spent in Bucharest.

The book is officially available and can be ordered from Amazon.com! For more information, please click here https://www.chefcristianmarino.com/2021/03/27/the-recipes-of-my-smile/

As can be gleaned from Cristian’s journey and experience, he has proved that anyone is capable of making a difference in this world.