Maria's Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author

Maria's Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author with Maria Liberati

From international supermodel to chef to culinary instructor to author. Maria grew up in the United States but her grandparents were from Italy. While on a modeling assignment in Italy fell in love with the culinary arts. She went to cooking school and the rest is history. She has taught and authored a series of cookbooks. Hear her amazing story.

About Maria

As a former international supermodel, Maria Liberati never dreamed that she would go from being a fashion diva to a domestic diva. Ironically, while jet setting off to modeling assignments around the world, Maria became closer to the simplicity of life and food in the country setting of her family’s vineyard in the mountains of central Italy.

Finding out that her grandparents owned a well known bakery in their region and that her great aunt cooked for some members of the royal family sparked (what she now calls) her dormant interest in foods and cooking.  She began studying with chefs in area trattorias and country farms and ultimately completed culinary training while in Italy.  She soon found herself putting together cooking programs for English, German and Japanese tourists at various vineyards in Italy.  Her degree in Foreign Language Education with a minor in nutrition was finally being put to its' full use.

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking was soon released and has become a bestseller. It is sold in many countries throughout the world and will soon be released in Italian and Russian..

Today, Maria is considered one of the foremost experts on Italian cuisine and culture. She  has hosted and delighted audiences from International Wine Festivals, cooking events for both consumers and trade and conventions all over the US to Rome, Abruzzo, and Florence, Italy. She is consistently endorsed by some of the world’s leading chefs for her savvy and simplistic, yet healthy approach to cooking and great food.  She continues to host culinary and wine events arund the world and in some of Italy's most remarkable locales- including castles in Chianti, vineyards in Tuscany and is director of a cooking school in Umbria.  Maria was recently named media spokesperson for  the American Academy of Ophthalmologists and the Feast Your Eyes Campaign will be appearing on TV and radio showing consumers how to eat and cook healthy for their eyes.

Her ezine and blogs for The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm  have grown to  combined 300,000 + subscribers in a short 2 years and often includes interviews with some of her celebrity friends from former Today show host-Kathie Lee Gifford to TV Chef Nathan Lyon. Maria also hosts The Maria Liberati Show Podcast  with a worldwide audience.

The world has taken notice from  feature articles in national publications like Healthy Cooking, Tastes of Italia, Cooking Light, Woman's World Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, as well as her feature articles in Italian publications including Taste and Tour Italia and RAI network.  Host and Writer of her recent PBS TV series that was filmed in Italy and based on her book series.You can frequently catch Maria appearing on TV and radio as well as food conferences and conventions throughout the USA and Europe.

Maria Liberati has been called the “Italian Martha Stewart” by Celebrity Society Magazine (May 2006). A company unto herself, Maria Liberati is the creator of the trademark  The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati ™ cooking style.

Maria Liberati’s The Basic Art of Italian Cooking is truly a work of art and has been so referred to as the “gap between art and life” by many. Her second book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays and Special Occasions  was selected as best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA and won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. The third book in the series - The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:DaVinci Style.-a book that follows DaVinci's travels throughout Towns in Italy, recipes that were influenced by those regions and specially translated poetry from DaVinci's notebooks about food. Her next book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:Diaries will be released in late 2021 and is a culinary.

Some Social Media Stats:

*www.marialiberati.com/blog2

*twitter.com/Marialiberati

*facebook.com/chefmarialiberati

*https://www.instagram.com/marialiberati

*ROKU channel-The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm

www.marialiberati.com
www.feedingfatty.com

 

Full Transcript Below

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (00:02):

Hello, and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy. This is Terry. Uh, of course, you know, this show is chronicling our journey. My journey Terry is I'm definitely the, uh, I have to be the feeding. I am the fatty. So Terry is, uh, you know, she is my helper and my guide, she tries to, uh, you know, keep me on the straight and narrow. The other thing that we do is not only, uh, you know, talk about the struggles and challenges that we see, but we also have guests on from time to time who are, um, professionals and can add a lot of value to this, trying to, uh, you know, figure out our eating, our exercise and our mental fitness as well. And so today is no different. And Terry, I'm gonna let you introduce our awesome guests today.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:47):

Yes. As a former international supermodel, Maria Liberace never dreamed that she would be sh that she would go from being a fashion diva to a domestic diva. Ironically, while jet setting off to modeling assignments around the world, Maria became closer to the simplicity of life and food in the country setting of her family's vineyard in the mountains of central Italy today, Maria is considered one of the foremost experts on Italian cuisine and culture. She has hosted and delighted audiences from international wine festivals, cooking events for both consumers and trade and trade and conventions all over the U S to Rome, a bruise, a Brousseau and Florence, Italy. She is consistently endorsed by some of the world's leading chefs for her savvy and simplistic, yet healthy approach to cooking and great food. She continues to host culinary and wine events around the world. And in some of Italy's most remarkable locales, Maria was recently named media spokesperson for the American Academy of ophthalmologists and the feast. Your eyes campaign will be appearing on TV and radio showing consumers how to eat and cook healthy for their eyes. Maria, welcome to the show. How are you today?

Maria (02:05):

Great. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (02:08):

Yes. Could you tell us, so, so you grew up in Italy?

Maria (02:13):

No, I actually grew up in the United States. My most of my family, well, my grandparents were from Italy and I've had a lot of great cause they came over here from Italy. So my parents were born in the us. I was born in the U S but what happened was I was modeling in Italy and that's how I began. I just fell in love with the culinary arts they are. And, uh, I began also exploring my roots and found out that, uh, my family was involved in the culinary field. My family had a vineyard in the mountains of the roots, which is central, central to South Italy. And, um, also my other, my, um, paternal, no external grandmother. Um, th her family had a bakery. Um, and I, you know, ended up finding all the recipes and studying some of the recipes and things like that, and ultimately ended up going to culinary school in Italy.

Maria (03:21):

So I ended up living, living in Italy saying, um, there quite frequently, um, for quite some time. And I studied the culinary arts there. And then I did a lot of programs there right now because of what's going on. I have not been able to do any programs there, but I've been doing virtual virtual events. So when I've been kind of grounded in the U S which is fine. So, cause it's giving me a chance to catch up on other projects that I've wanted to do here. So, but yeah, I, I actually grew up in the United States, but um, spent a lot of time.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (04:03):

So before we get too far into this, though, how fabulous was it going to culinary school in France? I mean, that must be like the, the, uh, I guess this, the best place that you could go to learn to cook, for sure.

Maria (04:18):

Yes. It definitely, I, I'm unbelievable to go to cooking school in Italy, but actually, you know, it's cooking and food is so ingrained in the tradition, you know, Italian, it's a tradition that really, you know, people that even aren't professional chefs though, you'll go to their home, isn't it? Oh my goodness. The way that they cook is on it really like on a professional level. But, uh, so I think I did learn initially a lot from, you know, my grandparents and cousins and aunts and all that where they are, but, um, but going to cooking school in Italy. Oh my gosh. He was, yes, definitely a dream, definitely a dream. And I got to meet some amazing, amazing chefs from different parts of Italy. Yes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (05:08):

Oh, I can imagine. So. So who did you get to meet? Can you share a little,

Maria (05:13):

Well, I don't sure. Well, they're not probably not chefs that, that we would know about here. There are chefs that were amazing in the sense that, um, they, they were from different regions of Italy and, um, they were experts at cooking that cuisine from that specific region. Say for instance, the cooking school that I went to, they have a chef that is from Sicily and, Oh my goodness. He makes, because in Sicily, they're famous for they [inaudible]. And, uh, I different types of pastries, but amazingly they, they, the way that they make them, they're not extremely sugary. So, you know, here, when you generally, when they make things, sometimes they're making things for the American audience. So they put tons of sugar and things, but Theresa Lee, when you get to the, the real deal in Italy, it's not that way. So, um, you know, they were just amazing chefs that had chefs that I worked with that had like restaurants that really cooked artists and feeds.

Maria (06:23):

In fact, I, I actually worked with checks at different restaurants, as well as, you know, school, so learning and working with them. So that that's what was amazing. But, um, many of the chefs are not really, no, I did work with one chef or her first, her name is avail. You have the glia. She goes by that. She's actually on TV. They are in Italy and, uh, she's on baseball. And, uh, she has her account on Facebook and she's on a few cooking shows in Italy, but she's a wonderful coconut actually did a few cooking videos with her that I have on, I have a rotating journal called the basic art of Italian cooking. And I visited her in Umbria and we did some, uh, fresh pasta, maybe videos. And, uh, we had a really good time. So there, there is a video with failure. All I know she's a cooking personality on the online brick each channel. Yes.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (07:23):

Cool. There is nothing better than homemade pasta. I mean, just fresh and it just cakes takes seconds to cook. I mean, you just throw it in the boiling water and it's done

Maria (07:34):

It, does it, it, it does. It cooks really quick and it is just, it's such a difference, like for people that have never tasted that versus dry pasta, there's just not any comparison

Terry - Feeding Fatty (07:46):

And gummy. I mean, it's just melt in your mouth. I'm getting hungry.

Maria (07:51):

Oh gosh. Yes.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (07:54):

Oh my goodness. And you are the director of a cooking school in Umbria? Yes.

Maria (07:59):

Well, I was four. Yeah, well, sometime, and, uh, now, as I said, with the virtual, you know, everything going virtual, I'm kind of on, I guess you could call it Sabbat, all sorts. We all are. Gosh. Yes. So, you know, I'm just laying back and doing everything here. But as I said, I had a lot I needed, I wanted to catch up on in the United States. So I'm, uh, making good use of my time. Yes.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (08:26):

So do you want to, can you tell us a little bit about the, uh, the healthy eye campaign and it's, it's interesting that you bring that up because we had talked to an, uh, opt out he's an eye doctor, whichever one of them, those are, but yeah, he was just telling us about, um, I don't even, I can't even explain it, but something about the back of the eye and the, um, uh, the, uh, I've lost it, the cone. No, well, no, the,

Maria (08:59):

Yeah,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (09:00):

Yeah, no, it was something that in the eye that they test, but then I'm trying to think of the food that we want to see gluten. He was talking about how the gluten was a big factor in this and him and his wife had gone to like a clean, uh, breakfast where they were just doing smoothies with spinach and some different things and trying to do away with the breads, even though we're talking about it, we're talking about Italian pastas and bakeries. But, but anyway, if you could just tell us a little bit about that. I think that's very interesting.

Maria (09:35):

Sure. Yes. Well, um, my, my dad actually had an active it'd be generation and, um, or macular degeneration, so it's kind of a cause near and dear to my heart. And, and, um, so there are certain things that, you know, you mean to eat and be aware of because you need to, you know, um, nutrients going into your, into your eyes and people don't realize it. So Apricot's are really, really healthy for your eyes. Newbury strawberries, um, are really, really healthy feeds for your eyes. So those are all, um, peas that you want to concentrate on. Um, spinach to, isn't not a good one. And then she has spinach. Definitely salmon is really a really, really good feet or your eyes also. Yeah. So, um, but yes, they're all really, really good and provide nutrients for your eyes that you know, that you really, really need.

Maria (10:44):

So people need to really, especially as, you know, we get a little older, you need to concentrate on functional. I call them functional fees. So don't just eat mindless fuse. You know, like when we're in our teens, we just see that anything marshmallows, Snickers, bars, whatever we don't, we're not really, you know, we're looking for the, the, I guess that the real of the excitement that you get would be the chocolate bars. But what you need to do is as you get older, you really need to look for these functional feeds, feeds that not only satisfy your craving or your appetite, but he needs that also have a function in your body really help your body. So, you know, you can only eat so many calories a day, so you want to make sure that what you're eating, there's a purpose for that. And I mean, there's so many really good eats out there. I mean, Apricot's are delicious, dried apricots are really good. Um, and there are lots of different things you can even put chop up dried apricots, put them in your salad. Pomegranates are really good. You can put them in your salad. Blueberries are absolutely delicious. Put them in a salad or, you know, have some new word or, um, you know, just, just, uh, have, you can just snack on it really Uber's are so sweet and strawberries too. So, um,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (12:09):

Yeah, and I think that's one thing that, you know, when we started kind of going down this path, I knew years ago, I was eating bad, a lot of fast food and things that were easy to put together quickly. And so, um, I tried to make up for that by taking a lot of supplements and, you know, it's better, I'm not saying supplements are bad, but it's always better if we can get those vitamins and minerals from the food source. And so once we started trying to clean my act up a little bit, we, we had a, um, we got an app and I was really surprised that the diet, even though we thought we, even though we had made a switch and we're eating better, we were still missing out on so many macro nutrients. And so, you know, kind of talking about that functional eating is, uh, you know, we have to balance our calories, our proteins, and me, I'm a type two diabetic.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (13:05):

So I have to watch my carbs and sugar intake, but it's also very important to kind of, um, to look at these macro or excuse me, micro nutrients, to bounce, to make sure you're getting enough because they have a lot of functions, our, our eyes, our hearing, our brain health. And, uh, you know, I wish that we could listen wish as a younger person that I would have listened or that kids would listen to us more when we try to tell them that, you know, if you will eat healthy, I think you will have, uh, live a longer, healthier, more enjoyable life than, than not.

Maria (13:40):

Yes, definitely. And he is actually, I think I might've had this conversation with you, Terry, you only had our conversation about how food is really medicine. It really is medicine people don't realize it. I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blurt it out. Um, I know I was going to say, we talked about our culinary medicine virtual. Oh, that's right. Yes, yes, that's right. And if you start thinking of food as medicine, that you're going to start thinking of what you're eating and what purpose that you know has. So, okay. You bought the, your strawberries generally. If it's a plant or vegetable, Acree generally it's going to be, have a function, you know, serve a function and it's really good for you. And the other key is, you know, if you're looking at a package that's plastic and there's a list of ingredients, a mile long that you can't even say, you can be sure that those, whatever it is, does not serve any function in your body and is not good at all for you.

Maria (14:53):

So the key is to eat real food. Um, that's the key real, you know, real, I think that was the thing that I really loved when I started living in Italy was, um, everything was just a lot pressure. And, um, you know, there's more of a tradition of meeting because people go shopping. They are, they are on a daily basis. I actually do that almost to, um, cause I got in the habit, but they go shopping almost on a daily basis. Cause they're eating things fresh, fresh, fresh, you know, every day it's something that's scratched. So, uh, you know, that's really, really important, but that's the key, if there's a list of ingredients that you can't even pronounce or it's packaged in plastic, it's generally not something that, that has a function. So yeah,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (15:48):

Whatever. Well, you know, it's funny you talk about the way that we eat and um, it it's been a few years, but there were, I spent a few months and uh, living in New York city and, and that was a huge difference between, you know, living in where we live. We go to the grocery store once a week, load up as many bags as you can possibly get and that's that. But there, um, you know, what, what I kind of learned was, you know, we stopped by the little bodega every night to pick up exactly what we were eating. So it was much more fresher and, and you know, we didn't have the waste again for us, you know, you, you get all excited and go to the grocery store and you buy all the fruits and vegetables and you get home. And then about two or three days later, everything is starting to turn. So there's always a lot of waste as well. But anyway, I just, it, the, um, I guess sometimes the American way is, uh, contrary to a lot of places where they do eat healthier and maybe that's one reason why they fresh. And, uh, you know, the other comment that you made I thought was very telling is for the, the chefs in Italy is like, eh, we're developing this for Americans. We gotta throw a bunch more sugar into it to get them interested.

Maria (17:04):

Yes, they do that. I know, you know, bakeries here like Italian bakeries. Um, sometimes when you'll, you'll find one, that's supposedly in an authentic Italian bakery. And again, you know, we're talking about being imbalanced or gluten free, but they're not gluten free, but although there are some that are doing some pretty things now, which are really interesting. But, um, the thing is, yes, there are a lot that know the American audience and they know if they don't put pounds of sugar in something that the Americans are going to be like, you know, where's the sugar. And the thing is like, as I said, when you're in Italy, um, I, myself am not a fan of loads of sugar. I don't like really sugary. So a lot of the things that I will eat in Italy or, you know, uh, you know, enjoy some of the desserts and things are things that I would never eat there because there you're, it's just like just too syrupy sugar.

Maria (18:05):

So, uh, like they are, they do they balance. And again, it's just all about balance balancing out. It's just really enough sugar to compliment the other flavors in whatever the recipe is. And, uh, you know, I think here too, we're so school, you know, we're so spoiled where there that there's only been so many years, you know, that people are fine. I mean, you know, uh, before world war two and all of that, so there's a history of, you know, poverty and not having new readings and things. So they basically learn to be sparing. And, and I mean, there's a reason for that too, and to meet healthy and, um, here we're service oil then, you know, just in using pounds of this and pounds of that. And, uh, there, it's, it's much more of a tradition of, of eating healthier and not wasting, you know, not wasting things, Uber using things either. So, uh, I think that's some of the reason also why, you know, we're all kind of squealed here tend to have weights things. So,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (19:23):

Yeah. So a couple things that you mentioned that, uh, may want to talk about is, um, you mentioned the, the gluten of course, and that th there's I just here have started hearing a lot of chat, or maybe I've just started paying attention about gluten and gut health, and then they have this, the leaky gut thing, but also inflammation and inflammation is, I don't know why it seemed like the last four or five months. I've really keyed in on that, that it is the basis for, uh, so many things that go bad in our life and our, with our body and our health. But one thing I noticed is, um, I overdid eating something that I may have a little food allergy to, but my eyes were really inflamed and puffed out and swollen.

Maria (20:12):

Uh huh. Yeah. Wow. So yeah, you definitely want to avoid whatever phew, you know, is he's doing that to you, but yeah, there are fuse. I do. Cause now I'm not a medical doctor, so I don't want to, you know, I know I can only think you say, you know, I'm a chef, I'm not a medical doctor. I did study like part of the art curriculum is studying nutrition and I did study nutrition at college. I'm not a nutritionist, but I can tell you, based on my personal experience, I do know from what I've researched and, and what studied about this inflammation, and there are certain feeds that are known to cause inflammation. And, uh, unfortunately I hate to say it because she's, it's such a big part of the Italian, try it and have so many delicious recipes, pizza being one, there are pieces that you can't make without cheese.

Maria (21:07):

Of course, then you have to get into making it gluten free, which you can though. But anyway, dairy products are known to cause inflammation. Now I have in my family, arthritis runs in my family when we're very young. So recently I started, um, a limp trying to eliminate certain feeds and seeing what would work and what would not. And I noticed that I, I did a week totally eliminated the airy and the little aches and pains that I had. I do not have. So I'm kind of thinking there something to it and I'm going to try it again. Cause you know, sometimes it could just be in your mind, you know, but, um, from my research I did hear that are products can cause inflammation. The thing about this though, with the gluten and the dairy and even like people being allergic to nuts and all that it's, you know, so I always thought, well, why was it that people weren't talking about this like ages and go to work?

Maria (22:11):

You know, you're just hearing about kids being allergic to nuts. I have a niece that's allergic to nuts, but I never heard of that when I was growing up. I don't think probably good thing is that what it is, it's the chemicals that they're using to grow the wheat and the nuts and all this stuff. And even if they're grown organically, it's still in the soil. So truthfully you could have an organic farm next to a regular farm and you know, it's going to seep into the soil somehow. So this whole issue about gluten free and being, um, sensitive degree and all, I think it's really not the wheel per se, but it's the chemicals and the methods that they're using to grow it. And that, um, she had though, you know, genetically modified ingredients and all that because, you know, years ago I never heard about celiac disease and not allergy whatevers and all. So it's, it's really, I don't think it's the actual ingredient it's like chemicals and new process that you use to produce those ingredients, unfortunately, is what he's doing, all these things to us. So

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (23:32):

It's interesting. I saw a not, I don't want to get, I don't want to bash any company, so I'm not gonna mention the name of this big one, but there was a group that measured the amount of poisons and there was a bunch of different levels that they looked at of the soil. And so they had some pictures going back to, I guess, the seventies or, uh, like a geographic map. And you could see it was up in the Midwest, Indiana, uh, Nebraska kind of up in the Northern States. But over the years, this, um, you know, they turned the map a different color. And so you could see that it was kind of seeping down, uh, pretty much along the Mississippi, but from North to South. And they said that that's basically what it is not only the river spread, but also it just seeps from, you know, even though you sprayed your 10 acres, you, you know, the ground doesn't know your 10 acres ended here, it seeps into the neighbors and then it just continues on and on to this whole huge big contamination. So because I'm like you, when we were, when I was growing up, we never, I never heard of a food allergy. And even when my kids were young, um, you know, there may be one person out of their whole school year that may have had something, but now, and some of them are so serious that it doesn't take a whole lot. Maybe just a little dust off of something in the kitchen to really have a adverse reaction for them.

Maria (25:02):

Yes. Yeah. It's I know, as I said, I have a niece that's allergic to tree nuts and the littlest thing, it will set it off. And, uh, Chessie the extreme, we have to be extremely careful that you have to carry an epi pen because anything could set it off. Oh my goodness. It's yeah. I, I mean, I never, I never heard that, but there are lots of kids like that, you know, other kids that yeah. That I know that these allergies are, they love and the thing is, you're absolutely right when I grew up by, no, that was not anything that I had heard of. Yeah. So, uh, you have to wonder, and it probably is because of the chemicals and all this stuff going on. That's why, when I, I do have, I try to do my own little garden, actually. I used to be in Italy, we had, we actually had the farm and they are a small farm, but you know, it was always getting able to get, um, certainly agreed each, just scratch at him. So I try to do my own little garden, but when I do my own garden, I do raise that. So I can control, you know, the soil and everything. And, uh, I don't know of any of any treatments that were put into my land, but you know, who knows if somebody did it before or, you know, uh, somebody nearby, you know, has something seeping into the ground. So I just do a raise, you know, a raised garden bed that I grow my vegetables.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (26:35):

Well, I'm talking about kids. Uh, we were talking the other day with some, and I'm not sure if it may have been you in our previous conversation, another, uh, somebody else in life. Unfortunately, uh, we talked to a lot of people every day, so that starts running together. But they were saying that the incidence of cancer in kids is far out pacing, the incidents or, well, the growth rate, I guess the growth rate in kids with cancer is outpacing the growth rate in baby boomers with cancer. And they had linked this back to diet. Now, again, we always profess we're not doctors and we're not scientists. And, you know, always seek out your medical professional to get advice, things like that. But, um, anyway, it's just kind of frightening about, we don't pay enough attention and I can tell you that just from trying to eat right, is that when you buy stuff out of the store, if you will stop and read that label, you would be very surprised what you are ingesting. And it's not doesn't mean it's always toxic, but it, it just means it may not always be good for you. And, and just the part, uh, just the fact that we don't know what we're ingesting

Maria (27:50):

Exactly. Like you said, if you can't pronounce it, I mean, it's probably not something that you want to be putting in your body. Yeah, exactly. And it's, you know, people are always looking for these pre-packaged snacks and the thing is grab an Apple, grab a pair. If you like, if you like hard hard-boiled eggs or, you know, make out, make some hard boil, Dave's eight, take one or two with you. If you're going somewhere and you need to bring a snack, it's all, we don't feed, pop some popcorn nodded, not with oil and butter, but just playing popcorn in an air popper, taken bragging that we can use a snack. There are so many like quick things. I mean, just grab a piece of fruit. Like if I'm traveling somewhere and I don't travel or because of this situation right now, but even if I'm on the road and I just need to, you know, get something neat or snack, I just run into the supermarket and I just buy a banana or an Apple.

Maria (28:50):

And, you know, I have order with me to wash off the Apple or whatever. And I mean, that's a snack, but people tend to, you know, when they want a snack go to the store, go to the, you know, potato chip that taco chip aisle and all these different chips, you know, heavily fried and with lots of chemicals. So people need to start thinking, you know, snack, there are so many simple things that you can stack on, even a baked potato, like make it right, make it keto. You know, you can take the big baked potato with the first snack too much better than eating a potato chip. Right. There are so many real things you can eat, raise it, um, dried fruit, nuts, just like raw nuts are really good for you. Also, there, there are actually a really good functional food. Um, raw, organic sunflower seeds were all, um, um, in seeds or they're all really good for you. They actually help with inflammation. And, um, so I generally carry, I'm a sunflower seed addict, actually, dog even likes to copy everything I do. And they're good for, I check so on, but you know, I just like, I love that they give you lots of energy, that they are really good function.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (30:04):

Yeah. That that's a good, uh, another good point is some foods that give us that energy, you know, nuts. I know in, in the correct quantities are really good for us, but, you know, cause that's kind of, um, I think that's where I tend to fall off the tracks more is, uh, you know, we do good at breakfast. We do good at lunch, but then about three o'clock in the afternoon, you know, you kind of have that sink and spell and that's when I would probably always reach for the poor snack. And so, uh, you know, these fruits and nuts are always a good way to kind of pick up that energy without doing a lot of damage to yourself. What was that cartoon we posted the other day where you had a, what was it? A snacks? Oh yeah. Snacks. Snacks.

Maria (30:52):

That's good. Yep. And when you would, I was going to say, though, the thing is Wiki. Now it's there. When you get a purchase, the nuts, make sure they're raw and they're not, um, they're not like I add in, cause there's, if you go to the grocery store in the regular nut aisle, you know, they have all the nuts have been tried and salted most of them, unless they're like raw and organic, we want to get them that say that, they'd say, um, or can you turn the package over? You want to make sure there's no oils that were added to them. Cause that, that actually makes them really not good for you. And then it also adds a lot more calories and yeah, they're probably doing that, cooking them that way, probably altars, the good things that they have and then say, it's not going to do me any good. It's just going to be like eating empty calories. So you want to make sure that if you're eating nuts too, they're likable and organic, um, you know, not so better that way I'm not salted.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (31:58):

Right. So what about another co? What about like in Italy? Um, I guess in the cities, they've probably gotten as bad as we are, but in the countryside, you know, what kind of, what are their eating habits, big breakfast, a big lunch, big dinner. I know that, you know, most of the Italian families that I know it's, uh, you know, they usually have at least one big family meal a week where everybody comes over and it's just the food crazy with all the different foods that are there. But, um, you know, it just be interesting to, to understand, you know, other people because, um, I think most of the time other countries are a lot more healthier than we are and probably has to with what they eat

Maria (32:40):

Well, it's what they need in their tradition, their way of eating too. Um, that's really what you know, so yes, in Italy generally, I'm there getting, you know, because everybody wants to be like the other side of the fence, you know, everybody wants to be like everybody else. So, you know, there's the, that lots of fast food restaurants now in France and Italy, you know, so they're, you know, starting to kind of think of that stuff, but the tradition they are the traditional way of eating is that you have a really light breakfast and then really like late dinner at your main meal, which is the actually the better way it is, is for lunch. So you're going to sit down like about one o'clock and you have a larger meal at lunchtime. And uh, usually people do the one thing that I love there is even when I did, cause I did a TV series there and uh, with a crew that, um, that an Italian crew.

Maria (33:44):

So, you know, no matter where, what we were doing or you were, it was all at one o'clock, everybody, everything just stopped. I knew sat down for like this wonderful meal, um, you know, for an hour, there's no rushing like, Oh, we gotta get back, you know, 10 minutes, everything, we just sit down and it's like at least an hour to two hours. Right. So, and that's the tradition usually like from about one til two, you know, you may take the time to, to really enjoy the feet. And then for dinner time, the only thing that I don't like, the one tradition is they do dinner late at night and, uh, it's not really healthy to equally, but they do eat very light when they do. So they make dinner say seven o'clock is like early. So when for them, but when I would, you know, wherever I would be usually friends or family, just for me, they really tempered seven o'clock cause they know the seating five, seven o'clock, but it could be eight o'clock, nine o'clock, 10 o'clock in Spain, they actually dinner like 10 o'clock.

Maria (34:55):

Oh, Oh my gosh. But, um, but the one, you know, the healthy things are like a light, a light breakfast because then they're going to be, um, and, and their breakfast is really light. It could be just a little bit of you word and a cup of coffee. Sometimes they will have a small pastry with, when I say coffee espresso, or sometimes we'll have a pastry with the cappuccino or espresso. And um, but then it's the, uh, the large lunch and yeah, once a once a week issue usually. And that's the key to, you know, people think these drink DNX spaghetti, you know, dinners and lasagna and rivalry and all that. And usual in the Italian tradition is there they're meant to be feats that are art eaten ex you know, just for like special Congress, special with patients or like once a week type of things. So it's not like they're going to be eating these, you know, keeping portions of lasagna every day of the week. It's um, usually, maybe on Sundays is when they'll have these, you know, kind of fancy heavy dinners. It's just on, you know, like one day a week, really. So, uh, it's, it's not like an every day parents that people tend to think, you know, that's what it is.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (36:15):

Well, and then you mentioned that they eat slower there too. They're just not in a rush, rush, rush. They slowed down and kind of they're mindful about it. Yes. More much more. So,

Maria (36:26):

Yeah, there's an, I don't know if you've heard of the organization called sleep. Have you ever heard of sleepy? It's a really interesting organization. You can actually look it up online. So slow feet was started, uh, back when the first McDonald's was going to go to Italy. And the first McDonald's was going to be put in, were in the center room. And, um, a guy that was really mad at that because he said, this is going to change the way people are going to move the traditions at all. So he started this organization it's called slow food and it is what it says. It promotes it's actually all around the world now. And they promote this slow way of moving of cooking and, uh, you know, slow food Sloopy is what they promote. So it's very interesting

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (37:19):

If you stop and think about this, because Terry's brought this up for me, because I, I am the worst about eaten fast number one, or eaten while I'm doing something else. But she had read some research on stop and be slow and be mindful. And it's, it's, it's, it's interesting if you do that, the different feelings that you get, uh, you know, I don't usually, um, I usually will start feeling full, faster, but you actually realize that you ate sometimes it's like when you just blow through something while you're on the computer or doing yeah, yeah. In an hour, you're like, Hey, did I even eat?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (37:57):

And then you eat again and it becomes a vicious cycle.

Maria (38:00):

Yes. Or when you doing something and eating at the same time, Hey, I can't see because you know, you made the other deadline or something and your nerves are generally, and I tend to do that, you know, so you'll, you know, just doing it and you don't even realize what you're eating because you're working and you're leaving and it's really not mindful eating. And it's the worst. Yeah. The worst. Definitely. Definitely.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (38:25):

Yeah. There's a lot of things I think we can help ourselves to be more healthy, even if we eat the same, even if we don't change our foods just yet, if we just can, uh, be more, you know, take our time and be more mindful, uh, it seemed like you fill up faster, you enjoy it more and have an experience. Yeah. Have an experience.

Maria (38:46):

That's, that's definitely right. It should be, it feels, you know, it should be, it can make it an experience that also, you know, kind of brings you closer to that. So you understand, then you're more mindful of the whole thing of, of eating. Um, so yes, it should be, it should be it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (39:07):

Maria, can you tell us about, um, your, the basic art of Italian cooking? The book?

Maria (39:13):

Yeah. Oh yes. Thank you for asking. So it's a series that I started, um, when I was living in Italy and, uh, came up with the tiny, no, because when I, you know, study cooking, your opinion, cooking is, is all very interesting. Um, the one thing is French cooking is very complicated. It's just so complicated. You know, some, some of the fancy restaurants, it takes like four or five chefs to make a dish made. You're talking about traditional French cooking. But the thing I love about Italian cooking is it's just, it's the, the food is going through a whole, it's very delicious, but it's actually very simple and basic. So I thought, well, and, and it's, it really is. It's an art to make things basic. There are, there's an art to it. It's not, you know, it's simple and it's basic, but to make something taste wonderful, that might only have say four, four ingredients.

Maria (40:14):

And it there's an art to that. And that's how I came up with the title. So it's a book series, the basic art of Italian cooking. Um, the first one that I did is a coffee table book, and that has, it's actually culinary and more so that it has stories of little towns in Italy. There is really autobiographical that I lived in and then recipes that are traditional to you, those towns and menus that go with it. And then the second book in the series is all the basic art of Italian cooking holidays and special occasions. And that will won an award in our suits, the Gorman world book award. Um, it was selected as the best Italian cookbook in, in America. Oh gosh 10. And that book has recipes. And again, culinary memoir stories they go for from Christmas in it's 10 chapters, and each chapter is a different holiday.

Maria (41:16):

It goes from Christmas Eve to, uh, Mardi Gras, which is, uh, like corn or I'm sorry, Tim Carnivale, which is like our morning. So, uh, their stories and recipes and using tips. And then the third book in the series is called the basic art of Italian style. And, uh, it is of course dimension it's, it focuses on again that has 10 chapters. And each chapter is devoted to a city that will, you know, an exhibit you've lived in and the word created, but then the rest in that he created in that city, but then the recipes that are traditional for that city. Now me, I just want to mention we were into is actually a unique, which is why I ended up doing the book. I did some research on him, but no one really knows about that because, you know, what's, I mean, you have the Mona Lisa and all his discoveries and things that he did.

Maria (42:13):

So people aren't really paying attention to the fact that invented like the, uh, table setting forks and knives and rotisserie and the olive oil press. And he actually acted as a wedding planner. Sometimes he had gotten jobs and what he putting himself through college through not college, but through art school, in order to support himself, he worked first as a waiter in a restaurant and then became the chef and then, uh, decided to open up a restaurant with another very famous artist that was studying with him at our school, Sandra Botticelli Botticelli. So they opened up this restaurant in Florence and it didn't go over too well because they were so forward thinking that at that time, people were still like just plopping food on the plates and, um, you know, no aesthetic quality to walk him in voted Shelly had in their mind the idea of everything in balance and smaller portions, making them aesthetically pleasing and the menus were artistic and all the way to understand the menu so that the restaurant quickly clues, but anyway, to make a long story short. So yes. So I did a book all about Leonardo DaVinci as a community, and he was truly iffy. Yes.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (43:39):

I had no idea. No, I knew none of that.

Maria (43:42):

And then the Mediterranean diet is really based on his principles. His principles was to have everything in balance. He always said that I balanced the colors on my campus and the food on your plate should be imbalanced just like that balance that on campus. So the Mediterranean diet is really based on a lot of peace, his beliefs and his teachings. So really, really interesting. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (44:11):

Wow. And when does the third book come out?

Maria (44:15):

Basic Art of Italian Cooking DaVinci Style there they're all out. I have the book that I'm working on that will be coming out September. It's called The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Diaries. And they're actually diaries that I did when I was living in Italy, um, of my experiences there again, as a culinary memoir and lots of different recipes. So that will be coming out in September. But, um, but yeah, the one on dementia that's out already, and you can find these books on my website marialiberati.com or really anywhere you can find books online. So, um, yes, let's spell your, let's spell it T for them. Sure. It's L I E B like boy, like at word, or like Robert, a like Apple T like, um, I like the, uh, Maria, the liberati that, um, where they look up the basic art of high cookie too. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (45:13):

We'll be sure to include all those, uh, in the show notes as well as, uh, we'll put that up on the website. So they'll be able to, uh, easily go over there. And one more

Maria (45:23):

Thing I wanted, excuse me,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (45:25):

You also have a podcast as well.

Maria (45:28):

Yes. The Maria Liberace show. Um, I was actually supposed to do a radio show at a top station in Philadelphia. And, uh, unfortunately it happened last March, right when the pandemic was happening and all the studios were closed with me. So I'm like, you know, I like to always make lemonade out of lemons. What am I going to do? Hey, you know, this is what I'll do. I'll try a podcast and the pie. Well, you guys probably know for me, a podcast is really fun and I, I liked it that I don't have to go out to your studio. I can just, you know, I made my home office and I can do my podcasts. So I w I wanted to make up a podcast, um, that dwelled on positivity and positive things that people like can travel culture and anything, you know? And, and that's what my, my, uh, my podcast, it's just on the enjoyable things in life. You won't find me talking about, you know, politics or the stuff going on. And I just, I think there's enough of that out there. So I just want to create something that's fun and enjoyable for people.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (46:37):

I liked that I think we definitely need, um, you know, much more positivity. We tend to focus on the negative and there's so much even, uh, you know, we've been lucky. I have to always use this disclaimer that me and Terry have been lucky that we haven't had the COVID or any, nobody close to us has been devastatingly effected by that while I know there are a lot of deaths and a lot of people have, but, you know, we've actually been able to, uh, you know, thrive during this time. I think a lot of people, even though it's not optimal, if we just take a minute, we can always find the positive and, you know, we've got to spend much more time together, do things a lot, uh, you know, more close we getting out and walk in and, you know, I think mindfulness, maybe that would be the best word that we've been able to slow down, not always be on the run and just able to think about things a little bit more. Yeah,

Maria (47:32):

Exactly. And you're absolutely right. I think that's the one thing that I actually enjoy about this time is that yes, I I've slowed down and I there's, you know, I will slowed down, slow me down, I think, in, in my habits and the way I do things, cause I'm always running and racing, but you can only run every, so many, so many places right now. So, you know, I've kept busy, but, um, yes, it's, it's enabled me to enjoy more. I'm able to spend more time with my dog and, you know, we go on walks, which I just absolutely love being able to be outside or even spend time outside in, in my farm is I stayed and I've been able to do more with my little farm as well. So yes, I think there's been some positive and I think people exactly. I mean, yes, I know, and my heart goes out to anyone that's that's had any bad experiences, you know, but luckily, as you said, no one close to me had an experience, bad experience with it, and we've all been healthy.

Maria (48:37):

So, you know, I always think you don't want to dwell on the negative because it just brings more negativity. Negativity also does affect the immune system. So you want to keep positive being positive also helps you. It's another thing. It helps your immune system being out in the sun or walking. No, those are all things that are also things that they do help you in the system. So, you know, I've taken advantage of, uh, of some of the things that I think I wouldn't, wasn't always able to take advantage to stop and enjoy where now you can and you're forced to, and you know, it's not a bad thing

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (49:22):

To see all the opportunities that were put forth and we grabbed the lemons.

Maria (49:28):

Exactly, exactly. So, you know, that's what it is. And I think people should, uh, definitely look at the pot, try to always try to find the positive, um, as much as you can, there's always going to be a positive out there somewhere. So, you know, I definitely,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (49:48):

This is a different show in a different topic, but just while you mentioned that, what I'm going to say is, um, you know, we had a, uh, we found, we had a little malfunction in one of our pieces of podcast equipment the other day, and it kind of happened late in the evening. We found some tapes that, you know, the audio was perfect for the podcast release, but the audio Terry's audio for the YouTube was terrible. You could barely hear. And, you know, so then I'm frustrated because I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fix this and the piece of machinery we had, we couldn't make it work. And anyway, it was just all turmoil and stuff going on. And, you know, I was, I have to admit, I was a little bit beside myself in the moment and, uh, you know, got a good night's sleep, got up the next day, found a fix for it. And actually the fixed turned out to be much better. And so, you know, I jokingly told Terry, I said, okay, next time I get upset, just remind me that something good was going to come out of this. So

Maria (50:51):

Exactly. And that's the way sometimes it does happen. Yes, exactly. I've had that already thing happened too. Yes.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (50:58):

Yeah. I'm going to have to have him say that again so I can record that part of it because man, I didn't know what was going to happen yesterday. It was touch and go.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (51:10):

And it just, uh, I think the message in that was, you know, I just, I kinda messed up my whole night for one thing that, you know, eventually things are gonna work out and, uh, it, it did so awful just say, take a deep breath and uh, you know, and get, get the working on the solution. Sometimes the solution turns out to be much better than, you know, we end up in a much better place than where we were. So

Maria (51:35):

Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (51:36):

Well, Maria, thank you so much for taking time to come out and talk to us today. It's been such a pleasure. And uh, like I said, we will put the information in our show notes and on the webpage, but I know, I think I saw Terry already, uh, on Amazon trying to get the, getting the DaVinci one there. We're going to both sit down and try to,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (51:54):

Yeah, I'm going to go out of order, I think, and get the DaVinci one for I am. So, I mean, I'm just amazed by those facts that you shared with us. I am really impressed. I had no clue.

Maria (52:06):

Yes, yes. Most people I actually do present. I was doing a lot of like live presentations on that. Cause it's just so interesting seeing person. Yes. So yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (52:20):

All right. Well thanks a lot again. And we look forward to getting you to come back on and be again,

Maria (52:26):

Me know. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Maria’s Amazing Transformation From Supermodel to Culinary Expert and Award-Winning Author (52:31):

So that's going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. You can find us, of course, at feeding fatty.com. We're on all the major social media networks, as well as a, uh, video of this interview will be released when the episode goes live. It will be on YouTube. We are on all the major podcast platforms, iTunes, Stitcher, Google, Spotify. If we're not on one that you listened to, please reach out. We'd be glad to add you. So until next time that's going to do it for Roy. This is Terry I'll take care of yourself. Bye.

www.marialiberati.com
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