Getting to know Elise Briccolani
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IMAGE: @ARTICHOKEEATER
We are pleased to welcome Elise Briccolani into the Yoga Brunch Club family this January, when she will be cooking for us at our first event of 2024!
We always like the kick the year of with a bang and have something to look forward to through a grey January, so Elise seemed like the perfect choice after Event Manager Josie tried some of her food this past summer and knew we had to get her to cook at a Yoga Brunch Club!
How/when did you find your love of cooking?
I have been cooking for about 10 years now. But its when I got a job at Poco Bristol that my love of food transformed, working with an epic team in a professional kitchen and with wonderful produce that my skills grew and my love of cooking really started to become ignited.
What's your go-to mid-week meal?
I love a curry - panner butter masala or i must have at least one pasta dish a week - my strong staple is some form of pasta.
Hero ingredient for this winter and why?
I love celeriac! It has such a rich, nutty flavour and is very diverse. I even made a celeriac ice cream thanks to a Gill Meller recipe the other day and it was delicious.
Advice to someone who wants to explore/deepen their love of food and cooking?
Get stuck in and keep cooking. Like any practise its in the showing up that changes everything. So just dedicate some time to it every day if you can! I mean you and your friends always need to eat!
Can you talk at all about the link between food, nature and humanity and why this is important to you?
I spent a lot of my younger years immersed in the countryside, in the woods, building rope swings and tree houses - our natural world is where I find a lot of peace, grounding into what is always present. In my early adult years I spent a lot of time traveling. I enjoy the new and exploring new ways of looking at the world - I love culture and people and how different people approach life - food is an access point through which to talk about life. Whenever I’m out and about I’m also snooping into people's kitchens, with the aim to build connection and share stories together. I get a kick out of adventure - pulling some folks together and climbing a hill, or walking off piste into a forest and building a fire and cooking some kind of lunch!
Where you get your produce from in and around Bristol?
It varies depending on the time of year. I get meat from local suppliers like Origin, Meatbox or the Popti in St Werbs. I love getting my salad and any other gluts of veg around the end of September from Purple Patch.
IMAGES: @ARTICHOKEEATER