He is a young cook, having practical training at the European Parliament and one that has already prepared a special dish for the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), Martin Shulz. Proud Macedonian, as he says, born in Frankfurt, educated in Italy and at the prestigious Cefppa Adrien-Zeller University near Strasbourg.
His name is Danielle Roberto, a 22 year-old who has fallen in love with cooking since his childhood. He is a graduate of a five-year Vocational Gymnasium in Turin.
‘I am a scholarship beneficiary and student of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. I was lucky to pass the enrollment test. I believe that my French language skills, inter alia, was my advantage. I have two more years to go to become a master of the culinary art and science. In addition I attend courses of alternative theory and practice and work as an intern at the European Parliament,’ Roberto says.
To work at the European Parliament is a great honor, as the clientele there is rather choosy and shrewd, which carries substantial responsibility, the young cook says.
There are no difficult and easy cooking recipes, he says, but ones who require more patience, precision, commitment and respect.
He prefers the Italian cuisine, being also fond of Macedonian delicacies.
‘The Italian cuisine tastes like my childhood, but I am also very fond of Macedonian dishes my grandmother prepared with a lot of love’ he says.
Since living in Strasbourg, he has been visiting Italy and Macedonia once a year.
‘Macedonia is my motherland and during my childhood I used to spend my summer holidays there. Whenever I visit I enjoy my mother’s cooking, as the dishes she prepares are spiced with so much love and bring me back to my childhood,’ Roberto says.
Two years he took his girlfriend and her family on a trip to Macedonia. ‘I am proud of my country of origin. They liked Macedonia a lot, being overwhelmed by the hospitality and the cuisine,’ says Roberto.
During his ten-day internship in Dresden he attracted the attention of German journalist with the Sächsische Zeitung, who published an article about an Italian who cooks French dishes, available on http://www.sz-online.de/nachrichten/italiener-kocht-franzoesisch-in-der-gondelfahrt-3673249.htm
My dream is to become a chef one day in a famous restaurant, no matter where in Europe, US, Asia, says Roberto, who fluently speaks six languages, including the Macedonian – the ‘Kavadarci’ dialect.
