Severe, professional, brilliant. To look at them so austere in their white jackets, chefs and cooks seem born great. Without fears, ice cream melted in your hands and knees peeled. But the approaching Mother's Day is the right occasion to remember that they too were little ones, just like us. That they, too, took refuge in the arms of their beautiful mothers, made whims and some tears to grow and become who they are today.

Bruno Barbieri

Very close to her mother Ornella, interviewed by TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, the chef dedicated these words to her:
"Mum is always mum. I have a wonderful relationship with her, made up of complicity, affection and deep love. Since I was a child I used to call her Ma and I never stopped calling her that. My sisters my grandchildren tease us by calling me "her baby" because for her they still are: in winter I still put on my health shirt because she wants it that way! Her real job was the seamstress. I still remember the magnificent clothes he was wearing at carnival, I always won the first prize (bullfighter, marhaja, astronaut). And for my first communion he made me a wonderful black suit, jacket and short pants but I wanted them long and with the scissors I made a great cut. It took him a week to mend them, but she did not give me even a slap with her sweetness: she understood that I was growing up. Now he is retired and is dedicated, despite some ailments, to the kitchen. I forgot, she is the real home chef .

Alessandro Borghese

Barbara Bouchet is the famous mother of Alessandro, who talking about her to Oggi, made many readers smile.
«Barbara was not the typical Italian mother, the one who prepares you the basket with the brioche or you roll up the covers. She gave it to me with a wooden spoon, pulled my pants down and spanked me. In this she was very strict, very German … If I took something from her it was the attitude to want to be at the center of attention ".

Antonino Cannavacciuolo

Also Anna, the mother of Antonino Cannavacciuolo, told Corriere: "At home I was in charge, because a parent gives you food to give you education. (…) Mine was a child of the heart. Once at Christmas the teacher had done some chores in the class and everyone had a candle. One broke down and Tonino offered to take that one. Another time he was at the soccer field, he was eating the sandwich with salami and he noticed that an older friend was looking at him: he wasn't content to give him a piece, he came home to prepare another for him. And another time he bought charcoal from an old woman he didn't even know. It has always been good … (…) The day the military party started, the roller shutters of the house remained mourned. How I cried. And how much it cost me! He came back from Orvieto every Friday and left on Sunday, with the bag full of provisions and some money I gave him to eat pizza with his friends .

Joe Bastianich

Here the real star in the kitchen is mother Lidia who says: «Women are the best, they don't cook for need of approval, they put passion and love into it. Like my mom. " She, instead, interviewed by Gente, reminded us of our mothers when they talk about our favorite dish (obviously cooked by them): "Joe's favorite dish? Lobster risotto: the sauce is made with the shells, spicy, very tasty, tail and paws only at the end .

Davide Oldani

Even Luigia, the mother of chef Davide Oldani had a fundamental role in her career: «For years I have heard myself say that I have a female palate. I have always taken it as a compliment and I must admit that I recognize it, because it is an expression that is used to define a soft, delicate, refined palate: a mother's palate. And that my mother's was really soft, delicate and refined, I can't say it, but I remember perfectly when she, sitting next to or in front of me, tasted the first spoonful of soup or the first forkful of pasta: that morsel established if the dish was hot but not hot, if the taste was good and not salty or tasteless, if the consistency was the right one. For me, of course: the palate of the mother chose the right balance for me. And if that balance was there, the second bite was mine. This is why it pleases me when they tell me that I have a female palate, because in a certain sense, since then, my mother has unknowingly suggested to me how I should have been a cook: by feeding .

And then, let's look at these and other beautiful family portraits (in the gallery above). Long live mum!