Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadja Larini.
Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us how you got started?
I was born in Tangier, Morocco, in 1988. I am half-German and half-Moroccan and have two names. In Morocco, my name is Islam Larini. Since the name is gender neutral, the hospital required my mom to choose a female name to match my gender identity. My mom is German, so she chose to add “Nadja” to the beginning of my name. In Germany, my name is Nadja Islam Larini. But everybody calls me “Izzy.”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my favorite things is when someone says they don’t like some kind of food, I make it for them and then they discover they actually love it! Some people may be unfamiliar with a certain cuisine or dish and are afraid to try it because it is different from what they are used to. I encourage people to broaden their taste palette and explore new cuisines because you never know what you will enjoy until you try it. Food is a great way to converse with people of diverse backgrounds and learn about who they are, where they call home, and what food means to them. It is hard being a woman in the food industry, but I persevered because I loved seeing the joy it brought to my customers and the way it expanded their horizons when they tried some new food they had never heard of before and realized that it was delicious!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
When I worked at my previous restaurant, we would have special dinners with different cuisines every two weeks. Some would focus on a national cuisine, like Nepalese (with Dal Bhat) or Moroccan (with lamb couscous.) Others cover broader regions, like Taste of South American (Columbian ajiaco, Peruvian shrimp ceviche, and pabellon criolla, a Venezuelan shredded beef dish). Our best sellers were usually our soups, such as harira, which a Moroccan soup with about thirty ingredients that people traditionally eat to break their fast during Ramadan (a holy month in Islam where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and engage in prayer and reflection). I only made Harira twice a year since it is so labor-intensive: it takes me four hours to make one pot because you have to peel all the chickpeas! I also used some family recipes when making Moroccan dishes, though these are not your standard recipes with exact measurements. It is more like a list of ingredients, most of which are fresh produce. Because the recipe allows so much variation, and because I like to make the fullest possible use of whatever ingredients are in season, I never make the same dish twice. My upbringing and strong family roots in cooking inspired my passion for being a chef. My parents made food and cooking a central part of our family life. Many of my family’s meals had Spanish influence, which is hardly surprising since you could see Spain from our apartment, in the distance, across the Strait of Gibraltar. Food brought us together to converse and catch up on our day.
What makes you happy?
Obviously, I am passionate about food! I love cooking for my friends and family, exploring different cuisines and experimenting with new combinations. I have a large group of foodie friends, and we enjoy trying out new restaurants and food-related events throughout the upper Midwest. My favorite destinations are Chicago (with all the amazing Korean and Japanese grocery stores) and the Twin Cities (where I tried by first Ethiopian meal and had one of the best breakfasts of my life!).
I also love to travel further abroad for the main purpose of sampling the food. For example, in September of this year, some of my friends and I are going to spend a week in New York, and we already have a long list of restaurants that we need to try!
Aside from food, I love spending time with my partners in crime: my husband Jamie (who takes most of the photos I post on Instagram) and my two dogs, Bean and Dotty, who always keep me entertained!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Wisconsingourmande
Image Credits
Edessa Polzin.
