Food&Blogger: Giulia Scarpaleggia and Tommaso Galli of Juls’ Kitchen (part I)

2017-06-19 It takes more than passion and commitment to set up and run a successful food blog. You need knowledge, precision and creativity too. Giulia Scarpaleggia and Tommaso Galli certainly tick off all three qualities on the list.
Juls’ Kitchen is the food blog which Giulia, food writer and food photographer with a degree in Communication Sciences, launched eight years ago to tell “Stories and Recipes from Tuscany”, as the tagline says. It’s beautifully written in precise, articulate style. Not in shirt sleeves, as the Italian poet Carducci might have said. But wearing a flowing, elegant dress (or rather an apron).
Her carefully chosen, eloquent words accompany recipes, photos and stories. Traditional Italian recipes and ones of her own, photos of food she’s prepared and stories of Tuscany have all featured on The Simple Things, The Foodie Bugle, JamieOliver.com, The Huffington Post, Great British Chef, Great Italian Chef, Manfrotto Imagine and more, BBC Good Food, Corriere della Sera…
Born and bred in Tuscany, Giulia lives in the house her grandmother’s grandfather built in 1926 in Colle Val d’Elsa in the countryside between Siena and Firenze. She shares her home with partner Tommaso and Noa, a white Maremma sheepdog.
Tommaso “Tommyonweb”, Florentine by birth but with ancestors from Salento, came to live with Giulia a couple of years ago. As well as trying out her food (“It’s a hard job, but someone’s got to do it,” he laughs), he helps Giulia out with the sets and makes video-recipes. He brings his experience and passion for digital communication to Juls’ Kitchen: he handles the social channels, contributes to the editorial side, designs new projects and holds courses and workshops.
Giulia, in your blog you say you’ve been passionate about cooking since you were a little girl.
“I’ve always wanted to cook, because that’s what my grandmother Marcella always did: occasions and get-togethers were always celebrated round the table in our family. When I was at elementary school, I remember my teacher giving us a recipe for pizza, and at middle school I’d often take a cake into class. I used to adore making anything sweet, particularly yogurt cakes, the type which you measure out all the ingredients in a yogurt pot.”
What made you decide to start a food blog?
“I launched the blog on 1 February 2009 as a way of sharing my passion for cooking, and I’ve learned to express it in words and photos. Before I started my own, I used to read other food blogs, make the recipes and post them on Facebook. Juls’ Kitchen was a chance to do something fun for myself, something I could concentrate on in my spare time. I wasn’t planning to turn it into a job… I was working in communication at the time. It wasn’t until January 2012, when I realised being an events organiser wasn’t for me, that I started working full-time on the blog; I decided to become a freelance food writer, creating recipes for magazines and companies.” (to be continued)

Mariagrazia Villa

Photography: © Juls’Kitchen