In this interview, Barbara Lamperti from Buona Pappa discusses her Youtube channel, cooking philosophy and passion for food 

Barbara and her boys- photograph from from buonapappa.net
 

While preparing baby food may seem simple, it is an art- which Barbara Lamperti has mastered. On her Youtube channel, Buona Pappa, you can find a variety of kid-friendly foods combining American and Italian flavors that are healthy, delicious and easy to prepare. In 2012, Barbara began Buona Pappa- which in Italian means, “enjoy your baby food”. “Buona pappa comes from my little one, Luca”, she says. “Adult cooking is totally different from baby cooking . . . “But right when Luca was 6 months [old], I went back to Italy where there was a kind of culture for homemade baby food.”

 In Italy, she learned different methods of food preparation from friends, family and dieticians. She returned to Los Angeles, where she currently resides with her husband and two children, and began Buona Pappa. “It was one week after Christmas, we were home for the holidays, and my husband, my friend Chester, they all helped me prepare the first video,” she recounts. “I had to record it like 5 times because I was so embarrassed . . . the video didn’t come out very good, I have to say, but it was fun, and that was the beginning.”

Soon after, she began receiving comments and messages from other moms. Youtube is full of healthy recipe tutorials, but there are few channels dedicated to preparing kid-friendly meals that are healthy and can be enjoyed by the whole family- this is what makes Buona Pappa unique.

As Luca grows, so does Buona Pappa’s range of food preparation methods. “Now it’s everything between baby food, picky eaters, allergy-free foods and also family foods. So let’s say, everything related to giving something healthy and good to your family,” says Barbara. All the recipes on the site are tried, tested, and baby-approved.

Barbara’s channel offers a combination of traditional Italian recipes and classic American ones- she has combined the flavours of her home country with her current home. “It’s fun because my website is bilingual, so I do have recipes in Italian and from America . . . but I will never ever do a video for an Italian teaching how to make Ragu or tomato sauce because they will laugh at me,” she says laughing.

As a full-time mom of two boys, Barbara has her hands full. But without fail, she uploads a video each week, with the help of her husband, who handles the technical aspects of the site.

A series she does is a baby’s 1st birthday cake. “From a culinary point of view, it’s a huge challenge because I mean, you have to bake, it’s a cake, but you cannot use eggs- or at least you cannot use the whites, you cannot use butter, you cannot use milk- sometimes you cannot use flour if the baby is gluten- allergic,” she explains.

While it is difficult, Barbara has fun doing it and often collaborates with other foodies. She’s teamed up with Nicko from Nicko’s Kitchen and Joanna from 15 Spatulas to share and exchange recipes through the Tastemade network. “I really feel lucky,” she says. “Through Youtube, you get to meet foodies from all around the world.”

Barbara would like her channel to grow with her children- and prepare a variety of other dishes suited for all types of events. But another interesting project she has in mind is an interactive cookbook. “For Luca, once I downloaded a Beatles book – it was so beautiful because the images were moving and there was some music, and I was like, can you imagine if we can create a recipe book with music, with videos, with links? Something interactive . . . that is my dream. Something that is fun.”

Barbara’s passion for food and preparing it is evident in each of her videos- so is her uplifting personality that makes you want to prepare each of her dishes- even if the food is targeted towards children.

Don’t forget to check out Barbara’s site at http://www.buonapappa.net