PERSONS
09-11-2017 by Freddie del Curatolo
She is spontaneous to be "testimonial" of Malindi and the beauty of Kenya.
Perhaps even easier than making a cake or pastry.
Yes, because Malindi Donvito, 25 years old from Bassano del Grappa, bears the name of the Kenyan town and is not an art name!
Malindi is one of the leading competitors in the highly popular talent-show of cooking "Bake Off Italia", the show conducted by Benedetta Parodi that on the channel Real Time (31 of the digital terrestrial channel) every Friday at 21:00 pm puts in competition aspiring pastry chefs, grappling with a passion that can also become a profession.
Malindi has earned his place among the finalists of this year's edition by entering the sixteen qualified among fifty competitors and now he has sewn on the white apron his name that refers to a place dear to all lovers of the coast of Kenya.
"And I am the first! The girl tells us - in reality I'm named Malindi because my parents, who are original people and out of the ordinary (my mother is an artist) have met a singer of their time who had called her daughter so, explaining to them that in addition to being a beautiful town of Kenya is also an Indian name that means "as beautiful as the moon". My friends fell in love with both sound and meaning and decided to call me that way.
After an adolescent teenage age in which he sometimes felt the weight of such an original and important name, he made his strength, discovering himself as sunny and serene as the place to which he was united.
"The relationship with my name, growing up, has always been happier - admits Malindi - I have always felt a little "special" to be the only Malindi. In addition, I never had the problem of being mistaken for someone else or having to specify my surname, just Malindi was enough and everyone knew who you were talking about, a nice advantage not? After spending a lifetime explaining the meaning of my name and nodding when I noticed that it was also a city, three years ago I decided to finally go to Kenya to visit "my" Malindi".
And here identification reaches its climax, becoming awareness.
Today, Malindi is in every sense.
She herself tells it with enthusiasm and amusement.
"It was the most beautiful journey of my life, my first time in true Africa.
You can imagine the smiles and surprise faces of the police officers who read the name in the passport at the airport.
I was happy, happy, finally to see with my own eyes what I had been talking about for 22 years, that city so far away and so loved by so many Italians.
And once I started to love her too.
Wild, arid and so different landscapes from our everyday life.
A red land, so red that it seems to come out of the bowels of the earth and then to contrast the sea, or rather the ocean, my first encounter with the ocean.
So strong during the high tide and so mild at low tide.
And all his fruits, fish, starfish and sea stars things that until then I had seen only in photos.
When I find myself in the middle of the Malindi market, I feel at the same time lost and fascinated.
So many colors, fabrics, spices, food, animals, everything attracts me nothing makes me afraid, I would like to touch and try everything!
The people who scream, sing, sing, call you and smile are all that I've always looked for at home but only here have I finally found.
I have met a people who always smiles despite the difficulty of living in such a wild land.
People ready to help you and who let themselves be helped. But like the majority of travellers who have experienced Kenya, the most vivid and intense memory in me is the Savana.
Everyone should be in the middle of that expanse of arid land, which seems to appear poor and uninhabited, but when after a few seconds you are faced with a majestic and royal elephant you realize that in reality there is a wealth that until then you had not even imagined.
And when you look in your eyes a lion feels so small and defenseless that you understand how much we are obliged to thank Mother Earth for such beauty.
The boundless expanses of red earth sometimes still flood my eyes and memories.
In those moments I realized that the right name for me could not exist, I feel Malindi because I love nature, I always carry in my pocket a smile just like that people, I look for the most extreme freedom, like the one I feel in the savannah.
I have a wild character that tries not to be bent by the world, but that tries to get the best out of the world in order to be able to improve.
Precisely the character, the desire for adventures and to continually test themselves, was the basis of the decision to enroll in the selections of "Bake off Italy".
"I did it almost as a game, even if white art is a passion that I've cultivated since I was a girl - says Malindi - after having graduated and worked for some years in a clothing shop, I started watching TV broadcasts and measuring myself with new sweet recipes. They were right for me, so I said:"Why not try to make a profession"? In any case, when I joined the casting of "Bake Off", I didn't have much hope of being recalled. When I was contacted, however, I still remember my screams of joy echoing throughout the house. And from there a new adventure has begun. Being one of the lucky "marquee" is a source of pride for me but also a starting point. I'm learning a lot and I want to continue studying to improve my technique, the fantasy is not missing! I have a lot of projects for the future but I still don't have clear ideas, I would like to find a way to combine my greatest passions. Pastry and travel. For the moment I do what I love most, so many sweets for family and friends, some events with children I teach to decorate sweets and I started to "teach" a class that will graduate in pastry and gastronomy. For the rest you will see, meanwhile I enjoy life!
That gentle, serene, sunny and hopeful life in the future that recalls so much the land of which Malindi bears the name.
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