“For Italians, food is very important. It’s one of the great pleasures of life and I believe you should indulge in good food,” said Cirillo, who grew up in Tuscany. His passion for cooking grew out of necessity when he moved away from the family home at the age of 19. It began a way of survival, but then he started to enjoy cooking.
As a child, Cirillo watched his grandmother and his parents in the kitchen, where he learned the basics. Later he started reading books about cooking techniques and learning about how different flavors combine. Now, when he visits home, Cirillo’s mother even allows him to cook for the family sometimes. “She recognizes that I can cook some things better than her now,” he said.
Friends and colleagues are often the lucky beneficiaries of Cirillo’s passion as he loves to cook for others. He cooks everything from scratch, including homemade pasta. “I have all the machinery in my kitchen,” he said. “People are always giving me cooking things as gifts.”
Cirillo’s academic work focuses on financial applications and risk assessment, and he noted that there are actually some commonalities between mathematics and cooking. “I believe at first glance cooking is much more passionate and earthy. Mathematics is more sterile,” said Cirillo. “But for certain dishes like patisserie (pastry), mathematical precision is essential.”
Comments are closed.