Love completely changed the life of Italian Gaspare. A descendant of a cheesemaking family, he came to Moscow for his muse, revived his family recipes, gained Russian citizenship, and now drives the east of the capital and the Moscow region crazy with his cheese delicacies. He told *aif.ru* about how the Russian-Italian spark ignited and why, despite the sanctions, he gave his heart to this country.
This story began 15 years ago when Karina, a Moscovite, went on vacation to Italy with her friends. She had been divorced for a while and wasn’t thinking about new relationships, but fate had other plans.
Gaspare was already over 50, a widower, living with his mother and daughter, and working in real estate. The Sicilian and the Russian woman agreed to have dinner together with mutual friends.
After the wedding, the newlyweds lived in Sicily for a few years, where Karina brought her mother as well. However, when it became clear that the local climate didn’t suit her mother, Karina decided to return to her homeland. Her husband followed her.
Moscow overwhelmed Gaspare. Wide avenues, old architecture, luxurious parks, and many beautiful churches. Soon, the Italian realized that Russia had captured his heart completely.
For several years, Gaspare traveled between Sicily and Moscow, then decided to permanently move to Russia. By that time, his daughter had grown up and encouraged her father to build a new life in a new place.
The history of cheesemaking in Gaspare’s family spans over two hundred years. His great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all made cheese. Gaspare also followed in their footsteps in his youth, making a promising start and winning awards at prestigious competitions.
Then, tragedy struck his father, and life in the cheese factory came to a halt. Gaspare couldn’t bring himself to pick up the cagliata again—the special wooden stick used to stir cheese—and left the profession, thinking it was forever.
To surprise his beloved, the Italian began exploring dairy farms in the Moscow region. At each one, he carefully smelled the milk, tasted it, and studied its color and consistency.
Finally, three years ago, a small cheese factory opened on the outskirts of Elektrostal. At first, Gaspare worked there alone, kneading and shaping the cheese, but later hired an apprentice.
In the past two years, Gaspare gained Russian citizenship and, this year, participated for the first time in Russia’s presidential elections.
The cheesemaker’s range of products is constantly growing. But no matter what new types of cheese he creates, he continues to make them by hand, putting his soul into every batch and stirring them with special love.
