Interview with co-creator, not chef, master mechanic, Peter Boggia.
Peter Boggia is the other half of this crazy cookbook project In Bocca and we got a little interview with him to see how a not chef master mechanic got mixed up in all this Italian cookery.
• how did you first discover these cookbooks.
When I was 16, my friend and I were paid to clean and organize a huge collection of his family's art books. In the process of going through all the books, we found a few of the in Bocca books, we were amazed by them. I had not yet traveled to Europe, so for me, this was an extension of my imagination about the food and culture of Italy. I wanted in! Years later after I started my bike shop, I started looking for them and began my strange obsession with them.
• how did you and roberto meet.
Roberto walked into my motorcycle shop in Brooklyn NY, with a junky BMW he bought from god knows where. I absolutely hated him at first. He was all smiles, brash and had a beautiful wife, I was dirty and thought to myself "fuck this guy". I was intentionally extra mean to him, it took many years and 10 Manhattans one night to realize that he mirrored my passions, obsessions, and outlook on life. So, that's how we met but... We traveled 3 times up down and around the Amalfi coast & Sicily on Motorcycles, Roberto made a short film about my shop Moto Borgotaro that won 13 awards, we co-married 2 of our best friends in Italy, I rebuilt BMW's for him, we have written multiple outlines for movies, we wrote an outline for the ultimate travel motorcycle show, he's lived with me, we drove across the US in a MINI!, Marti Gras, the Pixes, 1000 bottles of wine and many many continuing laughs take us to in Bocca. Meet? fuck that... we did not meet.
• how did these books connect you with Italy and your family?
Deciding to try and open a European motorcycle shop in NY was the most intense decision of my life, I was so self-conscious of my age and experience, even after apprenticing for so many years with my mentor. I named the shop Moto Borgotaro, my family is from the town, but to me, it was just a place on a map. Something about the name, and telling people that my family was from this small town south of Parma resonated and I feel it was this good mojo from Borgotaro that allowed people to trust me. Trying to connect to my history ultimately was the most transformative decision of my life. Roberto accompanied me to Borgotaro for the first time where I met some extended family, became amazing friends with the Mayor and his wife, got interviewed in the Parma press, and I had my La Dolce Vita moment being interviewed for television! Are you kidding!! I was overwhelmed, thankfully Roberto had his camera to document all of this. When we returned to NY, for Christmas I gave Roma in Bocca to Roberto as a gift as some of his family is from Rome. The books have magic in them, and they are funny, they bring people together
• how does being a mechanic fit in with these books?
Being a mechanic teaches you to be methodical, I kind of approach every problem like this. So, when a recipe calls for certain ingredients, I want the absolute best parts (or ingredients) so when I get to the end of the bike we have the highest probability of success. If you look at a diagram and see all of the small moving parts that all must work in harmony for the motorcycle to exist it looks mind-bending. So how to proceed? work backward, use the best parts or painter or tire or whatever, try not to cut any corners, and after the tons of hours you put into a job, you turn the key and whamo it all works... hopefully. Or hopefully, it tastes good that's the extension of the idea I guess.
• you say you’re not a chef, but you obviously love to cook, what is the distinction in your head.
I have been cooking since I was a young boy, my mother worked two jobs and I remember at a very young age going into Italian specialty stores and spending all the money she would leave for me on chicken cutlets, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella (not much has changed) My father worked as the salad man at the Palm restaurant, later he was a waiter, he cooked a lot of Italian food. My grandfather Rudolpho Boggia owned the coatroom at the Palm restaurant, I have memories of making Raviolis on Sundays with him. As I said, I am by no means a chef, and I say that with serious levity and knowledge that it took me over 10 years just to think I was good enough to start a business, and now 11 years after that I know with absolute authority that becoming an expert is a practice, every day I am learning and sometimes re-learning things I thought I knew. Be wary of the man who says he knows everything! I have some very close chefs friends, and they are kind enough to show me a few things, seeing a real chef up close putting in that last little ingredient, or the way they wait for just until the starch comes out of the pasta is a magic thing, you can't learn it on fucking Youtube! It only comes from exhaustive work, obsession, and reading! It is a practice to become a professional, plain and simple, so I approach all of this with respect, respect for what I don't know, and for respect for what I want to know.
• What are your plans for In Bocca in the future?
Roberto and I have been approached by both Italian and American production companies to make this into a series. Yea, great, sure - you want to watch us be us? The fact of the matter is, all of this may sound like a cheesy story, and you know, the Peter Boggia in my 20's might have called bullshit on all of this, on our friendship, on the books, on the reconnecting to the Italian roots etc. etc. etc... but, the difference is, it's all true.