They even came from Padua to take home the last tortellini: over an hour’s drive to ensure their delights in time for the holidays. A couple of guys from Udine tried their luck by showing up at the shop, but when they arrived, unfortunately, everything was already over. Martina Cavallini’s products have practically sold out in recent weeks. It’s understandable, given the increasingly widespread tendency to choose artisanal and homemade products for special occasions. This last taste, however, will have a completely different flavor given that the shop a stone’s throw from the center is about to go down. No crisis, as the owner claims. The business is going swimmingly, but the owner has decided to put the oars in the boat considering the amount of work and an increasingly loyal clientele who also come from outside the region.
“I decided to stop after realizing that I no longer had the strength to continue” declared Martina Cavallini after having spent a long night producing dozens of tortellini and tortelloni for New Year’s Eve. And to think that it all started in 2012. “It was all a bit by chance. – she states – I did something completely different. I graduated in economics and commerce, and then worked in organizational consultancy for seven years. I traveled around Italy. Then the two children arrived and I decided to change my life”. The opportunity comes thanks to the support of her husband Marco Toneguzzi who gave her a hand in this journey. “I have always had a great passion for pasta. My paternal grandmother, originally from Carpi, taught everything to my maternal grandmother from Pordenone who became really good at creating tortellini. It was now a routine to make them at home together with my sister. Every Sunday we always got to work to create these products for the family”.
From the experience gained in a small cooking laboratory, Martina therefore decided to make the big leap to Pordenone. “We went to see some pasta factories in Bologna and Valleggio sul Mincio where they welcomed us very well. We stayed there for a few days to understand how to organize the whole project. And then we started from there.” Porcia was his gym for two years. “Standing there – continues the owner – I understood that the product was really appreciated, so I said to myself: why not move to the center of Pordenone?”
Thus, thanks to the help of his father Felice Cavallini – known in the city for having been president of Ial Fvg – the shop in Viale Martelli came to life and tortellini began to spread within the homes of the Pordenone people. “It was a big challenge. It wasn’t at all obvious to make the tradition of tortellino known in a place other than Emilia Romagna. I remember that at the beginning people came in and asked us if they should be cooked in water or in the oven. But over time, and with word of mouth, people came back: first the ladies, then their husbands, university students, and many lawyers, given that we are a stone’s throw from the court. In Pordenone they go crazy for tortellone with ricotta and spinach, ham and Montasio, just as they really appreciate the classic tortellini in broth. But we also recently won the cuisine academy award with the tortelli with figomoro di Caneva”.
Before the definitive closure (and the start of a new adventure), two courses are scheduled on Saturday 10 and 17 January to learn how to make pasta. “I am very keen – concludes Martina Cavallini – to thank all the family and the people who collaborated with me and who gave me a big hand in carrying out this activity. I will certainly miss the market days spent chatting with the customers. They are light and fun memories because it allowed me to stay in contact with them. Finally, I will not forget the pleasure of preparing the pasta and tortelli for them. Seeing them there, beautifully lined up and floured, was like doing small meditation exercises”.
