Food Blog of the Month: Mrs. Timian // Via Italia
If you want to get a little taste of Italy, you can stop by Via Italia in Mathallen, where Lisbet Baade-Mathiesen tempts you with delicious Italian flavors and smells.
Via Italia has been in place in Mathallen right from the start, and after a good first year and a slightly more difficult second year, Via Italia has only gone uphill. The concept has changed a bit along the way, but the good Italian ingredients have always been in place.
Lisbet Baade-Mathiesen is just about to start today's pasta production when I stop by on a Wednesday morning.
– We are the only ones in Oslo who sell completely fresh pasta that you can take home, says Baade-Mathiesen, and hastens to add: – At least that I know of.
And the focus on fresh pasta production has been a great success for Via Italia. While we are here, a young man comes and sits down at one of the bar stools that surround almost the entire store. He smiles and says that the only thing that can save the day, after yesterday's red wine intake, is a proper portion of pasta bolognese!
The fresh pasta is popular to eat both for guests at Mathallen and, not least, for those who are going to enjoy good food at home.
– Many people think it's a lot of work to make fresh pasta at home, so they come to us and take our fresh pasta with them instead, says Baade-Mathiesen.
You can buy tagliatelle, spaghetti, penne and ravioli filled with either porcini mushrooms or spinach and ricotta.
What made you start Via Italia?
– I had never worked with food or a store before I started here, so it was definitely not a given, but while we were living in Italy in 2007–2008, we got to know Sandy and Pietro Bologna, who work with organic pigs. I brought some of their cured sausages back to Norway to see if anyone was interested in buying them, and the sausages disappeared right away. I took that as a sign that it was possible to start a store with Italian food here in Oslo. When we heard that Mathallen was going to start up in Oslo, we contacted the owners. The rest is history.
In addition to several of Serpepes good products, we also sell good Italian cheeses, pestos, oils and spices.
What's the best thing about being here in Mathallen?
– The atmosphere, Baade-Mathiesen quickly says. – There is such a good atmosphere here! The customers and guests who come by, and not least all the others who work here in Mathallen, help make this a wonderful place to work.
While I take a walk around Mathallen, Baade-Mathiesen starts making pasta, so before I go home I stop by and buy some porcini-filled ravioli that only need a few minutes in well-salted boiling water when I get home. With a good drizzle of delicious olive oil on top, today's dinner is ready!
– Mrs. Thyme
