With heritage like Valentina’s, it is no wonder she is such a well-respected authority on Italian food and food culture.

Tracing her family history back to 1369 through the illustrious Sforza dynasty, Valentina is the youngest member of a large Anglo-Italian family of gourmets. Educated in Italy, Valentina brought her qualifications for teaching and cooking from Rome to London in 1976, where she built her reputation primarily as a private chef until the publication of her first award-winning cookery book in 1984; Perfect Pasta.

An award winning author of over 40 books on Italian food, Valentina is a well known celebrity chef and an experienced and enthusiastic teacher, sharing her food philosophy of seasonal local produce served with minimum fuss and maximum care. She teaches regularly at a number of top cookery schools in the UK to include La Cucina Caldesi in Marylebone, The Billingsgate Cookery School in London, The Bertinet Kitchen in Bath and The School of Artisan Food on the Welbeck Estate. Valentina has also provided her services as a guest chef for The Denman Cookery School in Oxford and the state of-the-art Cookery School at The Grand Hotel, York.

Valentina has organised culinary adventures across Europe, specialising in bespoke gastronomic culinary experiences and cookery classes and undertakes private catering commissions. She has also been associated with several food and drink festivals across the UK as producer and host of cookery theatres and food presentations as well as hosting panel discussions.

Valentina thoroughly enjoyed writing a monthly food feature for Platinum Magazine for the past 3 years featuring some of her favourite Italian recipes and also the best of regional producers from around the UK as well as styling the photos for the column. She is the Ambassador for delicious Magazine.  

As one of the founders of the London Chapter of Les Dames D’Escoffier, Valentina remains committed to strengthening the position of professional women in the world of food, beverage and hospitality. As a result of her position as Chapter President, Valentina has access to hundreds of female culinary professionals in all fields, including cookery schools, retail, PR, media, productions etc. throughout the USA.

Her books cover food and wine, culinary customs and traditions from all the regions of Italy. Valentina's Foodoir, her long awaited book of family memoirs and recipes: Fiori di Zucca, was published by Duncan Baird Publishers. This was followed by the publication of a revised edition of her famous book Risotto! Risotto! with Absolute Press/Bloomsbury Publishing and was nominated for Best in the World in the International Gourmand Awards. Her latest book The Italian Regional Cookbook, published by Lorenz Books is the compilation of a previously published series of 5 books on regional Italian cookery. It is the culmination of years of extensive research and provides a vast introduction to the history and traditions of classic Italian cooking, the ingredients and how to prepare and use them. Valentina is currently working on her next book.

Valentina maintains strong links with Italy in order to strengthen and maintain her own food philosophy and expertise of over more than 40 years as a self-styled ambassador for real, authentic Italian food and the extraordinary Italian producers that create the ingredients for her much loved recipes. She has a passion for the South of Italy and has enjoyed various holidays exploring the region of Calabria and all its culinary riches.