A north west London TikTok and Instagram sensation has released his first cookbook, inspired by recipes from his childhood in Italy.
Angelo, known as Bello, created his e-book Bello’s Sexy Pasta after reaching hundreds of thousands with his cooking videos on social media (@cookingwithbello).
Bello is trained as a dancer and worked in theatre before the pandemic hit, but has loved cooking since he was a child.
“When lockdown happened, I decided to open the cooking page, finally, and share my passion for food and my family recipes,” he told the Brent and Kilburn Times.
“I like to make people laugh and entertain people while I cook.”
Bello is now known for his flamboyant videos and "super sexy" recipes.
“I came up with 'sexy', because I think my food is sexy, and I want to eat sexy, and I want to prepare food sexy and I live sexy,” he said.
“It’s just a way of living, an approach to life. It’s not about the way you look, it’s literally about the way you feel.”
Bello first started learning to cook from his mum and grandma while growing up in Maniago, a small town in northeast Italy. He remembers doing homework in the kitchen while his mum was cooking.
One of his favourite meals was his dad’s Bolognese lasagne, which his family ate nearly every Sunday.
As a teenager, Bello taught himself new techniques from cookbooks and magazines.
His friends nicknamed him ‘MasterChef’ (“because I used to watch every single season of MasterChef on Earth”). He’s never had any professional training and is “proudly a home cook”.
Having lived in the UK for nearly three years now, Bello has two key tips for Brits cooking Italian food (though he stressed that "as long as you like it, it’s sexy”).
The first is to cook pasta until it is al dente. Remove it from the water one or two minutes before it is fully cooked. Then, finish cooking it in a pan with the sauce and a little pasta water. This means the pasta and sauce will properly combine, Bello says.
His second tip is to simmer tomato sauce for at least 45 minutes – “otherwise it’s raw, it’s not sexy”.
Bello’s Sexy Pasta (£19.99, www.Cookt.co.uk).
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