Truffle In-Clusive – Interview with Asia D’Arcangelo

We chose Asia as brand ambassador for the strength and tenacity she demonstrated since she was a child, when she had to fight with all her heart against the genetic disease with which she still lives; cystic fibrosis. She is a warrior who has never given up, and from her suffering she has learned the way not to close herself off to the pain but to show what she is really experiencing with her smile… communicating it and sharing it with her loved ones and her friendships. This is how she allowed us to know the beauty, the treasure and the depth of her soul. This is how you become stronger and more unique. We find that the truffle has similarities in this sense, it grows hidden in the woods and matures underground, it first suffers from expanding in stony terrain but then when it is found for the scent it emanates, it is collected and it is precisely there that it releases those wonderful scents . The “King of the table” is enhanced by expert hands to give joy and uniqueness to those who taste it. From recent university studies we know that black truffles contain anandamide, a substance produced by our feel-good brain cells. The possibility of having T&C products tested is for us the demonstration that through care and dedication, it is possible to create uniqueness.

The T&C Tartufi and Asia company: you met thanks to your passion for truffles. The friendship and bond that was born is a beautiful story. Can you tell us how it started, and how much you appreciate truffles?
Our destinies crossed much earlier in reality, even before I was born, because Andrea, the husband of Lidia Marchetti, partner of T&C tartufi, is a dear childhood friend of my mother and my uncle, so we can say that we have always known each other without knowing it.
But yes, we officially met thanks to truffles!
My passion for the gold of the earth was born late. As a child I couldn’t appreciate the smell and I didn’t have the slightest intention of tasting it with a noodle or eggs.
As I grew up I refined my tastes, I learned to taste new dishes and here came Mr truffle. I got courageous and wanted to try. I did well! I discovered I’m crazy about it!
Having noticed this appreciation, my mother took me to Acqualagna during the International Truffle Fair. I was a young girl, I must have been 15-16 years old, and we were looking for a stand where we could buy a piece of it for a “tagliatellata” for two.
There was an embarrassment of choice, yet I was struck by the sweet face of a gentleman who began to explain to me the entire ancient history of truffles.
The following year I returned to Acqualagna in search of that gentleman who had been so kind and precious in advising me on how to best savor truffles, the stand was the same… and together with that gentleman I see Lidia with her beautiful smile exclaiming: “Hi Franci! Hi Asia!!”. I was a bit confused, I couldn’t connect the face to the story that connected us, then my mother told me and here we are friends!

T&C thought of you as a Brand Ambassador for its annual project called TRUFFLE IN-CLUSIVE.
You will be the “guide” of the company in the universe of fragility as you are an enterprising, prepared woman and we believe in your empathy with this project. We will involve clubs and restaurants where vulnerable people from different Italian regions work. These young people therefore find in the value of recognized work the liberation from a new condition, different from the usual.
Your sensitivity will help us to understand, deepen and deal with a reality that most of the time for various reasons we think not to involve, instead ignoring the unexpressed potential that is lost, you will be the interpreter of the peculiarities , above all the iron will to evolve and to try in every way to live a life as close to one’s passions as possible.
Cooking, dancing, music, singing, writing, your degree in literature and your studies in communication are all activities united by creativity, can you tell us how “creativity” helps you overcome the critical issues of life?
I have always been convinced that human beings have a great ability to adapt to the situations that life puts before them and above all to reinvent themselves after difficulties that radically change their daily lives. It’s a quality we’ve always had, but sometimes we forget it. I have always loved singing. Since I was little, my voice was the most powerful means of communication I had to express all my emotions, my moods and even my fears.
When I sang everything around me became suspended and floated around me. Obviously it was a feeling of well-being compared to all the hardships that life has always put before me.
Long story short: my voice was my safest refuge.
Due to really big and risky surgeries, my left vocal cord became paralyzed and I lost my hearing. I no longer felt the ground under my feet. I was the one who had begun to float in the void of uncertainty and bewilderment. I no longer had my voice and I could no longer communicate as before.
There were two solutions: to break down, wallow in depression and allow myself to be pitied by those around me; or – the hardest one – re-inventing yourself.
I chose the second. After all the road I had traveled to remain anchored on this Earth and after having defeated the impossible with all my strength, giving up was not an option available.
I decided that I would start writing everything: my emotions, my fears, my new daily life… and I did it. I managed to stand up for the umpteenth time and conquer day after day with my words.

Sharing is a wonderful and difficult word. Showing your difficulties and suffering to others is a way to love others. The audience that listens to you senses your courage and takes strength and example from you. Today we will talk about young and more or less young entrepreneurs who have had the courage and sensitivity just like you with your countless passions to make their dream come true; working in food with people who have fragilities but who have returned to smiling with a job that satisfies them and makes them happy.
Do you like the idea of sharing a bit of your story through the T&C Tartufi Truffle in-clusive project, and what do you think of this project?
Talking about yourself is not easy, I always say this, but I also think it is essential to defeat your own monsters and to be, in a small way, of help to others. I am convinced that each of us has something to tell, a story that in some way can do good to someone, even a stranger.
When Lidia told me about the project I immediately thought it was a brilliant idea. More than inclusiveness, the uniqueness of every person on this planet should be emphasized. And what better combination of uniqueness between someone who has been through it all firsthand and a food that is one of a kind?
I am not an expert in cooking, but I believe that culinary art is a mix of creativity, passion and magic. I love cooking, but I prefer to watch those who master the art of food and then… eat these precious creations. Massimo, my partner loves to cook and experiment with new recipes, he loves to get involved in front of the fires of flavors and together we love to go to sophisticated places to enjoy various starred masterpieces.
So yes, I approve and I am honored to be able to be part of such a young, inclusive and different project.

You have always been a “force of nature”, you collaborate as a journalist with national newspapers such as Resto del Carlino, you have a degree and continue to study. Have your professional life and passion for the arts helped you understand the sensitivity of others even more?
What was most difficult in this journey of professional success?
Life is a universal game without any instructions for use, and this thing throws everyone into crisis.
My experiences, the genetic disease – Cystic Fibrosis -, the transplants, my life paths in general, have changed me a lot. In the hospital I saw a lot of things and I lost many friends of the same age and younger.
I have had to deal with death and the possibility of dying since I was a child. It wasn’t easy.
I developed a sensitivity towards others when I still did not have the right means to understand many injustices and to assimilate them psychologically. I often wondered why, even though the problems were the same, I survived oblivion and they couldn’t. There were no reasons, no one gave me answers, and I became more and more fragile, but at the same time stronger.
Suffering, physical pain and endless crying have shaped me, they gave me the ability to understand the difference between good and evil from an early age and helped me to be more sensitive to everything around me every day.
Obviously I have moments of depression and anger too, but I manage to defuse the bomb of depression with positive thinking. If I’m still here despite everything there is a reason, I just have to understand which one.
Each of us lives our lives differently and each of us has the right to be accepted, helped, understood in our own way, with the right timing and a lot of patience.
Life has taught me that everything is subjective, there is no universal objectivity capable of judging others. Who are we to judge?
We have the task of helping, or at least trying to help, those who find themselves in times of difficulty by staying close to them and if necessary by remaining silent.
The greatest difficulty I live it when I can’t control my body. I have always had a very high self-perception, and I have always been able to mentally control my physical pain, don’t ask me how this is possible, but it was a skill I developed as a child.
When all this becomes unmanageable, I go crazy and I feel like letting go… but then I always manage to find something to fight against and regain control over myself. As long as I find the motivation to do it, I consider myself infinitely lucky and I thank life for this every day; because despite everything, life is wonderful!!!