IN CONVERSATION WITH GIUSEPPE FEDERICI
interview by JANA LETONJA
Giuseppe Federici, also known as Sepps, is a breakout culinary creator who has captured the hearts and stomachs of audiences worldwide. Together with his Nonna, they embrace rustic Italian home cooking, offering plant-based twists on classic recipes for all generations to enjoy. Following its highly successful UK release, Sepps’ cookbook ‘Cooking with Nonna’ released on 7th January in the US.
Can you share the journey that led you from your family kitchen in Stoke to becoming a global social media sensation?
I started my journey in 2016 when I was first sort of open to the whole plant-based diet. It was because my dad got diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and I did a lot of research into what causes it. Pretty much everything pointed back to a plant-based diet being the best way to prevent this disease or even potentially help with it in terms of reversing it.
After a year of my dad being sick, I did more research and he managed to recover by going vegan after I convinced him to give it a try. Obviously, he could have just been really lucky, but that is what changed my initial perspective on plant-based diets. It was really for health reasons, and then I discovered the environmental benefits and ethical reasons behind the lifestyle and wanted to tell people about it. I decided to start posting the things that I ate on social media because people were always asking me.
Growing up in an Italian background, I’ve always been a fan of being in the kitchen, cooking, and just had a love for food, especially being in close proximity to my grandmother, so that was my outlet to share the plant-based lifestyle on social media, and it wasn’t until I actually started doing videos with my grandmother about two years ago that it became more popular.
What’s it like working with your Nonna, Marianna, and how has she influenced your love for cooking?
I was very lucky because I grew up with my grandmother. Although she was from Sicily, she came over with my granddad over 65 years ago, and I grew up in a small town near Manchester with my grandmother very close to me. She would look over me when my parents went to work, and we would go over there every Sunday, so growing up with this, she’s instilled in me the best way to show your love for people is through food, and through the dinner table. It’s always been a big thing for me and a reason why I love cooking, and has always been a way for me to express my love for family or friends, especially through the Italian dishes that I’ve grown up around.
How has your Sicilian heritage shaped your approach to food and cooking?
Growing up with my Nonna so close to me and being fortunate to visit my relatives in Sicily has definitely shaped my interest in food massively. Being surrounded by those different foods early on, with some that are different from traditional Italian food, and learning about street food back in Sicily like Arancini, Panelli, and the Capanatta, which are actually naturally plant based, helped a lot. And also because my grandma had an Italian restaurant, she knows the best recipes for these things, which have certainly shaped my approach to food and cooking.
What inspired you to focus on plant-based cooking, and what challenges did you face while adapting traditional Italian recipes?
Focusing on plant-based cooking because my dad was sick and doing research to adapt to it was my inspiration. Regarding challenges, it was quite difficult because naturally a lot of Italian dishes contain cheese and dairy ingredients, but when I did more research and I really delved more into Nonna’s traditional recipes, I realised a lot of them actually were naturally plant-based or very easily tweak-able, like pasta with garlic, pasta with broccoli, and pasta with tomatoes. These are the foods my Nonna grew up on, her favourite foods, and they all just happened to be naturally plant-based without the Parmesan. There were a few that were more difficult of course, like the Tiramisu, or the Panna Cotta, which are heavy in dairy, but with a few tweaks, it was actually not as difficult. The desserts were definitely harder, but the mains were not as big of a challenge as I anticipated.
What are your go-to ingredients for giving plant-based dishes that traditional Italian flair?
A really good plant-based cheese if you’re making something like lasagna, and my favourite brand in the UK is Violife or Applewood, and in the US it's probably Daiya or Follow Your Heart. Also, good quality tomatoes, which are obviously already plant-based, are the base of any good Italian dish.
What made you decide to publish your own cookbook ‘Cooking with Nonna’, and what was the creative process like for writing and curating it?
I actually got really lucky. With my page blowing up, I knew I had something special with a lot of people interested in it, and it was around the time I won Fortnum & Mason’s Creator of the Year Award that I started chatting with book publishers and got a deal I couldn’t refuse. This was a major turning point in my life and we immediately got to work. It was the most amazing year ever. We got to travel to Sicily to shoot some of it and I had a lot of help with the process from start to finish, including refining the recipes to make sure they work. Nonna is obviously an instinctive cook so it was quite difficult to translate that into recipes that would work time and time again for people all over the world.
What advice, tips and tricks would you share with everyone that is a newbie in the kitchen?
Don't be afraid to try new things. Also, use your instincts. If things don't seem right in the recipe, just taste throughout and use your best judgment. 9 out of 10 times, if you haven’t tasted it throughout the cooking process, it probably isn't going to taste good at the end, so test at every stage and get your family and friends to try it as well.
How do you balance your creative process with staying authentic to your roots on social media?
I would definitely say don't overdo it and take time to take inspiration from other places, not just from other creators, but also books and other recipes. For me, a lot of my inspiration comes from recipes that aren't vegan and things I want to veganise. People can get really patriotic with certain dishes, but with the plant-based diet it will always be different than the original recipe anyway. As long as you're crediting the original roots and making an authentic twist on it, then that’s completely fine.
How did winning the Fortnum & Mason’s Content Creator of the Year award in 2023 impact your career?
It was a massive turning point. That night, I got chatting with a book publisher with whom I signed a deal with a few weeks later. I also met a TV producer who got us onto a famous cooking show a few weeks later, called ‘BBC Live Kitchen’, which was another major moment in my career.
What is your go to recipe for the start of 2025?
It’s probably my Pistachio pesto pasta because I’ve already got a few dinner parties where I know I’ll be making that because it's a hit every time. I cooked it for a Christmas dinner party and took it to a New Year’s party and people absolutely loved it, so definitely that one.
With the cookbook’s success and a growing audience, what’s next for you? Do you have plans for new collaborations or ventures?
The cookbook has been an absolute dream come true. I’m so grateful for the audience it's reached, and I hope it reaches even more people, especially with it now being out in the US. My US following has always been super loyal and is my biggest one, so what’s next for me is focusing on the book coming out there and really trying to get it to as many people as I can, while also trying to be in the US more and working with US brands as well. I have some exciting collaborations coming up to celebrate the US launch of my book. I’ll be hosting a Pasta Making Masterclass at Eataly Los Angeles on 22nd January, and have a special vegan collaboration coming out with Leon’s Bagels in Soho, New York the week after, on 31st January. Other than that, my goal is to continue trying to share the plant-based message in the most authentic way possible that isn't pushy or judgmental and just gets people to try delicious plant-based Italian food, making them realise it doesn't have to be just tofu.