What makes shopatseed pasta bowls so special?

When I first received a message from Gabrielle on Instagram I couldn’t quite believe she wanted to collaborate with me, she was offering to lend me some of her beautiful ceramics for my photos. I’d been ogling over her feed and each individual piece for a while, so you can imagine the excitement when I got her message.

Gabby designs and creates hand made ceramics in her home studio in Ashdon, Essex. She makes everything using her own glazes, and uses these to make her work stand out by allowing the underlying clay to be visible while the glazes drip and splash across them.

When we finally met in real life we realised we had a lot in common. We both loved food (obviously), we’d started our businesses at similar times and we were both looking to grow our ventures, trying to squeeze in all the necessary time between our daily lives (and we still are).

How our pasta bowls turned from concept to creation

Amongst the many beautiful pieces of Gabby’s work she leant me was a gorgeous white pasta bowl - I loved it. I wanted to plate up every pasta dish in it. The ridges set off pasta perfectly, pasta wrapped up into a nest sat perfectly in the middle, set off by the grooves around the edge of the deep bowl.

I loved it so much that Gabby gifted me the bowl, which now sits proudly in my cupboard and you’ll see plenty of shots of it on the blog and my social feeds. While we were exchanging all these items I was working on my online shop, and after a few hectic months we finally sat down to talk about both our plans and how we could work more closely together.

We wanted to create the perfect collection of pasta bowls so you could all fall in love with them as much as I did! Here’s how we went from concept to creation.

The design

We decided a version of my beloved bowl was a must, the Tuerredda. Gabby suggested we make the grooves a little shorter to make it easier to scrape up all the last bits of pasta and sauce, so that’s why you’ll find the grooves decorating the edges but not interfering with your fork as you scoop up your final mouthfuls. Although we love the depth of the Tuerredda we also knew some dishes might be better in a shallower bowl. Gabby created La Maddalena, with its lower edged rim and shallower depth it’s perfect for raviolis, risottos and filled pasta.

We know not everybody is going to choose a certain bowl for a certain dish, but we thought this was important for choosing how we made the perfect pasta bowls. 

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Colours

I knew I wanted a Mediterranean vibe so the bright turquoise and classic white were an obvious choice. Gabby loves the black glaze which its smooth matte finish and lovely depth of colour sometimes containing shades edging towards green and even bronze. That’s why we called this collection the Tuerredda. Named after my favourite beach in Sardinia, which sprawls along the southern coastline with its crystal clear sea, white sandy beaches and the mountainous backdrop you weave your way along to reach the beach.

La Maddalena with its blue splatters on a white glaze represent the Archipelago on the north east coast of Sardinia, a cluster of rocky islands that lie amongst the deep blue waters. The splatter effect the whole bowl brings dashes of colour which makes it perfect for setting off a dish. 

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Individuality

Each bowl is handmade by Gabby which means each bowl is individual in its own right, each splatter, each drip is unique to the bowl. No two bowls will be the same, which is part of the reason we love them. They’re as individual as you are.

We wanted you to be able to mix and match depending on your style, and choose the perfect combinations of bowls and colours.  

Practical for every day  

We know these bowls are beautiful, but we don’t want you to just put them to one side for special occasions (although I confess I still save mine for just that!). That’s why Gabby makes her ceramics so they are dishwasher safe, because let’s face it we all need to make our lives a little easier at times and as two women juggling businesses, families and day jobs between us we know the little things can make a big difference.

Find out more

La Maddalena and Tuerredda are exclusive to Cooking & Carafes and available to order on my shop, but you can see more of Gabby’s work at www.shopatseed.co.uk and on her beautiful Instagram @shopatseed

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