Marisa Mariella is on a good food mission
Stoney Creek resident and Cable 14 host is joining HAMILTON CITY Magazine to share her passion for cooking, mental health and wellness.
Food advocate and blogger Marisa Mariella is bringing together three of her passions – food, teaching and mental wellness – in new contributions to HAMILTON CITY Magazine.
Mariella will share monthly recipes and cooking videos for easy and delicious dishes that you’ll be proud to serve to family and friends.
Cooking good food feeds the mind, body and soul, says Mariella, a retired teacher and guidance counsellor who was born and raised in Hamilton. Her late parents, Virginia Scornaienchi, a homemaker, and Alfredo Fortino, a bricklayer, immigrated to Canada from the Calabria region of Italy and raised their two daughters on the west Mountain.
“My mom was a phenomenal cook. She didn't own any herbs other than oregano, parsley and basil. And she would use a little bit of garlic and a little bit of onion. That was it. And to this day, I just don't know how she did it, because everything was lick-the-plate, exceptionally delicious.”
Though she did love to watch cooking shows and pretend she was on TV herself, a young Marisa wasn’t too interested in being in the kitchen. When her mom called her to help put tomatoes through the food mill to make sauce, she’d scamper away as soon as her mother turned away.
CHECK OUT MARISA MARIELLA'S FIRST HCM VIDEO!
“It was terrible. I missed so many opportunities to really learn what a wonderful gift she had to put food on the table out of literally nothing. You know, you’d look in the fridge and it looked bare, but we always had a delicious meal.”
She experienced many of the typical things children of immigrants face, sometimes caught between two worlds. She was mortified when her parents showed up to parent-teacher night dressed in their Sunday best.
“As a kid, I remember always sensing that my parents looked different from the other parents. I didn't really have words for it as a child, but I remember that feeling, and I hate to say it, but I was embarrassed.”
She was also aware of the discrimination pointed at her parents as they struggled to communicate.
“You know the other person had a stereotype in mind, and they didn't see my parents as the kind, wonderful, warm-hearted, generous people that they were.”
That experience led directly to her commitment to working with newcomer youth when she became a high school teacher and guidance counsellor.
“It doesn’t matter where they’re coming from. Their story resonates with me.”
Both Mariella and her older sister went to Cathedral Girls’ High School. It was when she was taking some Italian classes at the boys school across the street that Mariella met her future husband John.
After graduating, she went to McMaster University, where she earned a psychology degree. Then it was on to Western University for a teaching degree.
Mariella got married in 1986 and began her teaching career the next year. She said she found her true calling as a guidance counsellor, where she instituted a variety of programs aimed at student mental health.
“Somewhere intuitively, I was recognizing that we were missing students. We were losing students.”
She did research about anxiety, depression and suicide and connected with local agencies. She then developed a peer mentoring program called iMatter that confronted stigma and myths about mental illness, focused on empathy and compassion by sharing stories of lived experience, and explored the resources available to those in need.
The program ran for more than a decade and Mariella and her students presented at provincial, national and international conferences.
Mariella’s career has taken her to St. Jean de Brebeuf, Cardinal Newman, Bishop Ryan, and Cathedral High School. She moved to her Cathedral to be with the newcomer population. There, she started a cooking program, both as a way to feed and nurture some hungry students and to build a community in the school.
People said she wouldn’t convince kids to stay after school but 20-30 students came right away. The group would cook food from each student’s culture – chicken adobo for the Filipino students, falafels for those from Egypt or Lebanon, and, of course, authentic Italian.
“And a lot of times it was my first time, too, making the dishes, but we would learn together, and sometimes some of their parents would come in to help. It was beautiful. And it was always so important to sit together afterwards, to have this feast.”
Her own cooking journey really began when she was raising her four children. Her husband had a long daily commute from their home in Stoney Creek, and though there were “lots of dinners with fish sticks and tater tots,” she began to love being in the kitchen.
“I always loved watching Julia Child as a kid and I’d pretend I was the host of my own cooking show when I was home alone. Or there was this beautiful Ukrainian lady, and she'd always have this frilly apron and, and what I loved about her, she would make a mess in the kitchen, and she would kind of just laugh it off.”
Another inspiration was Biba Caggiano, who cooked authentic Italian food.
“She always left me feeling confident enough to get in the kitchen and make something, and maybe it was exactly what she did, or just inspired by her, but she just kind of instilled that confidence, like, what could go wrong?”
Mariella has carried on her parents’ tradition of canning tomatoes and peaches and making cured meats like soppressata, and capocollo with her own children.
“I feel especially proud that my children feel confident and courageous in the kitchen. Right from when they could climb the step stool to reach the kitchen counter, I involved them in all aspects of cooking. Despite the spills and challenges, the time spent with them in the kitchen is some of my most cherished memories. The kitchen really is the best place to bond and teach important life lessons.”
After she left teaching in 2020, she pitched a show to Cable 14. Her initial show was Arms Wide Open, which highlighted the successes and experiences of local newcomers in 2020, followed by Keep It Together in 2021 that shared wellness strategies during the pandemic.
Marisa’s Easy Kitchen started in 2022 and is now in its fifth season. Filmed from her home, Mariella invites guests and they cook a dish together.
She’s had retired Tiger Cat Simoni Lawrence and comedic actor Jayne Eastwood.
“I always ask them, is there something that you want to learn? Is there a recipe that reminds you of your childhood? Is there something that you just can't get right and you want to do it?”
Now Mariella is organizing culinary trips to Italy. One in October, sponsored by local Italian grocer Nardini’s, will explore the food artisans, culture and cuisine of southern Italy.
A second trip to Florence and Rome is planned for June 2026 and will focus on wellness for women.
Mariella also provides private or group cooking sessions and her work in mental health continues with her position as vice-chair of the Suicide Prevention Community Council of Hamilton. She’s also launching a private label of baking mixes for traditional Italian baked goods like ciambellone, biscotti, and crostata.
Her overarching approach to food is how it forms the foundation of wellness and mental health. That includes providing the nutrients we need to perform, focus, sleep well and manage stress, the therapeutic aspects of chopping, slicing, stirring, and the togetherness that comes from preparing and eating a meal.
“I’m really passionate about teaching about food and getting people excited about simple ingredients, helping people shed that anxiety about having to make a perfect meal. That you have to have your cake look exactly like what someone has posted. You have to let that go and just make that mess.”
