13-02-2017
Felice Sgarra, of restaurant Umami in Andria, Apulia, one Michelin star. The following thoughts are based on his recent Asian tour in Shanghai and Singapore. Next stop: Taipei
I was invited in October to participate in the West Bund Food Festival dedicated to European gastronomy in Shanghai. There were 6 more starred colleagues, French and Italian. Among them, Fabrizio Tesse from Piedmont, Giuseppe Costa from Sicily and Corrado Michelazzo, who will soon move from Shanghai to New York. Each one cooked inside one of the stands created for the occasion, with their dining room and kitchen staff. They had all sorts of tools and equipment. Cooking Apulian dishes for a Chinese audience, prompt to learn and perfectly reproduce our alchemies, was gratifying. And it was instructive from many points of view. We shared lots of laughs, ideas, and we all realised these people have still plenty to learn about Italian culinary culture. And we have plenty to discover from them. We prepared Calamari with squid ink and almonds from Toritto in two textures, Risotto with carbonara, onion from Acquaviva and ricotta snow, Gin Brulée with potatoes and beetroot sorbet and a sauce of extra virgin olive oil… They appreciated especially the Aubergine burrata and tomato ice cream, for its hot-cold contrast. My tip for an Italian chef who’s to cook in Asia is first of all to bring high quality raw materials. Today this task not as prohibitive as in the past. Then, it’s best to choose simple dishes, easy to identify in terms of flavour and appearance. You must take into account the strong differences of palate: Chinese people love sweet, almost unsalted flavours. This is why you should avoid using too sapid flavours.
Fabrizio Tesse, Giuseppe Costa and Felice Sgarra at the West Bund Food Festival in Shanghai
Chan Hon Meng, chef at Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle in Singapore, the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world (photo credits St File)
Men who, for a moment, leave pots and pans to tell us their experience and point of view
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