11-12-2017
A souvenir photo with Bruna and her five children in Bergamo at the presentation of the book published by Mondadori and dedicated to one of the greatest families in the global restaurant scene: Da Vittorio, storie e ricette della famiglia Cerea. Left to right: Bobo, Chicco, Francesco, Rossella, Barbara and their mother. Where’s Chicco? He’s there, but you can’t see him, hidden behind Francesco. If you look hard, his right shoulder shows on top of Francesco’s and Bobo’s hands. Photo by Paolo Marchi
The title, Da Vittorio, storie e ricette della famiglia Cerea [Da Vittorio, stories and recipes from the Cerea family] of course had to enhance the protagonists of a restaurant family that’s virtually unique, born in 1966 in Bergamo and later moved in 2005 to nearby Brusaporto. They started from scratch, with panini we would now call gourmet and which over a century ago were a mouth-watering novelty, and arrived to global (g)astronomic fame. The exceptional children brought to even higher standards what they received from their parents. In Italy, we only have one such case aside from them, that of the Alajmos in Veneto. One star for mum and dad, two and then three with the following generation.
The authentic title, however, is different and we find it after the preface by Daniel Boulud and Joan Roca (here’s another family, Catalan, in this case), at page 15 of the book published by Mondadori, now in Italian and as of February in English too: Essere un Cerea. Which is hardly easy, as Mapy Danna wrote. Her content is intertwined with the Giovanni Gastel’s portraits and the dish photos by Paolo Chiodini.
Everything is perfect and intense in the photo by Giovanni Gastel. Left from right Bobo, Rossella, mum Bruna, Barbara, Francesco and Chicco Cerea
Bread, butter and anchovies from Monterosso, the sublime welcome at Da Vittorio’s cellar in Brusaporto
Then there’s Barbara, who runs the pastry shop in Bergamo Alta and the bistro at the airport in Orio la Serio. She’s a Cerea, but in a different way: «I’m not a regular Cerea, and I’m proud to be so. My surname is a gift, but my life, contrary to what happened to my brothers, led me to a less symbiotic, less inclusive relationship».
Fried moeche
So here they were a few nights ago, all together, in one of Bergamo’s historic palaces. They presented a powerful and authentic book, which invites you to read it and re-read it to enjoy each paragraph. Like in the chapter dedicated to Bobo. That’s where I found a beautiful portrait of patriarch cook Vittorio: «His cuisine was grandiose in that it was simple. Nothing too complex. Simplicity can be either banal or extraordinary. Dad’s food was extraordinary». His favourite dish among the family ones? Minestrone. Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
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born in Milan in March 1955, at Il Giornale for 31 years dividing himself between sports and food, since 2004 he's the creator and curator of Identità Golose. blog www.paolomarchi.it instagram instagram.com/oloapmarchi
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