14-05-2018
Rice, gold and saffron, an iconic dish by Gualtiero Marchesi. We tasted it again, recently, at Grand Hotel Tremezzo, together with more recipes by the Maestro, as well as other great fine dining classics
If there was such a thing as a time machine, it would be shaped like the lift that welcomes guests at Grand Hotel Tremezzo. They get in from the road running around Lake Como, and go up, in fact back in time, to the Belle Époque when this imposing and rich palace was built in Tremezzo, one of the Borghi più belli d'Italia. Like all the magic places of the so-called Riviera delle Azalee even in those days it was a tourist destination and a place of residence for the north European bourgeois families and the Milanese aristocracy that left Milan after the French Revolution and Napoleon’s wars. Here they built their villas, which often became literary salons: Villa Melzi, Villa Sola Cabiati, Villa Balbianello, Villa Monastero, Villa Carlotta...
Lake Como from Grand Hotel Tremezzo Enea Gandola chose a piece of land next to Villa Carlotta in the early 20th century to build his hotel, which was to express elegance and style in the middle of one of the most charming lakes in the world. Those were the days of the Romantic Grand Tour, of long journeys and fascinating travellers. Lake Como was already a not to be missed stop, one of the favourite destinations of the increasing élite tourists: rich, well-read, and international travellers coming from England, France, Germany and Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, and even Czarist Russia.
Lake Como from Grand Hotel Tremezzo
Grand Hotel Tremezzo one century ago
By day...
...and by night
The hall
Restaurant La Terrazza. We had a great dinner, though we didn’t like everything: for instance, the tables were too small, the bread should be changed
This was surely thanks to Marchesi’s genius. Even today, his dishes can stimulate the palate with elegance. They’re hardly ancient, because they have (they already did at the time) many features that today’s gourmets like: freshness, respect for products, neatness, complexity, elegance, seasonality, aesthetics, lightness.
Gualtiero Marchesi and Osvaldo Presazzi
«I’m here since 1989. In 2011, when I was already 49 I would have never expected to work with the Maestro, then our owners asked Marchesi as consultant, and they signed a contract that allowed us, since then, to serve the menu he created. He was then at Albereta, «can we send our chef there, so he can learn your cuisine?», we asked. He said: "But first I want to meet you in Tremezzo". He came once, and then returned again and again», he was happy because he knew the area. In fact, he had had friends nearby, in Lenno, the Salice family, the same of legendary Eliseo Salice, head chef at Villa D'Este in Cernobbio in the Thirties. The Maestro writes in Marchesi si nasce, questa è la mia storia: "At Mercato [his parents’ restaurant] I had the chance to meet talented chefs such as Remo and Giovanni Salice, respectively pastry chef and chef, the sons of the famous Eliseo". [They tell us that the heirs of that family of great chefs still work in Lenno, at an inn called Grifo, offering the typical laghèe cuisine prepared by Antonio and Tiziana Bianchi, grandchildren of Antonio Bianchi and Maria Salice).
All those who eat the famous Rice, gold and saffron receive this parchment that certifies the tasting, "100.000 riso, oro e zafferano dal 1981 al 2017", and refers to a request made by Marchesi himself, who was curious to know, last year, how many of these dishes had been served till then. After some rough calculations, after discussing this with the suppliers of the gold leaves, they reached a total sum of around 100,000 dishes. Since then, each serving is numbered. Ours was number 1,329
Appetizer: Mousse of potatoes with lobster. Tanio Liotta took the photos of the dishes
Scallops, Riesling and pink pepper
Rice, gold and saffron
Wild sea bass filet wrapped in salt, hay, camomile and stewed artichoke. Served on a base of salt
Veal fillet à la Rossini according to Gualtiero Marchesi
Millefoglie of ovis mollis, mascarpone cream and fruits of the forest
Excellent and fresh, at T Bar, the Raw sea bass with cucumber broth, cumin, green and red apple, Maldon salt. For the broth, they ferment the cucumber for 15 days in water, rice vinegar, ginger, chilli pepper, salt and sugar
Tuna goulash
Francesco Licciardo prepares Kidneys with Calvados
Veal kidneys with Calvados
Osvaldo Presazzi at work
Plus there’s another means through which the chef thinks he can reproduce the greatness of Marchesi: «I met a great pupil of his a while ago, Tiziano Rossetti [teacher at Alma, now working at L'Angolo Divino in Urbino]. After Gualtiero died, the owners asked me how I could best preserve his heritage. I said I would be very happy to do so, only with the help of Tiziano. So last February we studied a series of recipes together in pure Marchesi-style, capable of recreating the typical harmony of flavours». This resulted in dishes such as Forest egg on fondue of leek, truffle and casera, Risotto with caprino cheese, candied citron and chives, Lamb leg with caramelised onions... You can taste them at Grand Hotel Tremezzo of course.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief