09-03-2018
Riccardo Camanini, his sous Gilles Fornoni and sbernia [sheep’s meat] covered in beeswax at Identità Milano 2018 (photo Brambilla-Serrani)
«From Costa Volpino you go up to Volpino, then Corti, Branico, Qualino, Flaccanico…» says Riccardo Camanini at Identità Milano 2018. The destination is Ceratello, «141 inhabitants»; a land thus described: “It’s a land of pastures, fields, with chards and nice vineyards, and olive groves; and there are also forests, so that its inhabitants are mostly farmers, and shepherds. (…) In the forests there’s plenty of the most precious truffles” (Maironi Da Ponte, Dizionario Odeporico, Stamperia Mazzoleni, 1819). Ceratello, at 813 metres above sea level, was established centuries ago in a land rich in small water springs from the fields above.
The plateau of Bossico with Lake Iseo in the background
Pecora gigante bergamasca (photo Slow Food Bergamo)
But we’ll get there gradually. By pouring honey on the sheep, the latter extracts its flavour, in a sort of inverted osmosis. The honey protease also makes the meat softer, so that it doesn’t dry, «after three weeks, it’s as if the meat was fresh», plus the aroma of the honey becomes milder, more balanced. «I also asked artist Stefano Bombardieri for his help. We discussed the role of bees, their connection with the world of pastures. And we made use of their wax, an element about which Assenza had told me». Sbernia, now sticky because of the honey, is enclosed in a sort of “shield” made of beeswax, almost protected from the outside, its taste evolving in a both ancestral and innovative process.
Sbernia steak tartare with rabbit kidneys and reduced chartreuse
Pasta in bianco di sbernia
Grilling the Grilled sbernia leg with salad of wild herbs, helichrysum and bergamot honey, and extra virgin olive oil
Camanini with his sous Gilles Fornoni and Marco Bolasco, who presented the lesson
Tutto sull’edizione 2018 di Identità Golose, a Milano da sabato 3 a lunedì 5 marzo. Il tema della quattordicesima edizione sarà “Il fattore umano”
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