02-10-2013
It was in Charleston, South Carolina, that the American Civil War first began in 1861. It is the same town that the famous and lively dance from the Twenties was named after. Over time, it was destroyed by an earthquake, a fire and a hurricane but the love for life of its inhabitants has always won and its story has had no end. The city is twinned with Spoleto and every year, in June, they host the American edition of the Umbrian festival. For me this is also the city where, in May 1999, Giovanni Soldini successfully concluded the Around Alone, the solo circumnavigation of the globe.
Sean Brock
Here I stop and move to some other emotions which are all the same lively and true, those that I have just lived, again in Charleston. I took a break from the preparations for Identità New York to visit this romantic, soothing city that has nothing to share with American metropolises. First of all, it is not huge, with 110thousand inhabitants - six times as many if you count the suburbs. Green dominates and houses are low. The structure that one can always find elsewhere, with the Downtown area scattered with skyscrapers and blocks of flats all around as residential areas is not to be found here. I make this clear, so you know you’re going to visit and discover a different version of the United States.
This weekend in Charleston was the chance to discover the cuisine of Sean Brock, a 35-year-old chef (he’ll turn 36 in March) who impressed me also because he wasn’t there. I was impressed in the sense that on Saturday night at McCrady’s, and on Sunday at lunch time at Husk Restaurant (in fact this was a brunch, though quite different from the Italian buffet style which unfortunately are more popular in Italy), he was was working in the other Husk, the one in Nashville, Tennessee. The greatness of a chef can be measured even by the capacity of his assistant chefs. In this sense, I have nothing to say about Daniel Heinz and, the following day, Travis Grimes, if not to compliment myself with them.
Beef Ribeye Cap with black truffle, mushrooms and apples, a main course signed by Sean Brock at McCrady's in Charleston
Today Sean has several medals on his chest, mostly received from the James Beard Foundation, he’s mapping the cuisine of the South territories and lives in Charleston with his wife Tonya and two dogs. Interesting fact: he asked her to marry him while he was cooking for the James Beard Foundation in New York. I discovered him mostly thanks to the Japanese edition of Cook it Raw, now behind us, while the next edition will be at his place in less than a month’s time, on Saturday October 26th, when the theme will be that of BBQ. That day Italy will shine for its complete absence. A pity, though it confirms that teamwork is easier said than done.
1. To be continued
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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