Ode to tomatoes

The sixth edition of Identità New York saw the debut on our stage of Andrea Migliaccio, from Ischia, for a few years now at the helm of Olivo inside the Capri Palace, 2 Michelin stars on the nearby island. «At Olivo we handle menus rich in fish, vegetables and extra virgin olive oil and of course tomato. My cooking is simple, 3-4 ingredients per dish maximum».

Raviolo caprese, the topic of the lecture, is a celebration of an emblematic dish (two, in fact: salad and dessert). In this case it’s a first course. The preparation: «Pasta is rolled out with water at around 80°C», says the chef, «an elastic mixture with a significant thickness, made with water and Petra flour, which does its job without requiring any eggs». The filling is made with ricotta from Sorrento «matured for 20 days and chopped marjoram». Once composed, the ravioli are cooked in unsalted water.

The protagonist of the lecture, the leitmotiv of the entire edition in the Big Apple, has to be most of all one, in this case tomato. Which Migliaccio lets appear in two varieties: «Cherry tomatoes “del piennolo”, do give structure, and very fresh piccadilly cherry tomatoes to add a nice acidity». Oil is present but without suffocating the tomatoes’ presence. Which arrives with an aromatic patina enveloping 3 pieces (in Capri you’d find twice as many on the plate). A must in Anacapri «because this is the guest-pass for our clients, the summary of our flavours».

Tony Mantuano presents himself by illustrating his multifaceted origins: «My grandparents were from Calabria. I’ve been cooking Italian food for 30 years at Spiaggia in Chicago, in the middle of the United States, trying to remain faithful to the great heritage of that tradition that is so distant». This is followed by praise to the recent «incredible Identità Expo experience, an opportunity you get once in a lifetime».

His tomato enriches a very inviting baking tin, densely populated with beefsteak tomatoes, on top of which the big chef sprinkles garlic, extra virgin olive oil and basil. Then off to the oven «with the peel too, because the high temperature can enhance this like nothing else». This is the sauce that will give vigour to another first course, Felicetti mezzi paccheri («contrary to Migliaccio’s pasta, we them cook in salted water for 10 minutes») which will then be tossed with vigour together with candied lemons and small calamari. Its virtue? «The balance: no component prevails on the other».