All of Enrico Crippa’s magic

As years go by, the expectations for Enrico Crippa’s lesson are bigger and bigger. Lots of dishes with zero rhetoric, making some of the most important moments in the Milanese congress. «Last year we made 8 recipes in 40 minutes. I hope I’ll stay in the schedule this year too», he says immediately setting the rhythm to the guys getting the war machine ready for the on-stage cooking: «Meet Antonio, Davide, Omar, Luca and Enrico».

The lesson focused on multiple categories: journey, as the basic theme of #IGMI17, the study of the «vegetable portion», more and more important at Piazza Duomo, «the tastes with which we are known» and «the gestures of the first times we went to a restaurant». This is in turn conveyed into three series of dishes: «Antipasto misto di primavera; Alla pasta ci giro attorno and Viaggio nel tempo, a new take on a traditional dessert»

Antipasto is «A journey around onion. In fact, around all that can be matched with a stuffed onion, the emblem of the Piedmontese and Italian tradition of mixed starters». The list of recipes sets off with an Acciuga al verde: a very strong anchovy sauce is enclosed in a container made of fresh cod «we salt it and cook it in water at 60°C for 5 minutes». They serve it with peppers pickled in vinegar, water with ginger, «recalling my three-year experience in Japan, now 15 years ago». Poetry built on neat shapes and lively colours, now a stigma of the Crippa-style.

Without wasting time, Crippa moves to paragraph 1.2, Cipolla ripiena con tuorlo d’uovo marinato [Stuffed onion with marinated egg yolk]: the onion is vacuum cooked, opened in the shape of a rose, with some powdered pumpkin sprinkled on top, «According to regional tradition, pumpkin is the typical filling for stuffed onion». The heart is placed on an egg yolk marinated with salt, «a technique taught by Carlo Cracco». The picture is completed with a few pistils of saffron, a very light curdle all around, and a few caviar eggs. On top of the onion, aroma and sourness are given by lemon thyme, sorrel and marjoram. Colour and intensity. Next to it, a total black recipe: a sandwich («sandwiches were born in Piedmont») with sesame.

Paragraph 1.3, Uovo millenario [Millennial egg] another Japanese inspiration. These are hard boiled quail eggs, peeled and cooked again in dashi with a base of water, kombu seaweed and katsuobushi. They are stewed for a whole morning, giving the egg a dark colour and a strong umami. The egg is recreated by covering it with nori seaweed soaked in dashi. «We place it on the plate, add a stick, pour the dashi over, a touch of horseradish and that’s it».

The last piece in the “antipasto misto” puzzle is the Boccone di carne cruda, con lattuga, cipolla e rape, served with a small glass with the cooking water from the onion fried with smoked pancetta. Seemingly simple alchemies, but only once the result is complete.

Chapter 2: Alla pasta ci giro attorno. «The basic idea came from observing the passion foreigners have for pasta as a side dish. Thus we conceived it as a neutral element, which can be adapted to taste, like with Valencian paella». It starts with curves of spaghetti from Pastificio Mancini, «a format that has the typical shape that spaghetti acquire once they’re hanging. The curves are cooked like risotto, in white water and tomato, mixing it with extra virgin olive oil. The starch in the pasta will blend well with the final ingredients: powdered pepper from Senise, powdered squid ink, turnip tops, turmeric and lyophilised and blended onion.

The pasta, paragraph 2.2, is paired with a Calamaro cut so as to leave the inside part as a whole. Once seared, it will curl and look like shirataki, a Japanese pasta. A choreographic ball, paired with a sauce of black olives and with all the scraps from the seared calamaro (and cod). This is completed with olive seeds («the inside of the olive bone has a fascinating aroma of coffee and cocoa»), a sauce reduced so as to make a gelatine. Beside it, they place an artichoke stalk decorated with sea fennel, oyster leaves, nasturtium, lemon thyme, garlic flower and mitsuba. Next to it, a crispy potato wafer, broth of calamari, glucose and shaped like a swimming calamari. Fantastic.

The 2.3 is a nice bunch of Lettuce-asparagus with lamb ribs (a funny inversion of the order of vegetable and meat…).«This vegetable comes from our kitchen garden: it has very powerful aromas, similar to hazelnuts». It’s seasoned with sugar, salt and vinaigrette of onion broth. It’s finished with a mix of coriander, lemon, salt, black pepper and touches of a classic Béarnaise sauce. The ribs are kept in brine for 10 hours and then glazed with a roasted jus. On top, fried quinoa to create a crunchy effect, a note of sea with some sea fennel and mint «which is always a good match with lamb». Simple, isn’t it?

«It’s only 9.40, if I finish in time with the dessert, you’ll have to buy me a good bottle». He deserves one, not for his keeping to the schedule but because of the original concept and its scenic making. Viaggio nel tempo is the revolution of a classic home dessert from Piedmont, Mattone. In between the hands of the chef from Lecco, the classic biscuit is emptied and filled «in the style of a French opera», with hazelnut ganache, coffee jelly, custard, caramelised hazelnut, meliga (the traditional Piedmontese corn) biscuit, and gianduia ganache. Once closed, the guys decorate it on the outside with a stencil, brushing some liquid gold. It looks like the classic pocket watch with a chain (drawn with white chocolate) our grandfathers were so fond of. Next to it, a broth aromatised with lemon. Roaring applause.