20-01-2015
Alessandro Dal Degan became passionate about cooking thanks to his mother, a cook. He studied to become a chef in Florence and began his career in Tuscany. He then returned to Asiago, where he runs restaurant La Tana. On Sunday February the 8th he will be one of the eight speakers at Identità di Montagna [Mountain Identità], one of the new elements in Identità Milano 2015’s programme. Together with him there will also be Antonio Borruso, Alessandro Gilmozzi, Stefano Ghetta, Nadia Moscardi, Christian Milone, Norbert Niederkofler and Riccardo Gaspari
Gabriel García Márquez once wrote that «happiness is not about being on top of a mountain, but about looking around and seeing the road taken to get there». I believe there couldn’t be better words to describe what I’ve experienced in the past few years; that is to say since February 2008 when I returned “Home” from Florence, even though this had in fact never been my home. Truth is, I was captured by these places, these mountains. A slow and constant kidnap; made of whispers, hints, wind blows, strong lashes of colours and flavours. Asiago is sweet, harmonious and magnificent, but it has lived through lots of suffering and death. The first world war, between 1915 and 1918, changed it profoundly, in its looks and in its heart, and has scattered in its fields the cold and powerless limbs of over 60,000 people, many of whom were little more than kids. Today few people speak about this, but it is the places themselves that remind us of this, giving us an unnatural sense of calm and respect when we walk down some paths or through some woods. A respect I believe it is right to bring to this land that honours me through its supplies. I’m referring to lichens, musk, roots, leaves, gems, cones, earth resins, pollen, dew. Unusual ingredients, flavours that are mostly unknown to many, unfortunately to locals too; but which are the foundations of the historic memory of this territory.
Alessandro Dal Degan in a photo with his team at restaurant La Tana
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