Intelligent gourmands

«Marchesi always told me that a chef needs to be intelligent…»: the post-lunch reprise in the Auditorium is a signature one, the person quoting the Maestro is one of his pupils, namely Enrico Crippa. Marco Bolasco indeed describes the lesson held by the chef at Duomo as a «journey across different worlds, with the fil rouge of intelligence». The same applies to his 2.0 pastry, obtained by spreading different types of purée, with sous fish and glucose, on Silpat sheets. So the artichoke (its blended stems) becomes a “paper” which, once baked, acts as a crown for the artichoke itself, stuffed with rabbit sweetbreads previously cooked in vine seed oil: not fried, however, but vacuum cooked at 90°C. Then there was another pastry: made with orange, enclosing a prawn cocktail salad, with the prawns cooked in a reduction of smoked pancetta. Then there’s a potato wafer, together with mullet and sorrel, the result being a noble version of fish & chips .

Heinz Beck, awarded as chef of the year, continues to follow the theme of liquid division, which he has been developing for years, but this time he has used a laboratory centrifuge, in order to maintain the sentiment alone». Ricordo di frisella (frisella souvenir) is a re-interpretation of tradition by extracting the aroma of tomato and olives, which give flavour to the maltodextrin served with a red prawn tartare. Then there’s the bone marrow: «Are you bringing it to Milan? Yes, but I’m not mad, I’m only bringing its essence». So the classic cut becomes a sort of super-rich concentrated flavour in his Assenza di osso buco (Absence of bone marrow).

«He is one of the most intelligent chefs in the 40-year-old generation of French chefs», says Enzo Vizzari when introducing Jean-François Piège, previously at Crillon, now with a restaurant of his own, Brasserie Thoumieux. «I put emotion at the heart of my cuisine», says the transalpine chef, who declines this motto always starting from classic French foundations, caramelising the roe deer meet and then cooking it on a bed of chestnuts: everything is paired with poivrade sauce and marinated pumpkin with Fontainebleau cheese.

Following the same line, Quique Dacosta, «is one of the most intelligent chefs in his generation», this time in Spain. He returns to Identità and explains Italy’s influence on his cuisine. So here comes his Dacosta style puttanesca spaghetti, with an unusual fresh egg pasta. Another pasta, this time made with malt flower and fried with a pigeon stock, is the base for some braised slices of pigeon breast. The other idea hints to the East: the marbleised alga kombu is painted with dashi, which acts as a “plate” for slices of leek, pickled onions and raw tuna ventresca (belly). Ventresca txipiron (=squid belly) has only the shape, which is obtained by rolling the belly of a fresh mackerel around the sac with its eggs.

The parade of speakers is closed by Davide Scabin with “Food clinic”, that is to say a journey across food pathologies. This is a project-journey based on good food, in collaboration with gastroenterologist Matteo Goss: «Food that can have a negative effect must be avoided – the expert from Le Molinette hospital explains – but it is nonetheless possible to taste a great dish». For those suffering from celiac disease, there’s there fried gluten-free pasta with prosciutto and mozzarella. For irritable intestine syndrome, there’s a dish rich in tryptophan, a “miraculous” amino acid, thanks to the use of lamb loin in egg and sauce. And for those who have a bloated stomach...

In the midst of the lessons, a moment of celebration: «For the third time we pay a tribute to the history of cuisine», explains Paolo Marchi from the stage: after Aimo and Ezio Santin, the honour goes to Lidia Bastianich and Nadia Santini. Theywere awarded by two chefs who are close to them, namely Emanuele Scarello from Udine, for the chef originally from Istria, Fabio Pisani and Alessandro Negrini for the one from Mantua. Scarello prepared a soup made with stale bread and scampi from Quarnaro; the duo used Polignano carrots, cucumber mustard and bitter almond to fill some tortelly placed on melted taleggio cheese, served with a hen stock.