Italian regional cuisine is experiencing a golden age in the United Kingdom, where people are beginning to appreciate and recognise dishes and ingredients that were practically unseen until a few years ago. Apart from the now ubiquitous Calabrian 'nduja and Apulian burrata, gnudi, orecchiette and delizie al limone are now appearing on menus. Some regions are less represented than others, including the beautiful Sardinia.
But in recent years, Francesco Mattana — chef born near Cagliari — has become its spokesperson, showcasing the recipes and the flavours of his island on social media through the channel Our Cooking Journey.
The recent publication of his first recipe book — Eat Like a Sardinian – Live to 100 — confirms the success of the initiative. Francesco and his partner Laura Connolly are busy promoting it, but we manage to have a chat before publication, between events and cooking lessons. I ask them when and how Our Cooking Journey was born.
Francesco says that when he worked as a chef at Jamie's Italian (in the now closed, elegant Bank branch in the City of London), he prepared meals for the staff with what was left over in the kitchen after a service. He — who never met his customers from the confines of the kitchen — eventually began to understand how loved his dishes were. He then started taking photos and sharing them on Instagram when the platform was still primarily a photo channel. It was a slow, unplanned activity, just the simple pleasure of sharing his food beyond the four walls of the kitchen.
This is when his long-standing collaboration — and friendship — with the legendary Gennaro Contaldo started. Contaldo is Jamie Oliver's mentor and one of the first to bring southern Italian cuisine (he was born in Minori) to England; he used to visit the company's restaurants every week, all over the UK, preparing the specials of the day with the team on duty. The pair became even closer when Francesco became head chef at Jamie Oliver's cookery school, taking on more responsibilities and working directly with Gennaro Contaldo, including collaborations with Italian brands such as Mutti. But fundamentally — says Francesco — it is the cucina povera that brought them together, and their shared approach to simple and genuine food.
I ask
Francesco and
Laura what has been the biggest challenge so far.
Laura reflects, "Not knowing exactly how and when to transition from a hobby to a full-time job that could support not just one but two people."
Francesco adds: "We both found ourselves in a period of transition; we had left our jobs to travel for a while. Once back in Sardinia, I decided that I wanted to try and see if we could work for ourselves, and thus launch
Our Cooking Journey as our main job. But we didn't have any stability, we didn't have a house, nor funds. We lived a little bit with my parents and a little bit with
Laura's, taking up jobs in Sardinia and the UK." "We were all over the place!" smiles
Laura. And they didn't know if the plan was going to work; it was only a year and a half ago that she felt confident enough to quit her job as a social media content producer to jump full-time into
Our Cooking Journey.
After all, they add, if they wanted Our Cooking Journey to be worth it, they knew they needed to put in time and effort. They point out that for them it was a slow and steady journey, working long hours, missing out on family time and so forth. It was not a sudden, overnight success. They finally noticed a massive difference when they got an agent: a significant surge in following and more open doors, including events and cooking classes.
How did the public — British but also global — react to Sardinian cuisine, since it is not yet as well known (at least outside of Italy)?
"When we share content on social media, we are always very clear about the fact that while Francesco is Sardinian, the dishes we offer are not necessarily Sardinian." Even the book at the beginning was not meant to be dedicated to the food of the island, fearing it would be too niche. But the encouragement they received from their audience and supporters, the trust from the publishers, as well as the audience's desire to get to know the regional cuisine of Sardinia, gave them the direction to go for. So Eat Like a Sardinian became a reality. The blue cover is a hint to the blue zone, which in the last two years has become a hot topic; then again, Sardinia is one of the first blue zones identified in the world, being the place where the first studies and research were conducted.
I ask Laura what her favourite recipe in the book is (I can't ask Francesco, who created them!). She says that, without a doubt, since she has a sweet tooth, she has to pick the lemon tart. A family labour of love, they both say. The recipe for the lemon jam is from Francesco's aunt, while the short crust pastry is his mum's. Family traditions are very important to the couple. She says that it is crazy how Italians have a story, a memory for every family dish (as Stanley Tucci has also recently been highlighting in his popular series filmed all across Italy). Almost as if distance and time sealed memories and strengthened them instead of diluting them.
I ask both if there are other Sardinian chefs or content creators who they think are promoting Sardinia and its culinary traditions.
Laura nominates Letitia Clark — an English writer from Devon based in Sardinia who has published several cookbooks — and Luigi Pomata, from the Island of San Pietro, who promotes the local cuisine and its Sardinian and Genoese influences. Here in England, they mention a restaurant in Sheffield called Domo — not super traditional, it cleverly uses Sardinian ingredients "disguised" as more common dishes such as antipasti boards, in a way that allows the public to appreciate them without even realising it. But then both mention Mario Oliana, who created Yorkshire Pecorino and produces ricotta and pecorino with traditional Sardinian methods but using Yorkshire milk.
What's next for
Our Cooking Journey?
"More recipe books!" they exclaim. "We want to continue showcasing stories, memories and Italian cuisine in general. We would like our reach to go even further. We would like to inspire people to start or go back to cooking through Italian food. People nowadays spend less and less time cooking at home; they don't have the time or desire to undertake complicated recipes." Francesco adds that Italian cuisine is the ideal way to prepare tasty dishes with minimal skills and on a budget. He's already hosting many different online cooking classes, and he admits he'd love to do television next.
The book contains a wealth of recipes from aperitif snacks to sweet bites, and detailed instructions on ingredients and methods. Dave Brown's photography truly captures the island's atmosphere, the brightness and the colours of the coast and the intensity of the hinterland, as well as the smiles of Francesco and his family.
Published by Murdoch Books, it is available on Amazon.
