Identità Naturali 2015

What is “natural cuisine”? If you search online, you will find the most different definitions, some identify it as vegetarian cuisine, others as macrobiotic cuisine, others as one that only uses organic products. Truth is, there is no unique definition, which is why year after year the name of this day remains unchanged. Indeed, we like the idea of putting on the same stage, for a whole day, chefs that have the most interesting things to say and show about their research, tied to a cuisine that is sustainable both for our health and for the planet.

In these years, on the stage of Identità Naturali there have been chefs with very different interpretations of “natural”, “healthy” or “sustainable”, there were some who considered it a matter of balance between ingredients, others of little processed raw materials, of cooking techniques and some who have been capable of surprising us more then once with (apparently) simple legumes.

I believe that in these cuisines based on the simplest, and in some way “poorest”, that is to say cheapest ingredients, as legumes, cereals, vegetables, we can find the most interesting culinary avantgarde of the last years, which is why this year too Identità Naturali will be a day that deserves the highest attention.

Thanks to Simone Salvini’s (Organic Academy) constant research, you will discover how chickpeas can turn into a dish that is very similar to salami, giving the same come pleasure, but poor in fat and rich in beneficial properties. Loretta Fanella (Pastry-chef consultant) will charm us with ethereal and seductive desserts that are at the same time healthy and suitable also for those who are intolerant or have allergies. The world of fermentations and the way in which time changes food will be investigated by Daniela Cicioni (Consultant chef), a real vegetarian and raw diet cuisine guru, who experiments and moves further the borders of preservation and transformation, for vegetables, cereals, sea weeds, mushrooms and legumes, enriching them with new properties and shades of taste. The chef will make a Chickpea tempeh (a dish originally from Indonesia, usually prepared with soy) and Raw diet doughnuts with cocoa and buckwheat.

Fabio Abbattista (Leone Felice - Erbusco, Brescia) will bring on stage three craveable dishes that represent the concept of “A Healthy Italian Pleasure”, that is to say recipes that combine health and environment, in the sense of love for a territory. Colours and seasonality will be the focus of the speech by Simone Tondo (Roseval - Paris) with an interesting research on colours in cooking and the properties of food connected with colours. With Sergio Bastard (Casona del Judío - Santander, Spain) we will see “The arrival of the vegetable world” in fine dining, discovering new frontiers in a cooking based on vegetables in which animal products, if any, are the side dish.

There will be a meeting/contrast between pizza and natural cuisine with Matteo Aloe (Berberè - Bologna) who is both chef and entrepreneur and for a few years now has worked in the management of restaurants that have the goal of a pleasant cuisine that is also healthy, ethical and ecological. This is how his “natural pizzas” are born and his cereal creations and cakes without sugar. Chef Femke van den Heuvel (VlamindePan – Haarlem, Holland) will delight us with her rich and wise use of legumes and vegetables, in particular the many local varieties that hare typical of her land, Holland.

Stay until the end of the day because Cristina Bowerman (Glass Hostaria – Rome) will be the one to close Identità Naturali, and will bring on stage an interesting and current problem, that is to say the disappearance of bees and the important consequences that this has on the natural ecosystems which now are so urbanised. The chef dedicated the last months to study and better understand the reasons behind this disappearance. In doing so she came across a world of products that are unknown to most people, such as honeydew or hydromel, which Bowerman will present in unusual and original pairings born from the assonance of name and flavour.

At Identità Naturali, therefore, you will not find “just vegetables”: but innovation, health and respect for the environment, themes we will find again in the approaching Expo Milano 2015. After all, quoting Paolo Marchi’s presentation of Identità Golose Milano 2015: «Intelligence is a question of the capacity of feeling well in a craveable way, eating health».