Carlo Cracco: travelling is a necessity

As per tradition, it's Carlo Cracco, at the helm of restaurant In Galleria in Milan since 2018, who opened the second day of Identità Milano 2022. The chef from Vicenza arrived with his second Luca Sacchi, with him since 2007, and the usual tireless vision of a world to explore «looking at what is beyond».

Paolo Marchi, Carlo Cracco, Luca Sacchi

«Travelling is for me a necessity – says Cracco – and it's also the reason that pushed me to take this career which is not a job but a passion. Food itself is a journey, a constant curiosity that leads us to unconventional places. Every journey hides a treasure made of people and products. It's a discovery of a territory».

Cracco participates in the Congress since 2004: «The future is now, but it started then. We wanted to do something new, using our dreams, our recklessness and seconding the spirit of the cuisine which is always ahead of those who try to categorise it. The real challenge now is to imagine our work in ten years' time, and hope that it will always allow us to express ourselves as we know».

The chef doesn't hide the difficulties of these last two years which affected him as all of us. «Not being able to travel – he says – was a big limit, but it didn't stop my curiosity and wish to continue to travel around the world. Recently, with IFAD [the International Fund for Agricultural Development whose motto is Investing in Rural People] I've been to Sri Lanka to support an important project to help the families of farmers and the rural communities of the poorest areas. For two years everything had stopped, they felt abandoned and without support. We shouldn't only think of rights, but be ready to defend what belongs to everyone. Like the earth, which cannot be just a conquering competition».

The starred chef is distressed by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine: «I opened a restaurant in Moscow. Until 2 years ago we were friends, now I don't know. But you cannot block everything». And he launches his message: «Food unites, it doesn't divide. Ingredients cannot be mine or yours. They simply belong to the earth. A dish tells a story, it's a mix of memories and traditions. It's a universal desire of being well with others. And it's not a coincidence that in my latest tasting menu I wanted to start from a new take on a traditional dish from many countries of the old Soviet Union, and very popular in Ukraine. It's borsch, a soup that I transformed into tagliatelle, always with potatoes and beetroots mixed with fermented beetroot juice».

Come un borsch: Beetroot tagliatelle, fermented beetroot, meat stock and split bread

While Cracco explains, Luca Sacchi prepares the dish skilfully, decorating it with the symbol of peace. «Sometimes – says Cracco – symbols do more than words». And gestures too, the simplest and most human ones. And so it's now the turn of Luca to explain how the dish is served with a bread bun which is broken by the waiter and handed to the guest: «Donating food is a gesture of love, sharing, brotherhood».

Bone marrow, honey and lemon

A sign of peace, simple yet meaningful. Cracco and Sacchi present the audience of Identità Milano 2022 two more dishes from the tasting menu of the restaurant in Milan. Carlo speaks with pride of Budino animale, the dish with bone marrow which «represents Milan and, in its simplicity, allows mind and palate to travel while bestowing an emotion. Every now and then I'm lucky too: it's something I had never eaten but it reminds me of many things» and then he colours the end of his talk with Fragola, fragolina e fragolino, a dessert made with lightly sugared fruit.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso