The Mediterranean Sea interpreted by Daniele Lippi, among the new protagonists at Identità Milano

'Weaving the fabric of the Mediterranean Sea in dining', is Daniele Lippi's intention. He is not the only one to commit himself in this sense, therefore he’s part of a very fertile vein, probably the one of the future; he is, however, among the absolute best, the youngest, and the most celebrated and, above all, he does so from a doubly eccentric point of view, both in terms of geographical perspective (his telescope that scrutinises the Mediterranean Sea is placed in the beautiful centre of Rome), and for the originality of a proposal that is absolutely identity-driven, thus becoming personal, conscious, excellent. Med-itated, with a play on words: the child of an idea of the Mediterranean Sea, "a sea that has united different peoples, traditions and cultures for centuries. Its water flows, mixes, contaminates and unites, which is why my menu takes a bit of everything from the Mediterranean - Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Spain, France... - and transforms it into something new, something different. This work is my interpretation of the Mediterranean culture'.

Born in 1990, Lippi trained in the school of the Troiani brothers, for nine years at their Convivio in Rome, where he became head chef in 2015. He later perfected his style with various forays to the top of the international star-studded scene, for example at Yannick Alléno’s three-Michelin-starred Pavillion Ledoyen in Paris, at the equally-starred Piazza Duomo in Alba with Enrico Crippa, at Grant Achat’s Alinea in Chicago and again in Spain, with Paolo Casagrande, at Martin Bersategui's Lasarte, again a triple macaron.

In 2019 he made the big leap, becoming chef at Acquolina in Rome, immediately confirming the Michelin star already shining on the restaurant, then doubling it in 2022.

Suffused harmonies dominate in his dishes, together with echoes of lands both far and near. Aroma and inspiration; crashes of thought, unexpected cross-overs. Take the butter, for example: a North African tradition, in turn derived from France, is recovered and finally married with Latinity: ‘We were inspired by Moroccan smen. In the days of the colonies it was the French who taught how to prepare butter in those lands, adding thyme and salt. The problem was preservation, at different latitudes: they solved it by putting it in amphorae and burying it, so it would keep for a long time'. Very long! 'Even today, it is still prepared at the birth of the first-born daughters, then buried and finally used on their wedding day, years later, as a condiment to the dishes served at the wedding banquet'. Lippi shortens the process by adding natural moulds, 'so in 20 days we obtain this fermented butter, then we also recover the culture of Ancient Rome by blending our own sardine and anchovy garum into the smen.' It is served with an excellent bread made with 5% acorn flour (the acorns are soaked, then fermented for a long time, dried and ground), which in turn incorporates an ancient recipe from the Sardinian coast: hints of nuts, cocoa...

It is an example of how, at such high standards, the food of a great chef, which Lippi undoubtedly is, is not only sensational to eat, but also extraordinary to think about. For the palate, for the mind: cultural food.

Daniele Lippi will be at Identità Milano 2024: his lecture is scheduled for Sunday 10th March, at 15.45, in Sala Blu 1, as part of Identità di Pasta, in partnership with Pastificio Felicetti.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso