20-03-2015
Enrico Crippa, chef at Piazza Duomo, 3 Michelin stars. Behind him, Walter Danusso, farmer in the Langhe. From the vegetable garden they tend to, right outside Barolo, comes a large part of the vegetables, fruits and herbs that are served at the 3 Michelin star restaurant in Alba (Cuneo) and in the restaurant below (photos in this article are by Brambilla/Serrani, translation by Slawka G. Scarso)
It’s the spring equinox today and we couldn’t celebrate it in a better place. We rush to Enrico Crippa’s vegetable garden, little over 2 hectares in Castiglione Falletto, 100 metres from the town of Barolo and a few kilometres from Piazza Duomo in Alba. We are guided by the memory of his lecture at Identità Milano, with the audience charmed by the masterful mixing of Jerusalem artichoke, thistle and daikon. It was so magic that the proposal made by the chef from Brianza, later adopted by the Langhe, convinced Paolo Marchi: «Why don’t we have the congress in a different period, next year? This way we can challenge ourselves with different ingredients». Said and done: Identità Milano 2016 will take place in mid March, a month after the usual. We walk across this green tiny plot thinking that in Italy there are very few people who have such a skill dedicated to the authentic knowledge of vegetable growing. Those who, before peeling, cutting and boiling, research on seeds and plants from all over the world, and plant and uproot fruits with their own hands. A model we would like to se replicated a million of times. Of course, where it is possible because nature does not ask for any forcing. We are welcomed in the vegetable garden by Walter Danusso, a retired farmer who was hired by the chef to look after this fertile strip: «Langhe is mostly a land of vineyards, not for vegetable gardens. The perception, however, is changing». The following chat was born from this two-hour-long walk next to Crippa and Danusso, between green houses and orchards. While zigzagging between lines with hundreds of sprouts from all over the world, patches of hay covering asparagus and wild herbs. In the shade of a half-destroyed farmstead and a small brook separating Ceretto’s property from someone else’s placid hazelnut trees. How was this vegetable garden born? Crippa. It started when we opened the restaurant, in 2005. Alessandro Ceretto had taken over the winery, deciding to apply the principles of biodynamic farming to the family vineyards. So I wanted to do the same in the vegetable garden: we prepare horn silica, horn manure [more details here], bonds are made at dawn and sunset, there’s the influence of the lunar phases and treatments are as limited as possible. A little verdigris on tomato plants, usually. Danusso: We now have around 500 wild herbs from all around the world but in the beginning they were just weeds. We worked the soil with lots of ripping, without ploughing: this process is more respectful, it doesn’t upset the nutrients. Let’s say our farm growing is natural. For instance, we pay lots of attention to dividing the period when to sow roots, leaves and fruits. Crippa: At first, I couldn’t believe it myself, yet Walter proved that if for instance you sow a carrot when it’s time to sow leaves, and not roots, the leaves will grow very high, while underneath the carrot remains tiny.
SPRINGTIME. The earth lifts its bridal veil
How much joy does the vegetable garden give you in this very time of the season? Crippa. In the Langhe not many, to tell the truth. It is a transitional period, unsure between winter and spring. Cabbage, broccoli and Jerusalem artichokes are now mediocre. You’d fancy peas, broad beans and asparagus but they’re not ready yet. Today with these temperatures it is hard to obtain vegetables that don’t come from heated green houses. It’s a hard time even for people’s moods. The changing of the season is always damned. This is why I always anxiously wait for April and May. I love courgettes, French beans and aubergines. And then I love when peppers from Carmagnola are ready, up till almost October.
Besides vegetables, strictly speaking, in the kitchen garden in Castiglione Falletto grow over 500 herbs from all around the world
BEING FARSIGHTED. "A 100% vegetarian Piazza Duomo 100%? It would be cool". Meanwhile, he’s fine-tuning a second vegetable garden, "A green house with just flowers and aromatic herbs, at eye level, with large tanks of heated soil"
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt