Angelo Peretti
This time I start hard. Phenomenology is called 'the study and classification of phenomena, especially as grades or the contents of consciousness philosophy "is defined by the Devoto-Oli.
I understand that writing these things in the days of August can (legitimately) to suggest a sudden my sunburn, but it is because I want to say two things about an issue that is almost philosophical - the philosophy can be applied to cooking, food - and that draws upon what Stephen Bonilli (Gambero Rosso) has published on his blog in late July, the Yellow Duck . The post headline "Spaghetti with clams, but good '( if you like, you can read for Whole here), and praising just a plate of" simple "spaghetti with clams eaten by Uliassi (large) in Senigallia, he argued "Sometimes the simple things are the most difficult and not always successful chefs are happy if you order a plate of spaghetti with clams when the menu is full of very different proposals. But a big plate of spaghetti with clams eat it only if there is a good cook in the kitchen. "
thing, I'll concede, has some of that philosophy. But frankly this is what, above all, I expect from a major restaurant. What do the simple things divinely. Who has, say, the clams that taste of clams. But that is also the pot in its entirety, a perfect cooking, consistency gratifying, rewarding a fragrance, a complete digest. It is not easy. Because it is difficult to synthesize. It is art, creativity and above all thought.
the matter I have had occasion to speak with Leandro Luppi, chef and owner of Trattoria Vecchia Malcesine, the only Michelin-starred restaurant on the edge of my Veneto Lake Garda ( on her official website by clicking here ). The occasion, a ride to lunch to try a dish called "new" of which we discussed a lot on the phone: a risotto with tench.
Now, risotto with tench is a classic of traditional cuisine of Lake Garda. Lazise A few restaurants have made a sort of calling card. And when, a few years ago, I put up with a small team of caterers, the "League of Lake Garda risotto with tench" the number of visitors was enough to force us to look for a home large enough to satisfy at least part of the required . In short: a must. Rooted in tradition. Born, in my view, in a given era history. When Garda near Verona is cultivated, of course, laughter. It happened between the second half of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. A Garda there is still a place called Risare. Ancient texts tell of the rice fields of the village. Near the town hall Cavaion you see piles of old rice. In 1686 there was a process: the community Garda wanted the reclamation of paddy fields. It was said that the village was a "bad air quality, which remains infected by the stench which cause some Risare. Case won, rice fields cleared. It remains to trace the recipe: the union between rice and stewed tench. Leandro
When he phoned me to tell me then that he wanted to put in a paper first Garda-style, maybe something reinterpretation of tradition, the idea was that the instant risotto with tench. But to give a reading must first understand the phenomenology, treating the recipe like a conceptual text. Distilling the contents. Which are ultimately three: rice, of course, and then the green color of the herbs and then again, just as obviously, tench. And rice and tench unite only in the final. With herbs that make the mediation between the flavors. This is the essence of the dish.
We discussed a lot, 'I said. And then the three elements Leandro had in mind and thought. Solving them with genius. The rice. Green got Dall'Aglio macaque, grass officinale which is also on the Baldo, a delicate garlic flavor. The tench over eventually broken up and the first very lightly smoked. All this ensures consistency and saposrosità, but also lightweight.
what I think? That it succeeded. And when you try this risotto Vecchia Malcesine, thought at first that it is a dish of absolute simplicity. But as each forkful harmony does not come down, but rather becomes more engaging, well, 'then you realize that may not be so simple. And that is a bit short, 'said Bonilli how about spaghetti with clams. It seems an easy dish, granted. Then I will propose that the cook knows how to cook and knows how to think, and then you realize that there is something important in the seeming levity. And it is a revival of the taste.
