Tagliatelle? Bruno Barbieri gives us a classic recipe and a tantalizing recovery version of the great Romagna classic. Plus his twist: a voluptuous parmesan fondue. These are two of the dishes described in his new book This is how it’s done! 75 recipes crazy good and easy to do with the help of chef (Cairo Edizioni), out on November 27. She told us some curiosities in advance.
The new cookbook by Bruno Barbieri
The interview
The book is called That’s how it’s done!: Doesn’t that sound a little intimidating from a great chef like yourself?
«That’s how it’s done! It might even seem like a strong expression, he’s right. In reality this recipe book wants to tell what people want and are looking for. It all comes from my work on social media: people were constantly writing: “How do you do it?” Consequently, the book was born, to satisfy all those curiosities and culinary urgencies. Inside there are very simple dishes, those for students away from home, such as pasta cacio e pepe, penne all’arrabbiata, but also the great Sunday family dishes. And, to end on a high note, the world of desserts.”
She is also known for being the judge of MasterChefa haute cuisine talent: why such an “easy” and homely book?
«Because over the years I have changed the way I approach people. Until a few years ago, chefs wrote books only for self-celebration: it was always from chef to chef, never from chef to the public. Today we need to be simpler and more direct. I would like to reach the general public and the public who make the recipes. It seems silly, but if you follow all the instructions, sometimes a masterpiece comes out.”
How did you choose the recipes?
«I wanted them to be recipes that would last a lifetime. Recipes that people browse for years and make their own. I divided the chapters by occasion, thinking mostly of ideas that do not start from a dish, but from a story: there is Sunday brunch and family lunch, “recipes from around the world” and those “like in a hotel ”. Cooking is not only a gastronomic theme, but also a life experience. The first thing you do when you return from a vacation or business trip is cook. And the best thing is to rework the recipe in your own way. You have to cook and put your own self into it and you have to accept that sometimes a masterpiece doesn’t come out: even “crap” has its own reason, its own “life”, in short a meaning: it lays the foundations for something else. Many delicious dishes were born from a mistake. In the end, you know, you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. Even us chefs, who always do this job. Otherwise, soccia how boring! The stereotype of the sulky chef doesn’t work. I also talked about it with Antonino Cannavacciuolo: we need to try to share with people.”
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