There was an all-purpose dishOsteria Francescana, in 2011 – the year before the Three Michelin Stars – which was called Pharaoh at 360 degrees: it also included an ice cream made with the animal's liver. Very good, but definitely less refined and visionary than what was awarded last autumn as The Dish of the Year for the Espresso Restaurant Guide: The guinea fowl in three services. Confirmation of the historic passion of Massimo Bottura for the meat of this precious bird and as always a brilliant, very personal vision. «On the one hand it represents my critical idea, not nostalgic, of the tradition to which to guarantee a future. On the other I recreate the scent of the family in the kitchen, "he explained.

From broth to panettone

Bottura has always had fun on the guinea fowl theme, alternating historical references (the recipe inspired by the Trimalcione dinner, in Satyricon, where the stuffing of the guinea fowl was game and the sauce was a garum) with funny provocations (the one in panettone crust). He made it a strong point of the most famous tortellini of Italian cuisine, using it for broth and for filling. He enhanced it in the non-roasted version, chosen as a dish of Identità Golose 2012. And now the masterpiece of the new season where the chef managed to unite Emilia and the Far East, as only he can think and realize, coming to give the triptych of dishes a very modern imprint in a rigorous classicism.

Tribute to Cantarelli

Emilia is that of Peppino is Mirella Cantarelli, two pioneers at the origins of haute cuisine in the region. One of the most famous dishes, in the 70s, was the guinea fowl cooked in clay, a specialty that Bottura continued later in the Trattoria del Campazzo. "It wasn't roasted, it was kept in the clay for four hours: once the shell was split, a super-juicy meat was extracted", recalls the chef. The Far East is that of one of the match leaders of the Franciscan Osteria, il Korean Choi, to which Bottura asked to make a ravioli as the first dish of the triptych "between the two continents". The result is the Chinese ravioli, stuffed with roasted potatoes between bisque and crispy parmesan where the filled pasta, completed with a sensational juice of boiled and roasted guinea fowl carcasses, is worked with water.

The secret is jelly

The second service recalls one of the most famous signature dishes of the Franciscan Osteria because the most gelatinous parts of an unboiled mixed boiled meat are used as a stuffing for the guinea fowl, like a Peking duck. «Closed with the aromas, it is cooked roasted with the gelatinous part that helps the weak point of this cooking, continues Bottura. «When the thighs are ready, the breast is not ready; when the chest is ready, the thigh is absolutely raw. But our guinea fowl is protected by the jelly that melts inside … . The stuffed breast is completed by a celeriac puree, amoratic herb cream and apple mustard. Above, chestnut and black truffle chips that recall the aforementioned Cantarelli clay, with the difference that this is edible and their was not. The name of the dish? Easy: Guinea fowl stuffed with unboiled boiled meat.

As in the Renaissance

The third plate has a longer name: Guinea fowl skin with liver and chocolate pate, quince savor and black truffle. Technically crazy, just think that the crisp skin – 3 cm in diameter – is brushed obsessively to make it transparent. Above, a liver pate worked with a fine Criollo: Bottura has a Renaissance ability on the theme, just think of its "game desserts" as the delicious Chocolate and Beccacia of 2018. To close the contrast between a fruit and the truffle. "With this recipe, we also used the guinea fowl's skin and entrails, the only elements left out," concludes the chef from Modena, always careful not to waste food in the kitchen. But beyond this meritorious attention, what a dish!