«Sorry if I didn't answer you earlier, but Bruna put us under the synergist. In Abruzzo there is a place where three men are victims of a woman who makes them work hard in her garden as soon as she can, from which most of the dishes of their starred restaurant are derived, The Flag of Civitella Casanova, in the province of Pescara. I'm Brunette is Marcello Spadone, who together with homozygous twin children Alessio and Mattia, one in the dining room and the other in the kitchen, hold up the banner of this activity, which was started years ago by grandparents Anna D’Andrea and Giovanni Spadone. "But over time a lot has changed, so much so that even ladybugs have returned".

Bruna's garden (and friend)

«In this period they hide among the artichokes, to shelter from the cold. This is what Bruna has done in her more than organic garden, her space of air and freedom, where even the plants are left free to grow. «Forcing is useless, I leave everything as possible in its natural state and I take from the earth only what it can give me. And in doing so he always rewards me . In fact, just look at all the turnips, beets and chicory that grow naturally among olive trees, tomatoes and round beans; or even herbs of all kinds such as mint, banana, tarragon and borage that invade and cover the land, varying throughout the year. Recall that the synergistic vegetable garden is based precisely on the concept that in nature everything has always worked perfectly without the need for man, so just work as little as possible and the earth will always find a way to be grateful. This is why Bruna is trying to work as synergistically as possible. But in this riot of wilderness, there is also a small greenhouse, which she calls "her friend", where there is everything inside, even plants such as carcadè, Brazilian oregano ornavel of Venus (to know absolutely). Because with Bruna it's all a continuous experiment: think that she came back from Canada with one Saskatoon berry in the bag to try it in his garden! And it is growing great, as are other berries, such as Japanese black cherries and blueberries; perhaps because here every plant is followed from birth, just like a child. There is also a nursery with small olive plants! And to wet only drip irrigation (and not rain), which uses water from the nearby lake.

100% of this production goes to the restaurant, where the dishes change constantly according to availability, always with devotion and total respect for the raw material. One of those that most values ​​this work is precisely thesalad with wild seasonal herbs: "In my salads each leaf I put has a different flavor depending on the time of year, for example in this period there is the one with some herbs (you'll have to guess them on the plate!), Porcini mushrooms and horseradish, while almost always there is the planchata lettuce with marinated and grated yolk and black truffle . But not only herbs: Bruna also prepares a broth with all its flowers to welcome that riot of flavors that is the real cream puff. In short, working so much (and well) with the products of their garden allows you to vary the starting ingredients according to the season, but at the same time to keep your character and style firmly in the dishes. This is the case of two creations in particular, always present in the menu, which make the Spadone family's constant and daily work well, both in the countryside and in the kitchen. We give you the recipes because it is important that compositions like this remain written in history.

Vegetables cooked in salt (with sour cream and acorn sauce)

The vegetables in this recipe vary depending on the vegetables in Bruna's garden, so you can also experiment with other ingredients depending on those available. To distinguish this work is a continuous game of sauces, of acidity that rise and fall, of different textures as in nature; but even if the raw materials are well separated on the plate, the beauty is to discover that in the end they are better if mixed all together, just like in the land they come from.

Ingredients

For vegetables cooked in salt
2 carrots
2 Jerusalem artichokes
2 red turnips
4 cabbage leaves
1 sweet potato
2 golden onions
to taste mustard mustard
250 g of yogurt
3 kg of coarse salt
to taste extra virgin olive oil
to taste mustard seeds
qs amaranth seeds

Method

In a pan, make a thin layer of salt and place the vegetables, cover with the remaining salt and cook in the oven for 2 hours at 140 °.
Carefully separate the pulp from the Jerusalem artichoke skins of the turnip and carrot and dry the skins at 65 ° in a ventilated oven for 8-10 hours, then blow them in seed oil at a temperature of 205 ° until you obtain a crunchy wafer similar to a bark.
Reduce the pulp of all the tubers to tartare, season the Jerusalem artichoke with the mustard mustard and the others with extra virgin olive oil.
Peel the sweet potato and blend it with 50 g of butter and 5 g of curry, then sift until puree.
Salt the previously cooked cabbage leaves, so that they lose their physiological liquid, and toast them with a cooking torch.
Finally cover with a film.

For the celery mayonnaise, bring a stalk of celery with all the leaves to the boil, cooled in water and ice, blend and sieve with 10 g of lecithin and lemon juice; then whip with peanut oil, salt, to obtain a sauce of the consistency of a mayonnaise.

For the acorn sauce add 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, 1 shallot, pepper, garlic, horseradish and 500 g of acorns. With a mortar coarsely break the acorns, mix all the ingredients in a pan and toast in the oven for 30 minutes at 170 °, then put to reduce on the heat with 3 liters of water. Bring to a boil, skim and continue cooking for about 18 hours until you get 300 cl of sauce. Season with salt, grate the horseradish, cook for another 10 minutes and strain.

For the yogurt sour cream, mix 6 g of salt into the yogurt, place it in an etamine filter cloth and filter overnight in the fridge until you get a creamy mixture.

For the beetroot sauce, centrifuge 2 beetroots and reduce over the heat by 2/3.

For the seed mucilage, cook the amaranth for 10 minutes in boiling water, then cool. Add a pinch of fine salt, the mustard seeds with 50 cl of balsamic vinegar and let it rehydrate for 36 hours.

Finally, make up the dish as follows: alternate the tartare of the tubers, the respective puffed barks on top of the mashed sweet potato, add the cabbage leaf, the yogurt cream, the onion slices, the seed mucilage and season with celery mayonnaise , the reduction of beetroot, the acorn sauce and seasoned with black salt.

The carrot 100 × 100

Carrot is one of the most difficult vegetables there is to cook, because it is often not liked. Still, the Greatswords have managed to find a formula to please you, and even love it. As? Making the most of its different facets, obtaining from it everything it is able to give, in a dish that enhances and brings out its consistencies, in particular six. The following ingredients are intended for 6 people.

One. For the carrot tartare

12 large carrots
1 kg coarse salt
to taste cumin
salt to taste
to taste extra virgin olive oil

Put the salt in the pan, place the carrots and cook for 45 minutes at 175 ° mixed with steam. Cut the carrots in half, making sure to divide the pulp from the peel: put the peel to dry in the dehydrator for 8 hours at 65 °. After 8 hours, blow them by frying them until they become crispy in order to make a chips. With the pulp instead make a tartare seasoned with oil and cumin powder.

Two. For the carrot mayonnaise

195 ml of sunflower oil
1 egg stabilized at 65 ° for one hour
20 ml rice vinegar
10 ml of carrot sauce
2 g salt

Put all the ingredients in a container and make a mayonnaise with a hand mixer.

Three. For the carpione carrot

600 g of washed and diced carrots
to taste rice vinegar
to taste extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

In a saucepan, stew the carrots with oil, salt and a little water for 15 minutes. Once ready, transfer the mixture into a container and blend adding the rice vinegar until it has the consistency of a puree.

Four. For the sour carrot

180 ml of water
180 ml of vinegar
180 ml of white wine
42 g of sugar
21 g of fine salt
3 g of white pepper
3 g of coriander
1 clove
1 chilli
2 juniper berries
1 sprig of thyme
3 g of cinnamon in pieces
300 g of carrots

Peel the carrots and cut them into thin slices using the potato peeler, then set them aside, put all the other ingredients in a saucepan on the stove and once boiled let it cool to 60 °. Then leave the carrots to infuse for at least 20 minutes.

Five. For the roasted carrot

500 ml of water
5 g turmeric
200 g of carrots
salt to taste

Bring salted water and turmeric to a boil in a saucepan, add the washed and peeled carrots and cook for 8 minutes, then cut the carrots in half and roast them on the grill.

Six. For the carrot sauce

1 kg of carrots

Centrifuge the carrots and filter the liquid by reducing it over low heat until the mixture becomes the same consistency as a syrup.

Final composition of the six consistencies

Cut the roasted carrot in half again.
In a rectangular dish, place a point (the same size as a walnut) of carrot tartar, on the side add the previously rolled sour carrot, then a point of carrot puree (carrot carpione). Place a piece of roasted carrot and repeat the same sequence for the second time.
Put a little carrot mayonnaise on the roasted carrot pieces and, with the help of a spoon, glaze everything with the carrot sauce.
Finally, complete the dish by covering all the elements with a carrot chip.

The rest of the territory in the dishes

For everything else that they do not produce (they no longer have time!), The Spadone have built over the years a network of local companies nearby, from which they personally go to get the ingredients, so as to always be sure of the quality of the raw materials. . Among these there is undoubtedly that admirable reality that it is De Fermo, especially for wines (all with spontaneous fermentation) e flours with which they produce the bread (and from which Forno Brisa and Longoni also get their supplies). Located in Loreto Aprutino, in a marvelous ancient house that has belonged to the De Fermo family since the 19th century, it is characterized by a totally organic and biodynamic production of oil, legumes, wines, cereals and flours, starting from an evolutionary mixture of various grains . No use of technologies, but a deeply artisan work, which Stefano, Eloisa and Lucrezia carry out only with their hands and which for this reason could not fail to meet that of the Spadone.
In the surrounding area, also in Loreto Aprutino, there is another point of reference and trust, to which they turn in particular for meats and cheeses: it is the Farm and Dairy of the Brothers Of The Proposal, where they buy fresh sheep ricotta, ducks andLamb from Central Italy PGI, Raised in complete freedom, suckled in a natural way and fed only with local fodder, supplemented with cereals. The result of these choices is felt on their plates: and how it is! Just try some first courses like i Duck ravioli, perfect, or Amatricina, their tortellini stuffed with Ventricina, the queen of Abruzzo pork butchery, made with the noble cuts of the pig (once the belly of the pig was used, hence the name); or, again, that creation of 2015 that has become their trademark, the legendary Roast Gin, a tribute to the homeland of kebabs, which in this case are cooked on the grill, flavored with gin and accompanied, of course, by vegetables from the garden. In short, the Spadone make the most of the territory of which they feel profoundly part and translate this sense of belonging into concrete, well-targeted acts, never by chance. And in this way their cuisine becomes an ode to all that piece of land that is the province of Pescara, up to the moment of the dessert: this is how this family leaves us speechless, with a dessert dedicated to Gran Sasso, consisting of a chestnut puree, a sheep's milk ice cream, a meringue arranged in the shape of a mountain and of course an addition from Bruna's garden, with its sour cherries and a powder of aromatic herbs. Because in the end, what would a place be without its fruits?