Tag: interview

Sushi lesson with Mr. Nobu da Armani: interview and 5 special tips – Italian Cuisine

Perhaps not everyone knows what to say Nobu is one of the best chefs in sushi of the world. From Japan to Peru to the United States, his is a long apprenticeship made up of courage and charisma, which leads him today to have an empire of restaurants and hotels on 5 continents. A story also made of lucky encounters with people who believed in his abilities, like chef Nishimura, pioneer of Japanese cuisine in Los Angeles who entrusted him with the sushi bar, Robert De Niro, with which he entered into society, up to the far-sighted stylist Giorgio Armani, which houses its only Italian restaurant in the Armani building in Milan. And this is where the exclusive was held sushi class, but before sinking my hands into the warm rice, it was a pleasure to learn more about this living legend.

The interview

Mr. Nobu, he opened the first restaurant in 1987 in Los Angeles: how has the menu proposal changed in recent years? In the 47 Nobu restaurants around the world we offer a basic menu, enriched with special dishes. While on one hand the basic offer remains the same for every place, on the other are the unique dishes prepared with local ingredients to give the spark – such as, for example, the Conch in the Bahamas (n.d.r. typical local crustacean) with a light garlic sauce. Also following the season, in Italy I love to add the chicory or wild strawberries for desserts. In this season, there are tuna and prawns. Twenty years ago when we opened in Milan it was much more difficult to have fresh fish to serve raw, and customers also asked for tempura and teriyaki chicken. Today the demand for raw fish is well established, also thanks to the quality of the product used.

Could you define your relationship with Mr. De Niro and Mr. Armani with an adjective and explain why? Legends. I come from Japan, if I think of Italian fashion, in Milan, the immediate reference is Mr. Armani. He is the very image of the city, Milan is Armani. The same goes for Mr. De Niro. There are so many actors and so many young actresses good on Hollywood or even of his generation, he is still the legend.

Is it more difficult to satisfy a celebrity at the table or the everyday customer? Since I opened my first restaurant, I have never made any difference to the customer to serve. Whether the restaurant is small with few seats or larger, the kitchen remains the same. Our customers trust in the quality offered by Nobu, even if they ask for a last minute service we have no problems, the proposal is always the same. You come to the restaurant to eat high quality products with excellent service, that's my mission.

Is there a dish that he loves to eat when he comes to Italy? Do you ever prepare Italian dishes for you and your family? Of course, often linked to the season. For example, when I come to Milan at the end of September for fashion week, I love to eat a very simple and tasty dish: risotto with parmesan and white truffle. At home, I love cooking spaghetti. I think there is a lot of affinity between Japanese cuisine and Italian cuisine – take the sea bass, cut it and cook it differently but the base is the same.

Wagyu ravioli and caramelized onion, nashi sauce and truffle butter

From the cameo in Casino (1995) wanted by Robert De Niro, his cinematographic experiences follow one another: Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and The Girl from Nagasaki (2013). It's been years now, would you like to return to the set? It was Mr. De Niro who invited me to the set, it was a great experience. He is a great actor, a great partner in business and a great friend. Now I also know how to act, but he still doesn't know how to cook! However I prefer to stay in the kitchen rather than on the movie set.

Nearly 50 restaurants on 5 continents and a hotel empire, the beginnings as a sushi chef in Peru, the experiences in Hollywood and so much more: have you ever thought about making a film about your life? Actually, the proposals have arrived, but my world remains the kitchen. Maybe one day it will happen, maybe when I'm gone, for now I prefer to stay in my environment.

What is your next project or dream? I wish to continue to grow Nobu family. In every restaurant, there is a team that works hard to maintain high quality, they work on my behalf so it's right that I stay close to each of them. I prefer not to open new restaurants, I travel 10 months a year around the world just to give them the maximum support.

The sushi class

All lined up with tight black aprons at the waist, exclusivity sushi class held by the coach Nobu in person it is an event that I would not have wanted to miss for anything in the world. Although I am not a great cook even in Italian cuisine, I am certainly a lover of good food and drink with reverent respect for those who put in cooking imagination and passion. Nobu Matsuhisa is a legendary character as his friends De Niro and Armani, a special person who is traveling 10 months a year to visit his restaurants with just the mission to keep the quality of his cuisine alive, a goal that has been focused on all these years. Cooking with a smile is his priority, as he recounted in his autobiography published by HarperCollins, and to be able to see for himself his radiance and genius really gives an enormous satisfaction.

With the support of the resident chef Antonio D’Angelo and the Japanese brigade of the Armani / Nobu, the chef Nobu directed as a conductor an symphony made of fresh fish, wasabi and rice, including nice jokes and precise instructions. Its cuisine of origin wisely mixed with local products focuses on the goal of surprising with taste, it is proof of it.Novelli Spinach Salad with Dry Miso and Truffle Oil and Parmesan 24 months. With the clear task of cooking for all his clients, Nobu told the genesis of his delicacy New Style Sashimi Salmon: for a client who had refused to eat raw fish, she changed the tradition by heating a mix of extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil at very high temperature so that by pouring it on the salmon it burns naturally – a success that is part of the basic menu. Among the skilled hands of chef Nobu it is a moment to prepare the Amberjack Sashimi with Jalapeño, as well as a simple but not trivial California Roll with his method Six Steps which seems to be a magician's routine.

Nobu Matsuhisa prepares rice for the sushi class

From this experience, here are the 5 tips to share with all sushi lovers:

1 The quality of the base product must be very fresh as well as the speed of preparation for an optimal result – even better if you eat directly at the counter to shorten the time between preparation and consumption.

2 When preparing, the secret is to use all the fingers with passion, with the heart, and not the bamboo mat to get a real handroll.

3 It is important not to press the rice too hard, you must see the light passing through the beans to capture the air necessary for its softness.

4 Don't add too much wasabi to soy sauce because it is already on the fish, it would make it too strong and it would increase the thirst, besides giving discomfort to the stomach.

5 Use your hands to eat sushi like a real Japanese: just quickly dip the piece on the side of the fish (and not the rice) to enjoy it in one bite!

What's inside a Loacker: interview with Andreas Loacker – Italian Cuisine

We were in Trentino-Alto Adige to watch the production of Loackers, but we discovered much more about values, family and goodness in the most popular wafers in Italy (and in the world)

If you happen to find yourself in Bolzano, you can't help but notice: around the city you will immediately see the red vans appear here and there. They head towards Auna di Sotto, a place on the Renon plateau. Right there, facing the mountain of the Sciliar, is the establishment that produces the most loved wafers of all, i Loacker.

We got there too, on the Loacker red van. Of this van we discovered a curiosity later, during a nice chat with Andreas Loacker, responsible for the company's research and development, as well as the son of Armin Loacker and grandson of Alfons Loacker, founder of the brand.
Andreas welcomes us with enthusiasm and gets excited immediately at our first question.

Everything is in a Loacker

What has changed in these 90 years of Loacker and what will never change?

«In 1925 my grandfather had opened one small bakery in the heart of Bolzano, where he worked only with 2-3 helpers. His specialty was just wafers. He was very attached to the concept of goodness and passed it on to my father and then to me. We have always tried to pass it on to those who love us through the generations, like life purpose.
The dexterity of those times obviously no longer exists, it has changed thanks to technological innovations. But we chose one technology that helps the raw material, which does not destroy it, but helps it to evolve. This love for the raw material it has never changed in three generations and we still put it in our product. "

How is the raw material valued?

«Little time passes since the moment raw material enters the factory at the time the product is finished, just as happens in confectionery. There are never any processes where semi-finished products are too long: we use only whole Italian hazelnuts, we toast them at home, prepare the cream and put it in the product on the same day, without losing the taste. My grandfather and my father told me that it is important make a product as if you were doing it for friends. We still have this culture today. "

Why the "complicated" choice of using only Italian hazelnuts?

«Even if the company grows, we want the raw materials to become increasingly good. The Loackers Neapolitaner they are so called because their cream was originally made with hazelnuts from the area of Naples. Hazelnut has always been part of Italian cuisine, but we have not gone ahead with development and meanwhile Turkey has overcome us. Historically there are many types of Italian hazelnuts: we want to understand them better and find out more about their varieties. "

Since 2011, Loacker has started the project Italian hazelnuts, to meet the needs of high quality Italian hazelnuts, whose production fails to respond quantitatively to the needs of all the companies that use them. To date, more than 500 hectares have been planted in Loacker-owned farms in Tuscany and projects are planned with Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche and Alto Lazio.

The partnership with Coldiretti Umbria, for the realization of a short hazelnut supply chain, with the aim of increasing the number of plants in the region, offering agronomic advice, initial processing of the product, shelling, final purchase and roasting.

Not just hazelnuts …

«We have plans to cultivate and develop all our raw materials, such as the best vanilla from Madagascar and the cocoa, and at the same time make a social contribution.
The new challenge concerns the milk, another flagship of our territory. We decided to invest in a drying plant, producing our fresh milk from the cows of South Tyrol. The altitude guarantees excellent properties even atwater and, by containing fewer minerals, it helps us make Loacker more brittle. "

The Loacker factory with a view of the Sciliar

Nearly 100 years in the family

At Loacker we immediately felt the atmosphere of family and watch out forenvironment. The waste of resources is avoided even outside the plant. Do you remember i vans of which we spoke before? The company makes them available to employees: those who live farther away take their colleagues on the outward journey and accompany them back, as Andreas recounts.

"The first one was my father, he took people with the van. There were 20. Then he went to the kitchen, preparing food for everyone and eating at 12. Even today we all meet in the canteen at the same tables, without hierarchical differences. "

It is still early to have any anticipation on the centenary of Loacker, but there are already some ideas. «Personally, like Andreas, I have a dream: our family it has spread to the whole world and it would be nice if even the festivities involved everyone, without fireworks, but with so much sincerity and union. I have some ideas … I think of the Sciliar, which has been around the world on our packages … .

It doesn't reveal anything else, but we already know how to make a snack in the wait!

The Levante recipe (and the new album Magmamemoria): here is the interview – Italian Cuisine

Levante told us what his new album would be if it were a recipe. Here's a little preview …

Waiting for summer tour in the historic arenas of Italy and the release of his new album Magmamemoria, we met Levante in our kitchen.
Interviewed by our editor Angela Odone, the singer-songwriter has prepared one of her favorite dishes for us. The recipe could only be Sicilian, just like her: it's about pasta c’anciove and ca muddica, that you find on June issue, now on newsstands.

During our chat at the stove, we asked Levante a couple of extra questions to find out his gastronomic habits and let us reveal some anticipation on the new album.

Do you have a comfort food while writing an album?

"When I write I don't have exactly a comfort food, I have a chaos food.
I have strange times, I could miss lunch or dinner and then find myself eating milk and cereals. Here, surely breakfast food is what comforts me during the day when I am in my creative phase. .

Tell us 3 songs you love to listen to when you cook

"My playlist changes very quickly …" – smiles and continues – "I'd say Burn It Blue by Caetano Veloso and Lila Downs, I know Sorry of Feist e Best of you of the Foo Fighters .

Which dishes can't you give up during the tour?

"Among the savory dishes I would say amatriciana and pizza, while the indispensable desserts are tiramisu and apple pie!"

These dishes will certainly not be missing on the route of his summer tour departing to July, which will touch on some suggestive locations among ancient theaters and amphitheaters of Italy. A special date is added to this trip, just announced: the November 23rd at the Assago Forum in Milan.

For which great musician of history would you prepare your famous apple pie?

He thinks for a moment, but then he becomes tender. "I would probably cook it for John Lennon .

What would your new album be if it were a recipe?

Finally, we asked Levante which ingredient or dish could identify his new record Magmamemoria, scheduled for release this fall and anticipated by the last success "Everything will be fine".

Magmamemoria is not like the first dish she cooked for us, but it would be more like another iconic food.
"IS sweet, soft, but hides much more .
The complete answer is in our June issue, along with the recipe for pasta ca muddica di Levante. We tasted it … it's very good!