Tag: Rome

Pinsa Roman recipe with chicory, the recipe – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

There Roman pinsa it is a pizza characterized by an oval shape, crispy edges and soft, but not too thick, dough. He has one recent history: it was invented by Corrado Di Marco, an entrepreneur in the world of flours and pizza technician, who called it that from the Latin pinsere, or “to press”, “to crush”.

The secret to getting a good result is to work the pinsa dough with the fingertips, opening and closing it, with movements from the outside towards the inside, several times, between one leavening and another. Only at the last minute, before putting it in the oven, does she lie down and give him one oval shape. Then spread your fingers and begin to sink them into the dough, creating even dimples that will promote impeccable cooking.

Pinsa can be seasoned with many ingredients, in this recipe we have chosen them punterellecharacteristic vegetables of Lazio cuisine, seasoned with anchovies. Also discover: Pinsa with ‘nduja, stracciatella and pineapple, Pinsa, pumpkin cream and Catalonia.

No to modified carbonara: from London to Rome, the chefs’ comments – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

It happened again: yet another modified carbonara sparked a controversy, this time of international dimensions. She confirms how much (little) we are willing to accept variations of this much-loved dish, and says a lot about the way foreigners conceive Italian cuisine, even though it is voted the best in the world.

The question concerns “Delicious Shop”, restaurant in the elegant Shoreditch neighborhood of London, where Gianfillippo Mattioli, a true Roman, has made a radical decision. He chose to eliminate carbonara from the menu because, after having proposed it in its canonical version – eggs, pecorino, bacon and pepper – he found himself having to deal with so much negative feedback and so many requests for modified carbonara that he couldn’t take it anymore.

«Many customers didn’t like the original recipe, and many asked additions such as chicken, mushrooms, or removing the bacon. We preferred not to serve it”, Mattioli told Tg1. Yes, even the main Italian news program covered it, followed by almost all the British newspapers, and some Italians, attracted by a post from the restaurant on Instagram. A post entitled “Carbonara Gate” in which Mattioli essentially told the story, ruling: «Let’s be clear that we respect our customers’ preferences, but we don’t want to compromise our quality and authenticity.

Why does carbonara inflame us?

Not an isolated case, in fact. The carbonara-gates pop periodically. Sometimes they are fun, others less so, and they always unleash a never-dormant gastronomic fundamentalism. But why do cases like this happen with carbonara and not with other dishes? «In my opinion because carbonara is one of the popular dishes par excellence. Everyone does it and everyone thinks they know how to do it better than others, so they feel entitled to have their say“, He says Luciano Monosilio, among the youngest chefs to obtain the Michelin star, who is truly among the most entitled to talk about carbonara, given that in Rome he is considered the “king” of it. For his carbonara he earned praise New York Times and his recipe is one of the reasons to book a table in his restaurants: Luciano Cucina Italiana e Follie, in the historic Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá, which he has been managing for two years.

As Monosilio thinks another pillar of Roman cuisine, that is Simone Panellawho with his brother Francesco runs the kitchens ofAncient weighbridge of Romeamong the restaurants that have made the history of Capitoline cuisine (they also celebrated the centenary), and – for 12 years – of Antica Pesa in New York: «Carbonara will never stop being discussed because it is a very well-known dish in Worldwide. They do it almost everywhere, and for this very reason everyone has applied their own idea. I add: unfortunately. Because the recipe remains only one”.

How much carbonara can be changed according to Luciano Monosilio and Simone Panella

«The carbonara is the done one with eggs, bacon, pepper and pecorino. It is tenaciously Roman even in its ingredients. There is not a single codified recipe precisely because it is a dish of the people: the preparations can vary but not the raw materials, because it certainly doesn’t include chicken, mushrooms or cream, continues Monosilio. For this reason, and not only that, in his restaurants he does not give in to variations on the theme: «It has almost never happened that I have been asked for variations on the carbonara. However, I won’t compromise: I wouldn’t even change the pasta shape, imagine if I would add ingredients to the customers’ liking. If you go to a boutique to buy a pair of shoes, do you ask to change them at will?”.

«I’m quite a fundamentalist too, especially when it comes to first courses, continues Simone Panella. «I often receive unusual requests, and when possible I look for a middle ground without ever distorting the recipe. Maybe I’ll change the format for the pasta, but looking for a suitable one and explaining to the customer that it is not the best for that seasoning, but I do not add ingredients that are not foreseen. I rather recommend changing the order: if they ask for a carbonara with chicken, I suggest choosing a completely different dish. Or, if they really can’t do without it, to have a carbonara and a roast chicken to eat as they please, even at the same time, because a carbonara that isn’t a real carbonara will never come out of my kitchen.” «Not even from mine, adds Monosilio. «And for sure I wouldn’t remove carbonara from the menu if some customers didn’t like it as it is: it is an expression of my cuisine, of the cuisine of the restaurant that offers it. The customer is always free to choose.”

Carbonara and Italian cuisine abroad

It may make you smile at times to think about it, but having to respond to the request for a carbonara with chicken or mushrooms (or any other completely distorted Italian dish) for a catering professional it is much less simple than you think, especially if you interface with foreign customersthe. «In Rome it happens less often, perhaps because foreign customers come to us with awareness. But in New York it is common to receive requests for changes. Foreigners abroad are the most difficult customers, especially for dishes with strong flavours, such as a carbonara with pepper and pecorino. They are normally used to variations created to pursue their taste, in Italian-American or Italian-German restaurants depending on their origin, so they struggle to appreciate the originals”, says Panella.

«The fact, however, is that carbonara is just the tip of the iceberg, Panella points out. In fact, the issue for restaurateurs is broader: it’s a matter of whether or not they are willing to come to terms, deciding whether to make the same (mistake) that Italian restaurants abroad have made for many years. In short, there are two ways: indulge palates that are not well trained in our cuisine, or go straight on your own path aware of the fact that you are also ambassadors of a culinary culture, ours. «Customers’ needs must be satisfied, but there is a limit: if I know that calling fresh pasta filled with fish “lasagna” is misleading for them, I will call it “fresh pasta” and I will continue to call “lasagna” only that with ragù and bechamel. But no further,” says Panella. «And then – concludes Monosilio – let’s not forget one thing: maybe everyone has their own version of carbonara, but let’s leave the chefs the chance to be chefs. Otherwise – we add – what fun would there be in going to a restaurant?

Eating in via Veneto, waiting for the rebirth of the sweet life – Italian Cuisine

Eating in via Veneto in Rome, the most famous street in the capital, was not easy. But something is changing. Because via Veneto is being reborn after years of oblivion and it is doing so starting from the kitchen. Roman and Italian-American.

The first scandalous striptease

It all began, officially, on 5 November 1958, with the party for the twenty-fourth birthday of Countess Olghina di Robilant at the Rugantino in Trastevere: here the Turkish-Armenian dancer Aïché Nana performed the famous striptease, ending up half naked in all the newspapers of the time. Rome had become the international capital of entertainment and social life, and its epicenter was Via Veneto. Due to the presence of the most luxurious hotels and clubs open until dawn, Via Veneto has been the meeting point for VIPs, actors, night owls and paparazzi for twenty years. Here they stayed and spent their evenings, among the bars, lobbies and hotel rooms that made the history of the street. AtHarry’s Bar Frank Sinatra played the piano and even today in the evening we dine with the background of the piano bar. Since 1962 he has animated Rome by Night and hosted Hollywood actors visiting the capital, but it has nothing to do with Venice, so there’s no point in looking for a plate of carpaccio.

The great beauty: a construction site

In 2013 it was the set of The great beauty by Paolo Sorrentino, a film that photographed the upper class of Roman salons, good and even decadent. «The great beauty It is to The sweet life like the Via Veneto of today is the Via Veneto of 1959. Now it is just a street of luxury hotels where it is in vain to seek the nocturnal atmosphere of the past” wrote Alessandra Levantesi Kezich, film critic for “La Stampa”, on the occasion of the his exit. Well yes, because it really is it is useless to come to via Veneto in search of cafés crowded with artists, intellectuals, stars and photographers. Over the years, other neighborhoods have made their way into the preferences of Romans and tourists and Via Veneto has remained comfortable on its laurels. Today Via Veneto is a construction site.

Between public and private, there is the project (already started) of redevelop the urban planning aspect and to relaunch the historic premises to bring back Via Veneto great again. Many prestigious hotels are currently closed or under renovation: the first hotel on via Veneto, the Hotel Majestic, inaugurated in 1889 and designed by the architect Gaetano Koch, author among others of the nearby American embassy building and the Bank of Italy building (Palazzo Koch), has closed its doors and has been acquired by Boscalt Hospitality (Rothschild) and will be renovated. The Westin Excelsior Rome, designed by architect Otto Mariani in the early twentieth century in neo-baroque style, has been bought and will close shortly for renovations. The Grand Hotel Via Veneto will be transformed into a Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, although it is not yet known when. Not far away, in via Boncompagni, work has begun on the new Mandarin Oriental. The only discordant note, for the Cafè de Paris, however, after the seizure and ten years of closure, the shutter still remains lowered and everything is silent. The street is still divided in two, to the south apart Signorvino it’s still all a construction site or bars serving American Breakfast for a few euros, whereas towards the north the rebirth has already begun.

Make Dolce Vita Great Again

First to lead the rebirth consortium, the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace, named in honor of the nearby American embassy. Built as the ambassador’s residence, then transformed into a library, it is the first five-star hotel to inaugurate the new course of the most famous street in the capital. One hundred and sixty rooms with a pure leisure vocation, a design that takes inspiration from the Roman style, a rooftop with a view and a restaurant NYC shoe which attracts an audience of American and local tourists; which in via Veneto still means Americans. Scarpetta NYC is a short circuit: a restaurant serving Italian-American cuisinewanted by a New Yorker, inspired by the concept of The sweet life, hence the name of the LDV Hospitality group. A foreign format that embodies Italianness abroad, and not an attempt to bastardize Italian cuisine to meet the tastes of others. Homemade pasta and bread, spaghetti with tomato sauce (and butter, very creamy) and steak house menus, just like in the United States. Much loved by expats, diplomats, American citizens of Rome and even traveling tourists who thus rediscover the flavors of home and a place where they feel transported to New York. Via Veneto is in fact an American outpost in Italy, it is no coincidence that the first Italian Hard Rock Cafe opened here, way back in 1998, and one of the most famous nightclubs in the capital (opened in 1972) is right in the area and is called Jackie O’ , named after the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy, JFK’s widow, who became Mrs. Onassis in 1968.