GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

A new place to eat in Rome. A trattoria at the Central Market that combines and mixes the tradition of the Capital with that of Piedmont. At the helm is the chef Davide Scabin and the genius of Umberto Montano

Something happened. Davide Scabin opened a beat al trattoria Central Market of Rome, at Termini Station. As if the general quality of this latest creation of Umberto Montano it wasn't already sky-high.

The Central Markets

Behind the Central Market in Florence, Rome, Turin and what will soon open in Milan, there is always the same genius: Umberto Montano. Born in the dunes and gullies of Stigliano, from a painter's father and mother nurse, he soon began working as a teacher in a hotel institute. Then, one by one the bursting of his enthusiasm, one by one the need to escape from some problems, he moved to Florence, where he continued his teaching work. During this period, he feels ever more strongly a deep desire for freedom: "The freedom to be in a big city, the freedom to be able to build something of my own, the freedom also to make mistakes. And dreams have no inhibitions . So he looks for and finds a restaurant (today Alle Murate of Florence, with very ancient depictions of Dante) buys and studies Ferrandini's book Honesty in the kitchen and decides that in the years in which tradition was denied he would have done honest and professional cuisine, the two threads of all the places that will open to follow. Without repeating ourselves about Florence, Turin or anticipating us on Milan, we lean towards Rome, where even before the arrival of Scabin, nothing was at a very high level, with the maximum of catering: from the pizza by Gabriele Bonci to the round one of Pier Daniele Seu, up to trapezzini by Stefano Callegari and the selection of wines from the great sommelier Luca Boccoli.

Piedmontese cuisine

To maintain this tenor, Umberto Montano had no doubts in entrusting the Mercato restaurant to Scabin, who already imagined Scabeat just as he wanted it: a disruptive trattoria, open seven days out of seven, which served in perfect New York beat style agnolotti del plin is Saltimbocca to the Roman at any time, from eight to midnight. "I want to become a reference point for both travelers and the Romans, I want to get into the Roman's favor, I want it to come to Termini for dinner, as a sort of after-theater." The idea is that of a kitchen piemontesca, which unites the dishes of Piedmont, the region that flows in the blood of Scabin, with those of the Roman tradition, towards which the chef has a profound respect. So there are vitello tonnato is broccoli soup, but also a mix of both as the Cavour risotto going to Rome, with fondue and chicory, or i Beans with pork rinds but Piedmontese or, again, as we shall see, cuts of meat directly from Marco Martini of Boves, in the province of Cuneo, cooked in the Roman style. In short, a truly beat cuisine that just like the generation in the fifties, rejects the rules imposed for new, explicit, raw representations. And all in Nasa oven ceramics. But from one like this, it was to be expected.

Word of grandmother (Roman)

To be sure of starting off on the right foot, Scabin wanted the grandmothers, Roman of course. So, after a non-stop night where his dishes came out to the rhythm of dj Claudio Coccoluto, the menu was submitted to the judgment of some Roman ladies who came from various parts of the city to test this new opening. The verdict was more than positive, I would say enthusiastic, above all on a traditional Roman dish that won over everyone and that, despite their years of home experience, didn't even know them: the Picchiapò.

Famolo alla Picchiapò

The Picchiapò is one of the ancient recipes of Roman cuisine, the real one, at home, not iconographic. There are various hypotheses about the origin of the name. What is certain is that it is also a mask: in the past "Picchiabbò", with the b, represented a court dwarf, an extravagant character. In the kitchen, instead, it indicates a recovered meat, usually a boiled beef (not to be confused with boiled meat), sautéed in a sauce of stewed onions with tomato and accompanied with potatoes. For the occasion Scabin proposed the Cheek to the Picchiapò bringing together two classics in true Piedmontese beat style: Piedmontese beef cheek by Marco Martini, cooked at Picchiapò. Needless to say that in this dish there is a profound sense of what Scabeat wants to be.

Breakfast for taxi drivers

But for Scabin breakfast is the meal of the future: "I almost never do it myself, but if I want to give myself a gift, then eggs, salmon and avocado". So he devised the one he called breakfast for taxi drivers, designed for all those workers who finish the shift or start the work day very early, but also for businessmen such as entrepreneurs and managers who are between 8 and 9 am to be connected with the time zone both in Japan and in New York. For this it will be in real beat style with Benedict eggs, ricotta, bacon, soppressata, cured meats, cheeses, fondue, Club Sandwich, White pizza; but also croissants, brioche and toasted bread in the right place with butter and jam. In short, great intentions that will soon come true in a place that is already a security, because as the fuchsia sign above the kitchen reads: "The future is what we have forgotten". And I add: we just need to remind ourselves.

It is one of the oldest recipes of the regional tradition. A rustic cooking, homemade, perfect for all white meat, but also for pork, lamb, fish, eggplant … Here's how you do at home, as do the chefs of the trattorias and how they do it Uliassi chef, three Michelin stars

Rosemary, garlic and white wine. It is the basis of the Marche potacchio. And if you read it in the restaurant menus you know it's one of the oldest recipes of the regional tradition. A rustic cooking, housewife, perfect for all white meat, but also for pork, lamb and fish. In the vegan version the same recipe is perfect for aubergines, which after cooking should be left to rest and are even better the next day.
The name potacchio, which derives from the French "potage", that is to cook meat and vegetables together in a "pot", a terracotta pot, entered Italy in the sixteenth century in the form of "potaccio". If you notice it in the menus of the trattorias, especially those of the hinterland of the provinces of Ancona and Macerata, and maybe it's Sunday, then the astral conjunction will be perfect: you can find yourself in front of the scene that most of the Marches lived many times at the table . The Sunday chicken, that cooked by the grandmother, in fact, is strictly in potacchio.

The recipe of chicken in potacchio, (or del galletto)

The Marche cuisine never lingers in complex preparations; It relies on simple ingredients and slow cooking. A historically "subsistence" cuisine where proportions are often established by eye, and cooking times, even if not codified, remain infallible. This is why expressions like "come back in oil" dictate the moment of the end of cooking.
The traditional potacchio tells us about the cook Gianmarco Boemio, for years at the kitchen stoves of typical Marche cuisine. For a whole chicken of about two kilos you need a glass of extra virgin olive oil (that of the crusher is certainly preferable) and a lot of garlic, strictly in shirt. Cut the chicken into pieces, brown the meat in an aluminum pan (well also in copper or cast iron) over a very lively fire. The browning is essential and will end when the chicken is golden. The advice is to avoid non-stick pans because the chicken, including leather, must adhere to the bottom creating a frosting. When it is golden at the right point, salt and pepper will be added to the meat. At this point the chicken should be blended with a glass full of wine. The better the wine, the better the chicken (a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi with its great structure will be fine) and, once evaporated, it will degrade the bottom of the pan, which will become the bottom of cooking. When the wine is faded, a whole garlic head is added (you will discover that the garlic in a shirt will be as good as the chicken), a bunch of rosemary tied with a string so as not to disperse the needles and, if desired, some chopped tomatoes . At this point the chicken should be covered with water, flush, and continue to cook for about an hour. The cooking will be completed not before the chicken "returns to oil", ie when the water has evaporated completely.

The "Three Stars" potacchio of Mauro Uliassi is from the sea

"The Frog fisherman in potacchio, "Senigallia Farmers' Fashion" is the dish contained in the menu of the chef Mauro Uliassi, also declined in the most eclectic version "the jaw of the rhombus in potacchio". «It is the Marche sauce par excellence, explains the chef, fresh from the third Michelin star. «Born as an ideal cooking for farmyard animals such as rooster, goose, rabbit or pigeon. The women of the Marche countryside, when they had some fish, have slowly begun to treat this raw material in the only way they knew. It is for this reason that the same gravy was also approached to the sea cuisine. Taking up this tradition, I chose the diamond jaw because of its resemblance to the rabbit's shoulder, even in its form .
In the versatile ways of using the potacchio, therefore, the constant is cooking in the wine, both garlic and rosemary. Then, like most traditional recipes, there is personalization. The tomato, to give a touch of color, and the addition of other herbs, such as thyme, or, again, olives. The right wine for the potacchio for Uliassi is a structured white like the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi or a young Rosso Conero.

The ravioli of potacchio from Andreina

Errico Recanati and another starred chef that has the potacchio in the menu. His ravioli of chicken in potacchio and raspberry vinegar show off in the first. These are handmade ravioli (very thin dough made with 18 eggs per kilo of flour), with a filling made with chicken previously cooked in potacchio. A double consistency for the filling: the boneless chicken is partly minced with a knife and partly reduced to a fine puree. The ravioli are then boiled in water flavored with rosemary and sautéed in the cooking pot of the chicken in potacchio. On top of the crunchy spring onion to give perfume and, next to it, balls of "raspberry caviar" give a nice surprise. Finally, if you prefer, there is the tacos version: that is, the crispy skin of the chicken, for a small "cossy" starter.

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The Piedmontese cuisine of Scabeat, trattoria beat by Scabin – Italian Cuisine