L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 6 degenerate and get stuck in a rut. This is one of the worst things that can happen, especially when doing a job like mine, that is all about creativity. If you get too much entangled in routine and everyday life, working 14 hours a day in the kitchen becomes alienating; if you are in charge of everyday life and you keep dreaming, you evolve. This is the secret of success. Wh at's you r very firs t memory related to food? Even before eating raw tortellini, I remember I would steal with my sister my grand- mother's key for the acetaia, a vinegar cellar, we knew where she kept it, and she was the only one w ho w as allo w ed to go there. We would go up and steal the s aba, w hich is a typical cooked grape must from Emilia Romagna, and w hen it w as snowing we would make granita and put saba in it. In addition to this, I remember the bowl of hot milk that inspired my charitable restaurant Refettorio, in Milan: a cup of hot milk filled w ith breadcrumbs, leftovers from my family's moka and sugar. These are my very first memories, and they still feel as if it were yester- day. Th e R efettorio in Milan inspired your book Bread is Gold th at p res en ts th ree- course meals from 40 of the world's top chefs, from Alain Ducasse to Carlo Cracco, from D avid e Old a n i to R en é Redzepi and Ferran Adrià. What was your goal? The book is the sum of six months of work at the Refettorio and all families should have it at home, because it teaches you how to cook food you'd waste otherwise. It makes the invisible visible. In the book, I explain what you can do with zucchini that are not in perfect condition, w ith tomatoes that haven't ripened yet, with dry bread and even with old popcorn. Speaking of popcorn, you used them at the Jimmy Kim- mel show. How was that expe- rience? Without being warned before, Jimmy took me to the writers' kitchen where they eat unbeliev- able crap! A nd he told me: "Cook something with what is available here." I had to create something with bananas, cereals, cilantro and even popcorn. I looked at the pop-corn and asked: "You, dried up pop-corn, what can you do for me?" An epiphany came when I decided to make it crunchy, so I put a part in the pesto for the pasta and I chopped the other part, then I re-toasted it and, once it was crispy, I put it on the pasta I had previously prepared. How d id you h ave th at epiphany? When you know the food and the techniques , your mental palate guides you and tells you what to do. The mental palate is the most important ingredient, especially when you're like me, a chef that wants to write his own music. Speaking of music, it is your big passion. Music and art are my biggest passions, I cook because I have to otherwise I would travel the world eating and touring muse- ums. This would be my highest aspiration! How does this passion affect your work? In the morning I turn on music before my brain starts to even function and it's the last thing I turn off at night before going to sleep. When I did up my restaurant Osteria Francescana and I refurbished the kitchen, the first thing I worried about was the s ound s ys tem: I w anted everyone to be able to listen to music while working. And if your cooking was to be a band what would it be? It would be many but since I'm someone who dreams big I'll tell you Bob Dylan. According to Bottura, it's essential not to get stuck in a rut, especially in a job as creatively challenging as that of the chef © Brambilla - Serrani "Music and art are my biggest passions," says Italy's best chef, Massimo Bot- tura © Brambilla - Serrani Bottura with fans at the Eataly cooking school in LA © Brambilla - Serrani Bottura famously cooked with popcorn while on Jimmy Kimmel © Brambilla - Serrani NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4

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