L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano B eing behind the counter and in front of the cooker feels fa- miliar to Carlo Cracco; here he shows us step by step, ingredient after ingredient, how to cook his spaghetti with cocoa beans, purple cabbage and salmon roe. It is with this dish that Masterchef Italia's former judge, introduced by the ambassador of Italian taste in America, Lidia Bastianich, opened the ninth season of Identità Golose, which debuted in Los An- geles for the first time. After New York, where the main theme was the human factor, more specifically the relationship between the chefs and their col- laborators both in the kitchen and in the dining room, in California everything revolves around "fire," the most ancient source of heat known to Man. I am among the few lucky peo- ple sitting at Eataly's cooking school's tables in Century City, having the chance to attend Carlo Cracco's seminar, flanked by his right hand, Luca Sacchi. "Normally we use red cabbage only as a decoration, because of its characteristic color, but it has much more dignity when cooked," the chef explains to us after having centrifuged the cabbage obtaining a juice that will be eventually used to dress the spaghettoni, making them look richly purple. Once ready and served, spaghettoni are simply finished with some extra virgin olive oil, cocoa beans and some trout eggs. "Cocoa beans, not cocoa, other- wise it will taste different," Cracco underlines. Speaking of taste, evening re- volves around the duality between sweet pasta and savory pasta, a theme the chef from Vicenza will debate with Corrado Assenza, the most imaginative and unconven- tional Italian pastry chef, known in America for his participation to an episode of Chef's Table. Before leaving his place behind the stove to the Sicilian pasticcere, the Italian starred chef shows us the preparation of spaghettini with provola, lemon and fried caper flowers. Carlo, you are showing us some fancy, incredible dishes. Not as a chef but as a food lover, what are you going to eat now that you're in the United States? I always try to figure out what's growing here and what's going on, how the cooking scene evolves. New York is much more European, but Los Angeles is a SILVIA GIUDICI Identità Golose opens in Los Angeles with Carlo Cracco Smells, however, always struck me the most. I remember the smell of ragout my mother used to make: she would start at 5 am and it'd be ready at midday. Its scent was all over the house and you'd understand it was Sunday from that. Or the roast beef and baccalà she'd make on Fridays: every day would have its scent: Thursdays was that of potatoes and on Saturdays, it depended on my mother's mood. This is why smells were the most important thing for me. What do you like about be- ing in the kitchen? I like the fact that in the kitchen we can confront each other, we work together and we get to know each other. And I like the way everything develops, be- cause when you don't find what you want, based on what you have available, you have to make do with the ingredients available and turn the situation in your favor. And what do you want to al- ways be in your kitchen? Joy is certainly important, but also irony. Never taking yourself too seriously: that's a very impor- tant thing for me. So that means you are not really like we saw you on Mas- terchef? If one believes that television is true... Well, I let them believe it! But when working on TV you are given scripts that must be re- spected and followed. In real life, in the kitchen I am completely different. nice thermometer: there is a much more developed awareness towards the ideas of organic and sustainability. In fact, you'll find less meat and invasive products and way more vegetables. There's such a mix of cultures: you'll re- ally understand we're in America for real. Where are you going to eat? Here in Los Angeles, I like go- ing to my friend Gino Angelini's. I like to see how he changed, how his style developed from the times of Romagna to here, all the way through his Gualtiero Marchesi phase, in Milan, which I had, too. In New York there are gener- ally more new things to try, and more things from Southern Amer- ica, which come from Mexico and develop in the city. Here in LA, it's more like a meeting of different types of cuisines. What do you think of gas- tronomy becoming "gastroma- nia"? I think this "gastromania" is a positive thing, we eat twice a day, even three sometimes, and it is important to know what we eat, where it comes from, who made it and if it is good for us. It is not just a matter of nourishment, but also culture. We have an obses- sion for technology and that does- n't feed us, it doesn't help us in relationships, so why shouldn't we have an obsession for food? And can ornamental food al- ways be nutritious, too? This is more difficult to under- stand because you should study calories tables and understand how much oil and butter to use. That's something people should do when they go to the restaurant because we usually eat lighter at home. What is important, how- ever, is to be able to buy good products and cook them in a healthy way. In your book The Good that is Good", you list 12 superfoods. How was the process to select them? I selected them in various ways, I chose some because I like them, like pomegranate. I chose others based on their availability, even if fresh turmeric, which is now quite popular, is not so easy to find. Let's say we tried to put some vegetables, some spices and some fruits in order to get differ- ent results. What is easier to find? In general, it is always easier, especially at home, to have veg- etables or fruit or spices, while it may be more difficult to have good fish or meat. We thought a lot for this book, to make things easier. What is the first memory you have of food? Scents are perhaps what I re- member the most. I don't remem- ber shapes because shapes are not so important, maybe it depends on the fact we were used to be al- ways outside while growing up. Carlo Cracco prepares his spaghetti with cocoa beans, purple cabbage and salmon roe for Identità Golose in LA © Brambilla-Serrani Cracco at Identità Golose in Los Angeles with Lidia Bastianich and Corrado Assenza, where he also held a cooking seminar © Brambilla-Serrani LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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