L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY T hin slices of pea- ches marinated in Prosecco, deli- cately wrapped around a scoop of vanilla ice cream and pla- ced on a sauce of milk and lavender. An explosion of colors, shapes and lines that recalls the irrationality of an abstract painting but that, instead, finds its balance in the simplicity of its ingre- dients and in the combina- tion of each individual fla- v o r . " W h e n I s e e a n ingredient or a color, the dish comes to life by itself." Like for any form of talent, Chef Barbara Pollastrini's artistic vein needs no expla- nation, and when I ask her specifically how she created this spectacular dish, I get an unexpected answer. "I did it while I was on the phone with my brother, with the phone on my shoulder. But that's how it came to me. My dishes, especially the most c r e a t i v e o n e s , a r e n e v e r thought of, if I had to think of a dish then I would never create it! " B a r b a r a , a m o n g a l l y o u r b e a u t i f u l d i s h e s w h i c h o n e r e p r e s e n t s you the most? It is a blue pasta made with spirulina, a pasta dish that I called Santa Barbara, and not only because it is my name, but also because all products came from Santa Barbara: the butter made of s e a u r c h i n s — t h e S a n t a Barbara's spot prawns. This is one of the dishes, I think, that represents me the most, full of flavors and scents. It looks like a rich dish, but in reality there are only three ingredients. And this is typi- cal of my cuisine. A s i m p l e w a y o f cooking then? Yes. What distinguishes my dishes is that when you e a t t h e m y o u a r e a b l e t o savor every single element which, in my opinion, is the secret of good food. My rules are: to use extremely high quality ingredients and to let the customer taste them one by one. My "ace in the hole" since forever. Y o u l a n d e d i n L o s A n g e l e s i n 2 0 0 5 a n d started out as a food sty- list on sets. What is that about exactly? The food stylist prepares the food for every scene in w h i c h y o u s e e a n a c t o r eating something or if there is a shoot with food. It doe- sn't necessarily need to be beautiful, in fact usually the food you see is not edible because it has to stay under the lights for many hours; if the actor has to eat a plate of pasta it is generally not true ( t h e y d o n ' t e a t f o r r e a l ) . W h e n I s t a r t e d t h i s j o b I didn't know much about it, so I cooked some real food! And no one expected it, but at the end of the day the pro- ducers would take it home. This thing differentiated me from other food stylists. The best meeting you had on set? When I met director JJ Abrams on the set of Star T r e k . W e h a d c r e a t e d sandwiches that were seen during a fight scene with one of the actors opening a menu and a 3D sandwich appea- ring on a page. I created that one. What experience was it? It was my dream already when I was in Italy, because the figure of the food styli- st doesn't exist there. It was my secret dream and it was the first job I had, as soon as I arrived in L.A. I've always been very lucky work-wise, I've always got everything I wanted. I h a v e i n t e r v i e w e d many chefs in the past, a n d y o u a r e t h e f i r s t female chef. I wondered if this was a men's busi- ness. Is it? Y e s , i t i s c o n s i d e r e d a male business although in reality we all grew up with our mothers teaching us how to cook. But this mentality s t e m s f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t women are thought to be u n a b l e t o c o p e w i t h l o n g shifts in the kitchen, and that they are too emotional. I say yes, we are emotional w h e n w e c r e a t e a d i s h because we put our heart in doing it. I am very proud to be the first woman ambassa- dor of taste in America, a position that is a great honor for me because I represent I t a l i a n f o o d i n a f o r e i g n country. In my previous kit- chen, there were all women. I have tried to hire men but they didn't last long. For some people, to have to take orders from a woman boss is still hard to accept. In the kitchen you have to be very s t r o n g a n d w i t h a s t r o n g character, and to be honest I have found more emotional men than women in the kit- chen. So women power in the kitchen! What do you do as an ambassador of taste? The Italian Association of Ambassadors of Taste is a non-profit organization, an expression of the excellence of Italian food and patisse- rie, with the goal to repre- sent it in all its aspects and f o r m s . R e p r e s e n t i n g t h e Italian concept of taste all over the world is not an easy task.' How important is it to educate and train about food? It is essential, education in knowing how to eat comes f r o m l e a r n i n g h o w t o e a t well. Behind every dish I create there is a story, star- ting from the recipe itself, but above all, from the choi- c e o f p r o d u c t s I u s e . F o r example, when I serve pasta w i t h p e s t o , I u s e 4 0 / 4 8 month Parmigiano Reggiano produced by the Consortium of red cows, and an oil that I get directly from Italy, then you realize that it is not just any pasta with pesto. There is a study behind every reci- pe and ingredient, to make it truly special. How has your profes- sion changed during the pandemic? S u r e l y i t h a s c h a n g e d . After leaving the restaurant where I worked as an execu- tive chef, it was not easy. C o v i d d e s t r o y e d c u l i n a r y b u s i n e s s e s a l l o v e r t h e world. Now I am collabora- t i n g w i t h a n I t a l i a n D e l i , where I was called to revive and revolutionize the menu, the recipes and much more. I brought back real home cooking, which by the way is my old love, the kind of cui- sine that you carry in your heart. Fortunately, since I r e v o l u t i o n i z e d t h e w h o l e business, profit increased by 60%. Mom's cooking always wins. Was it challenging? Yes, a lot. After changing the menu and seeing that things are going well, there i s a l o t o f s a t i s f a c t i o n . I t w a s n ' t e a s y , b u t n o w I ' m very happy with the result. T h e n I d e d i c a t e t h e w e e k e n d s t o c r e a t e f i n e dining dishes, which amuse me and always relax a lot. H o m e c o o k i n g : c a n you give me some exam- ples? Meatballs for example. Just consider that in the Deli now they sell more than 50lb a week. Then I do eggplant p a r m i g i a n a , l a s a g n a . I n e v e r y d i s h I a l w a y s p u t something special, I always have this creative streak that m u s t c o m e o u t . I m a d e a lasagna with braised beef, I made a fantastic fried dough sandwich, which is having a lot of success. Every day I look at the ingredients and c r e a t e , s o i t ' s n e v e r t h e same. You have achieved so m a n y d r e a m s , w h i c h one is next on your list? Opening my restaurant would be the crowning glory of my career. And of course also getting a Michelin star. Let's see if I can make these dreams come true as well. Will you ever go back to Italy? Not anytime soon. I will go back to Italy, to Apulia, when I retire. SILVIA GIUDICI Chef Barbara Pollastrini (Photo courtesy of Barbara Pollastrini) "Hooray to women, also in the kitchen," says chef Barbara Pollastrini

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