Whether here in Dubai or elsewhere across the world, it’s not uncommon to see Italian food adapted to local tastes, cultures and wallets. New York-based chef Hari Nayar serves a butter chicken and burrata pizza at his new opening Masti Dubai, for instance, while Tresind’s Himanshu Saini sent out wood-smoked chicken tikka carpaccio for diners during a recent season. Thankfully, Saini cooked the chicken first, but did that fundamentally change the crudo — or raw — nature of what is a classic Italian red meat dish?
Likewise, reams have been written about the authenticity of the pineapple-laced Hawaiian pizza and the umbrella category of Italian-American food, and the Japanese have likewise drawn on similarities to create the entire genre of wafu pasta — spaghetti tossed with dashi, soy, rice wine and shimeiji and shiitake mushrooms being a classic example.
Both Nayar and Saini told me they were taking a playful approach to those dishes, and wanted to excite and entertain diners in this globalised world — of which Dubai must surely be the capital. If that meant turning away horror-stricken purists, that’s a risk they seem prepared to take.
The versatility of Italian ingredients allows these chefs greater range to experiment but like beetroot hummus or California maki, these new departures muddy the identity of the source canon itself. It isn’t unusual to have a dinner-table argument about the authenticity of these recipes.
So I welcome the arrival this weekend of an authentic Italian pavilion at Taste of Dubai, which begins tomorrow and runs until Saturday at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. Over the three days, five top Italian chefs whose restaurants have Michelin stars in Italy and elsewhere hope to educate and entertain visitors at the annual feeding frenzy about the nation’s diverse culinary traditions. Along the way, they also hope to show that there’s more to Italian food than pasta and pizza — although both staples will be in abundance at the event.
Not only does the pavilion feature a cooking theatre with masterclasses, mozzarella- and gelato-making demonstrations, and a pop-up pizzeria, gelateria and osteria, but the chefs will present recipes and traditions from different region of Italy.
Anju Chadda, events director, Taste Festivals UAE, Turret Media, says that although she and her team bring different cuisines to their events, there’s always a great demand for Italian. “Italian food seems to get the popular vote each year. I think it’s because Mediterranean cuisine is so refreshing and easy to adapt with and kids and fussy eaters,” she says. “We are very proud to show case not only Italian cuisine but also vendors with authentic Italian produce in the UAE.”
But what do the chefs themselves say? Are they purists or pacifists? Does tradition kill innovation? We put the questions to this week’s visitors.
LIGURIA: Claudio Pasquarelli
“Crazy pizzas are the result of the desire to amaze, far away from traditional flavours. It’s a shame because it confuses a dish with well-defined tastes that should not be contaminated. In the most famous pizzerias in Naples there is only Margherita,” says the passionate Claudio Pasquarelli. He comes to Dubai with his daughter and fellow chef Lara from the one Michelin-starred Hotel Ristorante Casa Vacanze Claudio in Bergeggi in the coastal north-western province of Liguria, which adjoins France.
“Pizza is a typical dish of the south, pasta is a component of an Italian menu,” he says, “just like North American food is not all burgers and fries but includes different barbecues, gravies and so on.”
On their first visit to the UAE, the Pasquarellis want to show off the goodness of their region is famous for. “The cuisine of Liguria is full of the products of the region: fish, vegetables, aromatic herbs, extra virgin olive oil. The typical dish is pesto with Ligurian basil sauce. It sounds very Italian but it’s also very French,” Claudio says. His preferred recipes are based around seafood.
TUSCANY: Silvia Baracchi
Silvia Baracchi, who comes from nearby Tuscany, says the true heart of Italian food is best found outside its big cities. “The best way to taste the most authentic food is to travel in small towns and in the countryside where everyone is very proud to offer genuine, traditional food,” she says, talking to Gulf News tabloid! over email.
Born into a family of restaurateurs, she opened Il Falconiere Relais & Spa in 1989, and has since been a global ambassador of Tuscan food. In Dubai, she will be displaying authenticities from the central Italian region, and hopes to convince pavilion visitors about the importance of fresh, seasonal ingredients, and their place in her food.
“In Tuscany, we have special meats such as Chianina cattle, and special breeds of pork and chicken. There are many hunters and therefore many game recipes,” she says.
“Italy is a very young country with a long and important history, but until 1861 there were many small states, for this reason when you are travelling across our peninsula you find different food and unique delicatessens,” she explains.
Pasta represents the soul of Italy, she adds, but says three ingredients are the foundation of any Italian recipe: “Good extra virgin oil, passion and fantasy. With these three, we can really cook the best food, traditional with a touch of the modern.”
LAZIO: Marco Bottega
Also of the view that there’s room for education is Marco Bottega, another scion of a family of restaurant people. “Those who think Italian food is only about pasta and pizza aren’t well informed,” he says.
Described as one of the most interesting chefs working in the Roman countryside by the Guide Michelin, which awarded his Aminta Resort in Genazzano with one star, Bottega embraces the idea of adapting to the future, but insists plates must reflect their heritage and tradition.
Stop by to watch him cook food from Lazio, in the very centre of Italy.
EMILIO-ROMAGNA: Maria Grazia Soncini
But there are also those who allow for opposing points of view. Maria Grazia Soncini of La Capanna di Eraclio, Codigoro, which has held on to its Michelin star for 15 years, says there is a familiar, ‘traditional’ cuisine created from local ingredients. “[This is] the cuisine of our mothers and grandmothers. I am a purist of that tradition,” she starts off. “But I reckon that the same tradition has, through the centuries, also been contaminated by other cultures. I am therefore also a pacifist for what concerns the mix and introduction of ingredients from other countries into our recipes.”
Soncini’s restaurant uses the best produce from the North-eastern Emilia-Romagna region, home to prosciutto and white truffles. “This area is characterised by a coastal area, with many lagoons and an open sea. Plenty of fish, especially eel, and then sole, turbot, scallops and clams. But also valley animals like ducks, teals and coots,” she says. “At Taste of Dubai, I will prepare recipes of traditional cuisine or my region, Emilia Romagna. I will prepare fresh pasta, passatelli pasta and risotto.”
Passatelli is typically made from breadcrumbs, eggs and Parmesan, and is often cooked in a meaty broth of some kind.
LOMBARDY: Giorgio Locatelli
As an Italian who has lived overseas — in London, where he runs Locanda Locatelli — Giorgio Locatelli puts it in perspective. The famously accommodative chef — who was among the first in the UAE to offer allergen-free menus — asked that diners give chefs the chance to show what they can do.
Talking to me over at Ronda Locatelli, his restaurant at Atlantis The Palm recently, he launches into a passionate tirade about a recent table of five that sat down to dinner. Once the plates arrived, he says, one man proceeded to sprinkle salt all over the food. “It makes me angry! How do you know what it tastes like if you haven’t tried it?”
When he calms down, he explains that it’s the pressure of modern kitchens and of the need to stand out in a competitive market where investors want to see a return on their investments as soon as possible.
“We’ve seen an explosion in F&B and so we see chefs doing weird things with food. But when it’s someone with six months’ training versus someone with twenty years’ in the kitchen, you’re going to see all sorts of things! There’s room to do crazy stuff, but when you’re doing it for effect, when the flavours don’t work together, that’s the problem.” (He didn’t come back to us before press deadline with what he’s doing at Taste of Dubai, but you can expect it to be mobbed.)
Yet, the Lombardy native believes there’s room for experimentation — even if he’s more likely to describe himself as a purist. “At the end of the day, I kind of respect the fact that everybody’s got a different taste and a different palate.”
___
Don’t miss it!
Taste of Dubai runs from March 8 to 10 at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. Tickets, starting at Dh80, are available on tasteofdubaifestival.com.
