QUALITALY

to discover something new. The

important thing is to know how

to measure the quantities, the

right proportions and the right

combinations. Guests are often

worried from the idea of “drinking too

much”, especially if you propose more

cocktails during a menu. In reality, if

studied and well proportioned even on

the basis of the dishes, the amount of

alcohol ingested is roughly that of half

a bottle of wine.

The comparison between the kitchen

and the bar is inevitable. The ideas

confront, you taste and you find a

suitable solution also according to the

seasonality of the same ingredients

that you choose. Also from this point

of view there is full harmony.

What is the most complex

ingredient in the combination?

What do you recommend to those

who approach the food pairing for

the first time in the capacity as

chef?

I think that the most difficult

ingredients to match are

carbohydrates: the sweet feeling of

starch always prevails, despite the

fact the condiment plays its part.

Inevitably, however, those who love

pasta want to feel the taste, the

texture, the balanced aftertaste, to

combine a cocktail that maintains

this balance of personal preference

and desire for discovery is more

complex, but not impossible. For

those who do not know Food Pairing,

instead, I recommend starting with

simple flavours, perhaps easier to tie

together.

For example, in the new menu we

proposed a seared carpaccio of salmon

with citrus fruits and flowers that

we bind to a gin, perfectly coupled

because the alcohol is able to clean the

mouth without altering the taste of the

whole.

The knowledge of product and the

procedures to be used must be very

high in Food Pairing. This allows to

simultaneously find synergy between

chef and barman through a direct

contact, evaluating also another key

factor: the cocktail has

a different evolution process. That

is, if a wine flanked by a dish lends

itself to exalt perfumes and flavours,

the drink, compared to when it comes

out of the hands of the barman,

transforms. For this you need to have

recipes that will evolve in the same

way as the cocktail. In practice dish

and glass must undergo a process

equal or similar in taste, texture and

flavours.

“In the end what triggers is the call

of the ingredient or in the drink or in

the dish - declares Lorenzo Allegri,

bartender of the Morgante - if I decide

to use something with melon or

speck, just to give some examples,

you will propose a dish that offers the

same ingredients. In other ways you

can create a combination that ties the

flavours together: if the chef

uses asparagus, I will feel free to use

vanilla because it’s in full expressive

harmony.

Do you prefer to work by similarity

or contrast?

I certainly prefer the contrast... I

really like the concept of challenging

myself and the client. The ability

is also to create an alternative and

differentiated proposal. I like to

do research, inspect and try. A

fundamental thing that I follow is

seasonality...

I think there are six seasons and

not four, this is because some

ingredients (especially fruits and

vegetables) have a specific and

limited period, they are only for 1

month per year because they belong

to a certain species or type.

Which ingredients for the cocktail

of the future?

I think that among the protagonists

there will be the agave, perhaps

to be flanked with dishes with

crustaceans and oysters. I think

the spritz can also be re-proposed,

always with certain recipes that

come from the known tradition,

better if with yoghurt sauces or

fresh bases. The important, and this

is a general discussion, is that the

cocktail doesn’t give in

to the plate and vice versa. The

“cooperation” between the parties

is the basis of everything that falls

under the name of Food Pairing.

AT PAGE 24

Beware of “black food”

Shedding light on a story of food

contamination

Beware, “black” products can be

carcinogenic

By Fabio Abati

Black coloured bread and pizza:

that’s new! How quaint! But are we

sure we’re not putting something in

our mouths which is harmful to our

health?

“Black” food is possible due to the

additive E153, which for the first time

was used in a pizza presented in April

2015. But what is the origin of this

dye? First to respond to the question,

no matter how trivial it seemed, was

the food inspection agent of the police

Piero Nuciari, the bane of food fraud,

who states: “The biggest problem in

the use of plant charcoal (E153) is

the understanding of its origin. Has

anyone (ASL, NAS, Guardia di Finanza,

Forest Corps) ever checked the source

of this substance? From where do the

companies that market the product

in Italy import it? Has anyone ever

bothered to have chemically analysed

vegetable charcoal sold in large

quantities?”.

So here is Nuciari who loses himself

in the unknown nooks of the net and

what does he pull out?

“I have verified – he says – that

there are very few Italian producers

(one or two!) and that the E153 is

mainly imported from abroad. On

the Internet you can find addresses

of international suppliers, almost all

of whom are Chinese. Very worrying!

On the website 21food (www.21food.

com) you can view the site of a

Chinese wholesaler (one of many!)

and the symbol of the E153 additives.

It is clearly stated that it derives from

oil and that IARC, the International

Agency for Research on Cancer, has

catalogued it in Group 2B of

carcinogenic products. At this point

back with the question: has anyone

ever thought to have the E153

marketed by every (and I emphasize

every!) Italian dealer chemically

analysed?”.

Strong business marketing (along with

the chromatic impact), the fashion

spread immediately

and the pizza chefs began to produce

more and more with the E153

vegetable charcoal dye, some of them