Zero-km chef Franscesco Costagli grows most of his ingredients around him as he believes that fresh produce is the key to good food. He chats with I Kaur
The chances of an Italian chef choosing Indian tomatoes over his own are few. Even in meat, he would prefer going for lamb instead of the Indian goat meat. So what does a chef from Italy do when he doesn’t get his country’s produce at all timesIJ Well, he becomes a ‘0-km chef’ who grows most of his cooking ingredients in his local environment, thereby promoting freshness and preserving flavour. The only such chef to have come to India is Franscesco Costagli, who was recently at ITC Maurya’s West End with his tweaked traditional Italian preparations. “local produce helps keep the food fresh. Also since you see everything growing under your nose, you nourish it well. Thus, the quality is superior,” said the chef who started off as a traditional chef but changed form gradually and started “transforming traditional dishes into modern ones. But I only change the presentation and consistency,” he added.
Costagli presented to us some of these reworked dishes. First up as an entrée was pappa al pomodoro which was a traditional Florentine soup made with white bread, cooked with olive oil, fresh tomatoes and a hint of garlic. Being a tomato-based dish, the main flavour in the soup came from the tomatoes. Costagli felt that Indian tomatoes lend the dish a refreshing flavour. He explained, “Indian tomatoes are sweet and juicy. People go wrong with them because of the way they are cooked. Indian tomatoes need to be cooked slowly for the sweetness to come out. When you do that, the flavour is equivalent and sometimes even better than our Italian tomatoes.”
The first course was gnocchi di ceci all’ pancetta which had handmade chickpeas and gnocchi with pancetta (Italian bacon). “Gnocchi is usually prepared with potatoes. However, I replaced that with handmade chickpeas to tweak the dish a little. The essence of the dish remains the same,” shared Costagli. For the vegetarians, he offered ravioli agli asparagi which was handmade ravioli filled with asparagus and served on a bed of saffron velvet. The dish was a delight for anyone who has the palate for asparagus.
The main course had agnello alla Toscana. The dish traditionally is lamb sautéed with rosemary, onion, lemon rind, spinach and is served with egg parsley and lemon cream. What made this dish different was that instead of the lamb, Costagli used Indian goat meat. “I think Indian goat meat is better than lamb. Our lamb is bland and doesn’t have any individual texture. Whereas, Indian goat meat is rich and even without marination gives amazing flavour. I had never thought this dish could taste the way it does now,” said the chef who also gave us a few inputs on cooking while we savoured the dishes. “People feel that cooking in olive oil is healthy, but it isn’t. In fact, olive oil is not equipped to be cooked in. It must only be used as a garnish. Instead, one can cook in mustard oil because the nourishment in it is equivalent to that of olive oil,” he informed.
For the vegetarians, Costagli had prepared piatto del nostro orto which was a dish with fresh tomatoes, goat cheese and basil sauce topped with crusted bread and served with a potato and mushroom cake and pureed beans. However, compared to the counter preparation of meat, this dish was understated.
The dessert was an interesting one. It was a pear cooked in red wine ristretto with fresh ricotta cheese and crumbled cantuccini. “For this dessert, a bottle of red wine is reduced to almost a swig. Then it is poured on the dessert. It presses the wine releasing fruitiness in one shot. This enhances the flavour,” the chef summed up.