What’s the career of a super chef if you don’t find yourself facing new challenges every dayIJ Chef Bill Marchetti of Spaghetti Kitchen has always delivered his best. He tells Eram Agha about his passion and wanderlust
He can think four dishes at one time without confusing tomatoes with chili peppers! Chef Bill Marchetti has full control over his hand, stir and ingredients in demanding times like these. He prepared Funghi alla Marroccino with button mushroom, Penne Vodka, Fave bean Bassara with Greek feta and fresh thyme and Risotto al Cavolo Nero. But before indulging in this culinary Odyssey, Marchetti got down with sharing about few of his favourite things…
Secrets of my cooking
At my home there is one room only for refrigerators. I have total three, one of them is dedicated to wines only. I don’t know maybe it is just my imagination but there is something about cooking your own grown vegetables. Spaghetti Kitchen grows its own organic produce though we are yet to be certified. Our farmers in Palampur, Kullu, Ramnagar and Chattarpur in Delhi grow Tuscan Kale, I will be using this herb for Risotto. Winters are occupied with harvesting organic Swiss chard, Italian heirloom tomatoes, fennel, radicchio, rucola and various lettuces and cresses, many seen for the first time in India.
Travel an eye opener
When you stay homebound you end up having the same thing over and over again. Once upon a time when Indians were not into traveling, they thought of Nirulas to be the complete view of foreign food. But now they are very knowledgeable, you don’t have to tell them what is ‘Mascarpone’ now. Few decades back I was wrong to think that Sushi wouldn’t take off in here, I thought ‘Come on you are going to serve bland rice and raw fish to Punjabis in Delhi’. But Sushi has taken the culinary world by storm. It is light, digestible and you don’t feel bloated having this.
When I am out
Trust me, when I am out I don’t want to go to museums and malls, all I do is visit local markets and see what they eat. I went to Singapore and explored the integral dish of that place Singaporean chicken rice.
A traditionalist…
There are two kinds of chefs, first who try to put one thing with another and see if it works, and second that just believe in making the perfect dish. I am a traditionalist. I wish I could make the perfect gosht biryani.
View for Spaghetti Kitchen
Can’t give everything to everybody, but make it a quintessential Italian house not just about pizza, pasta. People should come here for the taste of regional delicacy. That’s why we have an incredibly large menu. Good thing about Indian is that they eat anything that tastes good. Just expose it to them, and if well prepared they will love it!
A bad day
Oh, there can’t be a day without challenges. There was day when half the staff was unwell and I was with one more colleague and many orders to deliver. You can either put your thumb in your mouth and panic or just do it! I am an adrenaline junkie, so don’t really mind all this.