Australian_Gourmet_Traveller_2017

(Jacob Rumans) #1

132 GOURMET TRAVELLER


W


e’ve travelled all over Tuscany
during the past 20 years.
It’s Giancarlo’s homeland.
He was born and raised in
Montepulciano Stazione, a tiny village near
the Umbrian border. He remembers a happy
yet tough childhood living on his family
smallholding, helping his mother with the
cooking and his father on the land.
They had little money and grew most of
what they ate. Giancarlo’s mother, Marietta,
was sadly very ill when I met her. I would have
relished learning from her first-hand and often
imagine I hear her whispering advice in my
ear. I’m fascinated by the way she, and her
mother before her, used to cook. Both cooked
over an open fire using a grill positioned over
the embers and had a tripod for a cauldron
(which we still have) for one-pot dishes.
Baking happened once a fortnight in
the outdoor oven.

Before the 1950s, life in Italy hadn’t
changed for generations, and I believe old
Tuscan cooking (with some exceptions) was
healthier than it is now. Everything the Caldesi
family ate was organic, seasonal and fresh.
And that was the norm. I want to adopt all
Marietta’s ideas of fresh home cooking – the
lovely herb-filled Tuscan dishes, the slow-
cooked meat stews, the hearty soups and the
light, just-picked salads – but I want to translate
them for today’s cooks.
When Giancarlo talked about how his
mother ran her kitchen, we thought this
might not be possible today, but in fact it seems
increasingly relevant as we become more
conscious of what we eat and what we waste.
Marietta’s food is what we should be eating
now: good food cooked from scratch, from
field to fork. La Cucina Caldesi Cookery School,
4 Cross Keys Close, London; Caffè Caldesi,
118 Marylebone La, London, caldesi.com

Pici with anchovy
breadcrumbs
SERVES 8

“Our friend Fabrizio, and his
wife, Antonella, and daughter,
Ilaria, invited us to their house
to make pici,” says Katie
Caldesi. “The family squabbled
happily about who rolled the
best pici and, after a hectic few
days, I felt myself finally slow
down to the Tuscan pace of
life. What a joy it was. Not just
lunch, but an invitation to
partake in the skills of the
Tuscan kitchen – a wonderful
way to spend the day.”

200 gm coarse breadcrumbs,
from a day-old loaf
10 salt-cured anchovy fillets
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
8 tbsp olive oil
Grated parmesan, to serve
PICI ALLA FABRIZIO
1 kg “00” flour
1 tbsp olive oil

1 For the pici, place the flour
in a bowl with oil and ½ tsp salt.
Add cold water, a splash at a
time, and mix with a wooden
spoon until dough starts to come
together. Turn out onto a large

wooden board and knead until
smooth and elastic (2-3 minutes).
Put any dry crumbs in a bowl,
add a splash of water and bring
together into a dough with your
hands, then combine the two.
Add a little more flour and knead
until smooth (10 minutes). Wrap
in plastic wrap and rest for
30 minutes (in the fridge in
summer; leave it out in winter.)
2 Cut off a palm-sized piece
of dough and roll out to a
thickness of 3mm (keep the
remainder wrapped so it
doesn’t dry out). It should be
like thick lengths of spaghetti.
Use a pizza cutter to cut the
piece into 5mm-wide strips.
Roll the strips into long strands,
stretching them as you roll by
spreading your fingers out.
Leave pici separated on
a floured board. They can
rest here for a few hours
or overnight. Repeat with
remaining dough. Cook in
a large saucepan of boiling
salted water until al dente
(4-5 minutes; 8-10 minutes
if left overnight to dry). Drain.
3 Fry breadcrumbs, anchovies,
garlic and chilli flakes in olive
oil over medium heat until
crunchy (5 minutes). Toss with
pici and serve scattered with
grated parmesan.
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