Tag: antonio carluccio

Categories
food

antonio carluccio remembered

Today the culinary world lost a real talent. Antonio Carluccio passed away at the age of 80, leaving behind full stomachs and big smiles.

Antonio Carluccio left an impression of me from a young age. That wiry hair, that accent as syrupy as Marsala wine and avuncular grin left an indelible impression. His Italian Feasts on BBC 1 was totally unlike any other cooking programme on at the time. Part travelogue, part cooking show, but all heart, Antonio trudged around parts of Italy querying locals – with inexplicable access to some very special places – and finding the heart of their cooking. And so often, the heart of the cooking was around the family.

In Two Greedy Italians, he again toured Italy with his long-time friend and business partner Genarro Contaldo. It was often hilarious as the pair of them grumpily went round revisiting their youth or exploring new areas, cooking and eating as they go along.

Everything in Antonio’s cooking was about simplicity. So often it was the most basic of recipes, cooked simply with care and affection. “Mof mof!” he would repeat often. Minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour. And that really gets to the heart of Italian cooking. Just a few ingredients – and the best at that – and treat them with care to get the best meals you can.

It was his bolognese that I first really turned my head: just meat, onion, wine, tomato passata and puree simmered for ages to give you a rich, satisfying ragu. Where’s the carrot? The garlic? The basil?! You can read the whole thing here. I’ve made dozens of his recipes over the years, including a chestnut gnocchi and an open raviolo. His recent cookbook Vegetables was my choice for cookbook of 2016.

I was bowled over to meet the man last year. He clearly adored food and cooking, and talking about it. He could talk for ages about the subject. Get him started on mushrooms and he would not stop.

Me with Antonio Carluccio

But it’s not all lightness.  Despite a career as TV presenter, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and before that, journalist and salesman, this busy life hid recurring depression. For all his good humour and gentle manner, there was darkness inside. If you want to know more about his life I strongly recommend his autobiography.

Alongside presenting TV and writing twenty cookbooks, Antonio was appointed Commendatore by the Italian Government in 1998 for services rendered to Italy and an OBE from the Queen in 2007 for services to catering. He was awarded the AA Hospitality Lifetime Achievement award in 2012.

His legacy though is that lightness of touch and trust in good ingredients. I think I’ll make a bolognese this weekend and raise a glass to the ‘godfather of Italian cooking’.

 

Categories
food tomato

an evening with antonio carluccio and cirio tomatoes

Have you ever watched the series Antonio Carluccio’s Italian Feast? No? Well, go and find it on a video site. I’ll wait.

…

Good isn’t it?

This series utterly captivated me when I first saw it in the nineties. This avuncular, wiry haired gent with the most stereotypical Italian accent plodded around Italy cooking from the grandest to the humblest kitchens. Often he would be cooking with a handful of ingredients in very quick fashion and making the most delicious-sounding dishes. I think it’s there that my fascination with the Italian philosophy to cooking was born. As Antonio Carluccio himself would say, “mof-mof”: minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour. I distinctly remember his bolognese recipe, a revelation to someone brought up on the weird (but lovely!) English dish. His version has mince, onion, wine, tomato and that’s it. No basil, no carrot, just simple flavours left to get on with it.

On behalf of CIRIO tomatoes, Antonio Carluccio hosted an evening at the Good Housekeeping Institute. He claims to never do promotional work for brands but he couldn’t resist this one; he says he’s always used CIRIO tomatoes. They’re celebrating 160 years and they’re a brand I often have in the cupboard.

In quick succession he tossed out two mof-mof dishes. The first, steamed mussels served with heated-through CIRIO passata, cozze alla tarantina.

The second, a Tuscan-style bread stew of bread cooked down with CIRIO chopped tomatoes. They’re the easiest of recipes; so simple in execution.

After these, he took a seat and begged for questions, And boy, did he have answers! Someone in the small audience would ask a question, then Antonio would spend at least ten minutes on a full and frank answer where he poured forth on this love of food and cooking.

When he arrived in the UK in 1975 he found menus of grilled steak and chicken kiev, with little variety to be found. The trouble he found was the lack of fresh ingredients used. He feels Jane Grigson and Gary Rhodes did huge favours with their programmes and writing by looking to inspiration from abroad… and from the past.

Antonio also talked of his passions, of experimenting with cooking and his favourite foods. He loves many things, loving nothing more than a risotto with his beloved porcini, or a simple tomato and basil spaghetti. He also confessed a perhaps surprising addiction to good Chinese food! Closer to home, of English food he enjoys a juicy bacon roll, or a hearty steak and kidney pie (both great choices!). Antonio also confessed to a love of British game.

If you want to know more about Antonio and his experiences, I strongly recommend his autobiography. He has had a long and interesting life.

I’ve been using CIRIO tomatoes for years, and they’re one of my favourite brands of tinned tomato. There’s almost always cheaper makes available. But when the tomatoes are the base of a dish – whether cooked quickly or long and slow – it’s worth paying a little more for a superior product which you can really taste. And when you have an ambassador like Antonio, how can you argue with that?

Check out CIRIO recipes here

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pappa al pomodoro

A simple and delicious bread and tomato soup which can be eaten hot or cold.
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic
  • 6-8 slices stale bread
  • 500 ml passata
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • basil leaves

Instructions

  • Toast the stale bread. Lightly crush the garlic clove and rub the lovely oils over the toast.
  • Layer the toast in a deep saucepan or casserole dish and cover with the stock and passata. Put on the hob over a gentle heat and cook for 45 minutes until thick and the bread has absorbed most of the liquid. Season with salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil, and scatter over basil leaves.
Categories
black truffles food parmesan pasta

spaghetti with truffles

Some good friends gave me some Carluccio’s black truffles as a gift; the least I could do was serve it back to them. I thought this recipe would be one that Carluccio himself would be pleased with as it has minimal ingredients and ready in under 10 minutes. Mof-mof indeed.

Spaghetti with truffles (serves 4):

250g spaghetti (fancy bronze-die cut stuff if you can get it)

30g butter

30g parmesan, grated

1 black truffle

  1. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Like, proper toothy.
  2. As the spaghetti is nearly cooked, gently melt the butter. When the pasta is ready add it to the butter at the same time as the parmesan. Toss like crazy and add a real big punch of black pepper. Serve immediately, grating over black truffle to taste.
Categories
food mushroom tomato truffle salt wine

open raviolo with mushrooms

I’ve revived an old habit of mine: devouring biographies. My local library has seen a lot of me lately, as I’ve read stories from all walks of life, Ken Livingstone to Steve-o, Chris Evans to Keith Floyd.

One that’s stayed with me is Antonio Carluccio – A Recipe for Life. I picked it up as a fan of his food and TV programmes. I wasn’t prepared for the vast scope of his life, from growing up the station master’s son, to travelling Europe in all sorts of jobs, to being driven to several suicide attempts due to crippling depression. You would expect the avuncular TV host’s story to be whimsical and giddy, but it is weighed down by a man who seems profoundly lonely. Even his now-beloved Gennaro betrays him and further fuels his sadness.

It’s a sobering read, but well worth tracking down.

On a more upbeat note, Antonio was on Saturday Kitchen this weekend and served up this delightfully simple dish that speaks to his core food philosophy: mof-mof, or “minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour”. Only an Italian could come up with that credo!

It’s a delicious pasta dish, and if I could’ve laid my hands on parsley like the original recipe asks it would’ve been perfect. I embellished mine with truffle salt, a birthday present which just happened to be Carluccio’s branded too. It’s so quick to cook, and delicious.

Open raviolo with mushrooms (serves 2):

30g butter

1 garlic clove, crushed

300g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Truffle salt

70ml white wine

4 fresh lasagne sheets

Freshly grated parmesan

  1. Get a frying pan on a medium-low heat and some salted water on to boil in a saucepan. Add a little oil to the saucepan to prevent the sheets from sticking.
  2. Melt the butter in the frying pan and add the garlic. Before it browns add the mushrooms and gently fry for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and season with truffle salt and black pepper. Cook for another minute before adding the wine and bringing to the boil to reduce.
  3. Pop the lasagne in the water to cook – this should only take 1 – 2 minutes. Put them to one side when done.
  4. When the wine has reduced to a thick orangey sauce, assemble the dish by alternating pasta sheets with the mushroom mixture. Top with parmesan before serving.
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