Epicurean Masters, a brand created by Boomerang Consultancy Singapore, in partnership with Sphere Exhibits, the events arm of Singapore Press Holdings, has brought the biggest names in the culinary world to Manila for various activities.
Last Dec. 3, Italian master chef Diego Chiarini prepared a dinner to cap the series of Epicurean Master’s dinners for 2014 in the beautiful Finestra restaurant at Solaire Resort and Casino.
The chef’s credentials are impressive. He is the co-owner and executive chef of OSO Ristorante in Singapore. He has also worked at Il Carpaccio in Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. It was during his stint at Le Royal Monceau when it was chosen the best foreign restaurant by the Henri Gault Guide des Restaurants Etrangers de Paris, with a rating of 18/20.
Chiarini later moved to the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo’s Bice, voted as one of the 10 best Italian restaurants in the world.
His talent has been showcased as well in the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel Milano and the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, where he worked with Alain Ducasse. Chiarini has cited Ducasse as an influence.
Nostalgia
Chiarini is also a food writer, a frequent contributor to Cuisiner!—a popular French magazine.
He is famous for being a stickler to only the finest standards, traversing the world to talk to farmers and growers, importing their produce to use in his restaurants.
There is something about this chef that separates him from the rest. In a chat, I gathered that Chiarini heeds nostalgia when he cooks.
He fondly remembered Giovanni Battaglia, his uncle who owned Bellavista Hotel in Marsala, Sicily. It was in his uncle’s hotel kitchen that he began cooking at age 13.
Old cookbooks
Chiarini collects old cookbooks, from which he drew inspiration for the Dec. 3 feast.
“There are many good Italian restaurants here,” he said. “I did not come to change or impress anybody, I wanted to do something different.”
From his collection, he picked festive holiday recipes, interpreting them to suit modern tastes.
His first course: Poached Prawn in Beetroot was a recipe inspired by the book, “Libro Novo nel qual, s’insegna” (The New Book Teaching Us Lifestyle), by Christofaro da Messisbugo, published in 1549. “It was quite interesting to see pink prawns, even today,” Chiarini said. “The beetroot gave the dish a nice festive color. Though the recipe is ancient, it is still en vogue today.”
Second course: Fennel and Milk Soup Served with Black Truffle was from the book “Dell’arte di Ben cucinare,” by Bartolomeo Stefani, published in 1655. “Today it is pretty normal to use fennel and to have a cream soup made out of it, but in the 17th century, it was very expensive,” Chiarini explained. “It wasn’t common in Italy. Truffles, even at that time, was also expensive. This was a dish for the rich.”
Third course was the Ravioli Pasta Filled with Sea Bass, Gold Dust and Tomato Water from the book “Cuoco Galante” (Galant Cook), by Vincenzo Corrado, 1773.
“The dish was appealing for a number of reasons: the difficulty of transporting sea bass then—how the horseman took the fish from the sea, hand it over to the next horseman, who would hand it over to the next, until they reached Paris—keeping the fish as fresh as possible; the interest in little dishes by Catherine de Medici (in this course, a serving of single ravioli) and the use of gold powder to spruce up the dishes.
“It was the misconception at that time that tomato was poisonous. Thus, the ravioli sauce, which was made of tomato water instead of the usual tomato-based sauce, as we know it today,” said Chiarini.
Fourth course: 12 Hours Pork Belly with Black Figs was from the book “La Scienza in Cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene” (The Science and The Art of Eating Well), written in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi.
Chiarini: “The Philippine pig was my inspiration. Using local pig belly, I discovered how beautiful and fantastic it was. Very, very good! It was cooked very slowly—starting with high heat, then the temperature was lowered and finished with very low heat. Of course, figs at that time were always an accompaniment to the festive season.”
Fifth course was Milk Gelato with 25-year-old Vintage Balsamico, marinated raspberries, from “Cucina Creativa all’Italiana” (Creative Italian Cooking), published in 1986 and written by chef Angelo Paracucchi, a mentor of Chiarini.
“This was the time of nouvelle cuisine. It was reminiscent of spring when Paracucchi took me to the countryside and we would pick edible flowers,” said Chiarini. “Everyone raved about this. No one thought that ice cream would pair well with balsamic vinegar but it did. The addition of edible flowers made everyone go crazy over it.”
Sixth course was Oven-baked Honey and Cardamom Cake, an ancient recipe of Piedmont where Chiarini is from.
“It was the white mountains of Piedmont that inspired this,” Chiarini said. “The cake contained no sugar. Imagine, how does one bring sugar 2,000 meters high? Carry it up the mountain was impossible! It is instead sweetened with honey.”
The cake was served with a sauce with rosemary, beetroot and Campari.
It was not a common cake, but also simple—an interpretation of the flavors the chef grew up with. It was the taste of his old home that he wanted to share with diners.
“My food is very down to earth,” said Chiarini. “I don’t want to impress people. I just want to give them a smile.”
That evening, chef Chiarini left us with more than just a smile. He warmed our bellies with his fine dishes. He even serenaded us with his own rendition of “Jingle Bells.”
Whether he knew the lyrics or not didn’t really matter; it was his gentle spirit that made us feel that Christmas is just around the corner.
For information on the Epicurean Masters events for 2015, call 0915-7326292.