Maria Luisa e Michelina Fischetti

Not one but three women in the kitchen! Sisters Lina and Maria Luisa Fischetti and their sister-in-law Maria Grazia Luongo explain the values behind their cooking.

“Our menus changes often and are strictly based on the finest available seasonal produce and reflect our love of traditional recipes and dishes. We try to recreate the best of the past with one eye on the present: that is, we conserve the original character and taste of the dishes, but make them lighter and fine tune the balance of flavours.

Which is why our restaurant is called ‘Oasis, Sapori Antichi’ (old-fashioned flavours)”

Bean Soup
This is truly a dish from the past, and almost every region of Italy has its own version. The important thing is to use the best possible ingredients you can get your hands on, and that includes the oil!

Ingredients

(serves four people)
300g dried cannelloni beans, soaked 24 hrs in water with a clove of garlic;
1 clove of garlic; salt;
1 chilli pepper, roughly chopped;
125ml extra virgin olive oil;
15g dried oregano; 50g homemade croutons.

Preparation
Simmer beans gently for approximately two hours. Once beans are cooked, drain them then salt them. (Reserve cooking water.) In a pan, put the garlic, beans, chilli, oregano, a few cups of the bean water and cook for about 15 minutes. Season if necessary and mix in olive oil.

Serve soup in a bowl, and decorate with the croutons and a final drizzle of oil.

Oasis, Sapori Antichi
Via Provinciale 10
83050 Vallesaccarda (AV)
Telephone: +39 0827 97021
Website: http://www.oasis-saporiantichi.it

Rosanna Marziale

Rosanna’s point of reference and roots are in Caserta, where she was born, still lives and ‘always’ worked with her brothers in the family restaurant, Le Colonne, which was founded by her father Gary in the 1950s.

She has been a professional chef and sommelier since 1992. She has studied on various courses and with teachers such as Gianfranco Visscher and Martin Berasategui.

Rosanna likes to impress. Her dishes are original, with strong contrasts of colour and taste, experimenting with the shapes and textures of ingredients. She achieves this through research combined with technique, but she never loses sight of the region’s culinary traditions and products – particularly buffalo mozzarella. Because of her passion for mozzarella, she went into partnership with the restaurant chain “Fratelli La Bufala” for which she developed some recipes for the winter 2009 menu which were offered on all 91 locations of the restaurant chain worldwide.

Roberta has collaborated on a book – Sorrisi di Latte – which celebrates mozzarella. Aimed at children of all ages, the little book is charmingly illustrated and even has lyrics for kids to sing along to.

MUSSELS AND MILK OF THE BLACK MOZZARELLA
Ingredients for 1 person
80 g of fresh pasta ‘al nero di seppia’
100 g of mussels
100 g of mozzarella milk
2 g of the cuttlefish tint
10 g of shallot flavored oil
20 g of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Cut the pasta into tagliatelle strips, clean the mussels and wash them well, put the shallot flavored oil into a pan and let the mussels open. Let them cool. In the meantime put mozzarella on a plate and let it melt in the microwave to get the milk. Filtrate milk with a fine strainer to get a pure liquid. Take the mussels out of the shells and keep the liquid which which resulted during cooking. Put now in a pan over a medium heat and add all the ingredients – mussels without shells, mozzarella milk, cuttlefish ink and the liquid from mussels. Heat it and whip all together. After everything is whipped let it flow twice through a strainer to get a homogenous sauce. Keep it warm in the pan where you intend to finish the pasta.

Cook tagliatelle in a big quantity of salted water for about 2 minutes (it depends on pasta), let them drain and put them in the pan with the sauce. Mix everything together and serve hot.

Ristorante Le Colonne
Viale G. Douhet, 7 Caserta (CE)
Tel. +39 0823 467494
Websites: http://www.lecolonnemarziale.it and http://www.rosannamarziale.it

Annie Feolde

“My parents, who spent their entire lives working at the Négresco in Nice, taught me all about the two main sides to a life spent serving the public: the huge pleasure you gain from contact with people and the equally huge sacrifice you make in terms of your private life.
That is precisely why I did everything I could to avoid the profession. But I changed my mind when I met Giorgio Pinchiorri in Florence. An aficionado of French and Italian wines, he needed some food to accompany his fine cellar …
And it is that modest role which led me on the path to becoming the first woman in Italy to win three Michelin stars. In other words, I am self taught and proud to be so, and a fervent follower of the recipes and traditions of Italy which I have collected and practised over the 40 years I have spent in the capital of Tuscany.
What was your most moving culinary experience?
First at La Bonne Auberge, in Antibes, where the owner would gracefully do the rounds of the tables, a shawl over her shoulders. Later at Le Moulin de Mougins – where I met the Troisgros brothers. On first appearance, Roger Vergé would seem to be away in a dream and yet he would keep impeccable control over the cuisine and the evening itself. Someone really to learn from!
Your best piece of advice for amateur chefs?
Even though I find this hard to do myself, I am all in favour of planning just one dish so that you have time to sit and chat with your guests.

This simple but delicious recipe comes from Tuscany, The trick when stretching the pasta as you form it between the palms of your hands is to keep it well floured, since the pasta is quite damp and sticks easily.
To finish, as we say here, a little anchovy flavor has always done the trick.
Pici with anchovy
Sauté the flattened garlic clove in a skillet with a drizzle of oil; add 2 chopped anchovies and let them “melt”; add the herbs and combine well.. Quickly cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water; sauté it in the skillet with the sauce (1) and the bread crumbs. Add the 2 anchovies, cut into small cubes, and a little cooking water if necessary . Season with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil; combine well and serve.

Restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri
Restaurant of a Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux in town
Via Ghibellina, 87
I-50122 Firenze (Toscana)
http://www.enotecapinchiorri.it/index.php?page=ristorante