Bruno Barbieri and the cookbook with Sangiorgi, between the Via Emilia and Salento

With all the sympathy you can have for Bruno Barbieri (one of the greatest Italian chefs in his first life, television personality – however a cook – in his second life and we will see in the third if he detaches himself from the stove), the first thought that comes when reading the new book Cook with me! it’s a little big provocation. With all the months spent at home between 2020 and 2021, when the premises are full and people are back in pursuit of greedy destinations, do we invite you to cook again? «In the meantime, the Emilians love to go against the trend. Then never forget that we can go out as much as we want but our life is at home: in the end we always go home and a good dish makes us feel good »defends Barbieri. Cook with me! on the one hand it is a tribute to all the grandmothers and mothers who have handed down to us the pleasure of being at the table with the family but on the other it is a not indifferent message at a particular moment for Italian cuisine. Never before has the gap between haute cuisine and traditional restaurants opened up more ».

In the book Barbieri follows the second, tradition, but obviously with a touch of the author. No style exercises, but also no banality. Twelve menus, one per month, with four dishes each. Pure seasonality which has become the happy obsession of the Medicine cook (but also of many of his colleagues). «He means shopping smart to save money and cook well, while also making you feel good. The real revolution today is to follow the nature that has imposed rules, often distorted in recent years. Without rhetoric, my grandmother who was a phenomenon in the kitchen said that nature is our greatest ally in the kitchen. She ate very well and reached the age of 100 »underlines Barbieri who ultimately created a recipe book with many good ideas, including international ones. «There are dishes that have an old history, others revisited in a contemporary way and still others unedited that I had in a drawer of my mind, waiting for creation. A bit like those songs thought ten years before and never played ».

And what does Sangiorgi have to do with it?

The reference is not accidental. In the book there is the hand of one of the most famous Italian musicians: Giuliano Sangiorgi wanted to pay homage to the chef by writing the preface of the book and stimulating recipes after recipes. Sangiorgi is notoriously an excellent cook, «an Apulian like many others, devoted to the god of food» says Barbieri with a smile. The leader of the Negramaro, more than an introduction, gave a poem that praises music, tradition, cuisine, love. «I am bound to Bruno by an immoderate love for both sides. Sometimes a song leads us to talk about a dish, halfway between the Via Emilia and the sea of ​​Salento. Other times a dish suggests the perfect music to accompany it, as if it were a glass of excellent wine, carefully chosen from the best grapes in the world and in that part of the world there are, always and again, my Puglia and its Emilia ” Sangiorgi tells.

4Hotel

Returning to Barbieri, from the new book to the new 4Hotel series (from 30 June on Sky Uno), rest is banned. But the enthusiasm is a thousand. “I’m happy because we started talking about hotels in 2018, when it seemed taboo, and I finally see the first effects: Italy has lagged behind in the sector while it was growing a lot in catering and this makes no sense. I am meeting a new generation of hoteliers who invest in structures, which are often sustainable, as on the level of the breakfast, on the details in the beds as in the contents of the minibar »he explains. Four episodes for Italy before the summer break and another four in September, with many new features such as the award for the greenest hotel. “From the Valle d’Aosta to Sicily we have done a great job, then the hoteliers know that I will be back a few months after the program and therefore they are working harder and harder”. Final game: but did he notice that Antonino Cannavacciuolo, friend and companion of Masterchef, arrived at the fourth resort launched in a few years in addition to managing Villa Crespi? “He has finally understood that you work with the hotel industry: every now and then he listens to me …”