/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2022-04/7f9a2740-d66b-4b65-9591-a2af4be33f4c/Raaj_Sanghvi_with_Massimo.jpg)
Bottura was visiting Mumbai for a special collaboration with Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture. Image: Culinary Culture
The chef-patron of the three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy tells us about the theatre of flavour, his attempts to fight against food waste and why his team is his family
The excitement in the room was palpable. The who’s who of the Indian hospitality industry and several other familiar faces had gathered, smiles unmasked, awaiting the arrival of someone they look up to.
To the unknowing, one might have expected a rockstar to enter the room but for those present, Chef Massimo Bottura, who was soon to take centre stage, is much more than one.
The legend of the chef-patron of the three-Michelin-star restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, is that he has you mesmerised without even witnessing his menu. You savour his stories before tasting the food he so masterfully prepares.
You savour Bottura's stories before tasting the food he so masterfully prepares. Image: Culinary Culture
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2022-04/4ef6835b-2fc6-4f20-b679-ce7d328822e5/Sharanam_Centre_for_Girls.jpg)
The entire amount raised at his gastronomic experience on 16 April went towards Dharavi-based Sharanam Centre for Girls
Bottura was visiting Mumbai after a gap of five years for a special collaboration with Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture–for a two-day dinner at St. Regis, Mumbai. Sold out within minutes of being announced, the epicurean experience was said to have had over 210 names on the waitlist, much like his restaurants across the globe where a reservation needs to be made months in advance should you wish for a seat.
Speaking about Bottura’s visit, Vir Sanghvi, veteran journalist and Co-Founder and Chairman, Culinary Culture, said, “While there have been many talented Italian chefs who have created great food, I don’t think anyone has ever re-invented the cuisine as brilliantly as Massimo Bottura. Wandering around Osteria Francescana, I enjoyed talking to him, I enjoyed the food. But what impressed me the most was how he had the imagination, confidence and brilliance to create a cuisine of his own: one that owed everything to Italian ingredients and yet was nothing like traditional Italian food. It’s the kind of feat that only the greatest chefs can pull off.”
Edited excerpts from our conversation:
Your food transcends art in all its forms. What is your secret?
For a contemporary chef, the idea of culture is a key ingredient. We aim to evolve from tradition by looking at our past critically and not through a nostalgic lens in order to get the best of the best in the future. At the universal exhibition, we decided to create a theatre of flavour. Dishes are expressions of design, art, architecture, music, even fast cars and so much more. Our endeavour is to create beauty for the soul. Food is about vision, intuition and joy. Good food, knowledge and consciousness need to come together along with aesthetics and ethics to create what we do.
We hear you have a soft spot for your dishwashers. Is this true?
My family is my priority and my team is my family. This is why I never miss a call from any team member. The commis, the dishwasher, the chef–everybody is an integral part of the team. I protect the dishwashers themost. They work so hard and yet are never in the limelight and nor do they get any exposure. In the case of our tasting menus, they wash thousands of dishes every day without any complaints. Hence it is important to recognise and acknowledge their efforts and express gratitude to them. As a team and a family, all our losses are halved and successes are doubled. Interestingly the best dishwasher of all time is my son Charley Marley. He is a specially-abled child but we looked at it as an opportunity to push him to do anything he wants, and he wants to be a dishwasher at Francescana at Maria Luigia, because at the end of his shift he gets paid with our signature dish, ‘ Oops, I Dropped the Lemon Tart’.
Which dish best describes you?
‘The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna’ is the perfect expression for me. What is most emotional is that people fly from across the globe to Osteria Francescana, not to eat the food but to eat an emotion. As kids, we used to steal and fight the most over this crunchy part. So I just rebuilt it and shared the idea of serving the crunchy part of the lasagna because it’s the way you would approach the food as a kid. Everybody around the world knows that this is the best part of the big pan of lasagna!
“MY FAMILY IS MY PRIORITY AND MY TEAM IS MY FAMILY. THIS IS WHY I NEVER MISS A CALL FROM ANY TEAM MEMBER.”
Massimo Bottura
What do you see for our culinary future?
We are seven billion people on the earth and we produce food for 12 billion people. Around 1860 million people do not have access to food and have nothing to eat. We are wasting 33 per cent of what we produce. It is more expensive to distribute food than to burn it. This is no longer acceptable and we need to step out of our kitchens and raise our voices in unison. Take, for example, the humble apple: every year, a trillion apples go waste, and so an apple is really to be treated like gold. We have to fight against food waste. In fact, food waste is the foremost cause of climate change.
What I foresee for 2022 is a great silent revolution. After the first iteration of soup kitchens in 2015 [created by Bottura in the run-up to the Milan Expo that year], I opened soup kitchens all over the world to teach others how to use surplus food. Surplus food can be turned into amazing meals and these can feed the hungry. This is why we started Refettorio, with its name derived from the Latin word reficere, or ‘to restore’. My vision for the future has always been to restore the soul of the people.
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2022-04/b085075b-1d60-4f0f-8fd1-ab51aa434adb/Massimo_Bottura.jpg)
"“There is always time in life to help others. No more excuses!” Image: Culinary Culture
While Mumbai was abuzz with the success of Bottura’s sit-down dinners, what many weren’t privy to was that in partnership with Sameer Sain, Co-Founder, Culinary Culture and CEO, Everstone Group, the entire amount raised at his gastronomic experience on 16 April went towards Dharavi-based Sharanam Centre for Girls–a permanent home for street children. A befitting signature to a man on a mission to make a difference, he bid adieu to Mumbai with the message, “There is always time in life to help others. No more excuses!”
Also Read: Chef Ananda Solomon: The legend who keeps learning
Also Read: Naming your restaurant is serious business
Also Read: Are #mukbang or high-calorie food bloggers fetishizing obesity?