Gourmet
pâtissier Martino Neglia on the boundaries of the beloved dessert
pâtissier Martino Neglia on the limits of a beloved dessert
Just four words: Italian artisan ice cream. Instant summer feeling. Martino Neglia, pastry chef at five-star resort Masseria Torre Coccaro in Apulia in southern Italy, knows his guests’ craving for the true gelato, but still cooks up surprises. This season’s signature dessert is ice cream made of local white bread resting on chocolate cake crumb 'soil' and white chocolate mousse, topped with garden vegetables, citrus fruit and a dash of vanilla-flavoured olive oil.
Here, this inventive dessert master reveals what makes gelato so dreamy.
Bread ice cream and vegetables – what inspired this treat?
It was rather improvisation than inspiration: I was going to feature fresh produce from the garden of Coccaro, so I experimented a little and asked my colleagues, "What do you like best with fresh vegetables?" Bread was most popular. So the idea of bread ice cream came about.
Which ice cream trends do you currently see in Italy?
There’s no arguing about taste, so preferences are varying. In my opinion, there are no real trends with ice cream. Its continuous development by cooks and ice cream makers around the world is what keeps it successful. Classics like chocolate, nut or pistachio will always be up to date. The quality of ingredients keeps improving, though.
Yacht chef Charles Blacker on cooking on the open seas
Yacht chef Charles Blacker on cooking on the open seas
It might not be a position in a Michelin-honoured restaurant, but it's a chance to travel the world and explore the world's culinary bounty. For four months, British chef Charles Blacker has been serving up gourmet meals on board 45-meter motor yacht Big Fish, and doing so with a creativity and passion worthy of any renowned restaurant – an admirable feat considering how much more difficult to it is to get high-quality, fresh ingredients while navigating on the high seas. Yet from his well-equipped galley, Blacker is able to conjure stunning and delicious dishes for every meal.
Here, the seasoned chef talks about the challenges and rewards of manning a floating kitchen.
As a chef on board a yacht, you cook for the owners and their guests. How do you cater to their tastes while maintaining a creative edge?
My theory is to ask: "what don’t you like?" It is not about "what do you like?", because I can do whatever with the products I have. Everything. You get the best out of any chef if you tell them what you don’t like.
And [I also consider]: what is the best thing around at the moment? If I need to have XYZ, I have to get it from so and so place, which is going to take a little while. It is not going to be the best when it gets here, but I still try to do the best that I can with it. That is the unfortunate thing about yachting, but that’s the way it is.
It is about using the products from [the port of call] as best you can. My signature thing when I was a chef at home was British food. But I strongly believe in local areas – to use whatever is in season, doing the best I can with it.
South Tyrolean chef Norbert Niederkofler on mountain life and Michelin stars
Chef Norbert Niederkofler on mountain life and Michelin stars
Born and raised in Alta Badia, in the Dolomites, South Tyrol, Norbert Niederkofler opened his St. Hubertus restaurant in 1996 in St. Cassiano. This small Italian mountain village is a place of homage to foodies the world over, not only for the local produce, but to visit the one Michelin-starred La Sirola and Niedekofler’s two-starred St. Hubertus.
Have you always wanted to be a chef?
I was ski racing until I was 17/18 years old … and I was thinking about taking over the family hotel. So, I went to a hotel school in Germany and I stopped skiing. After hotel school I wanted to see the world a little, but I didn’t have any money. I thought that to be a chef would give me the opportunity to travel, to see the most beautiful places and work. That’s how it started.
I did this for three or four years, in America, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Then, I thought that after investing so much money in this job, which I always liked, I should do it in a real way. And I started to focus on Michelin-starred restaurants.
Did you ever dream that you would be so successful?
‘Successful’ is always a relative way of seeing it. For me, it was always important to do special things … I learned a lot of things when I lived in America with the Hopi Indians for one and a half months: never to lose the ground from under your feet. This is the one of the most important things for me. It is important to do what you want to do. It is important not to lose your way or to lose your motivation.
Winners of the 2012 World's 50 Best Restaurants awards revealed
Winners of 2012 World's 50 Best Restaurants awards revealed
When the crème de la crème of the culinary world descended upon The Guildhall in London for Monday evening's ceremony, presenting 2012's winners of the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards, one question passed through more lips than did Massimo Bottura's highly anticipated espresso canapés: can René Redzepi's team at Noma in Copenhagen pull off a magic third year at the top of the list?
Yes, they can. The team proved they're worth their salt in New Nordic cuisine, taking the coveted number one spot on S. Pellegrino's annual master list of global eateries. But it wasn't just their time to shine – the congress of connoisseurs handed out several awards, from Highest Climber to The One To Watch, setting the tone for this year's epicurean climate.
An interview with Sylvia Weinstock, cake artist extraordinaire
An interview with Sylvia Weinstock, cake artist extraordinaire
From Middle Eastern royalty to Hollywood film stars – Sylvia Weinstock has established herself as the celebratory cake decorator for the rich and famous. From her bakery in New York, the effervescent 82-year-old leads a team of 17, working six days and travelling around the world with her creations.
CENTURION: Your career didn’t begin until you were 50 – how did you get started?
Sylvia Weinstock: We had a country house and the family would go skiing there at the weekend, except I didn’t ski, so I ended up cooking and baking the whole time instead. Because I made so much, I would sell the desserts to all the local country restaurants. Before you knew it, I was making enough money to give up teaching.
How easy did you find it - did you ever have any formal training?
I am a craftsperson – I could knit, crochet, sew – and so for me it was easy to look at a beautiful flower and say ‘I can make that out of sugar’. I did have some help; there was a retired pastry chef that I knew, who would critique my work. The rest was learning by doing. I would often take a flower apart to understand the different parts that made it and then try and duplicate this with cake decorations.
- A deer-shaped cake by Sylvia Weinstock
- "Israel" cake by Sylvia Weinstock
René Redzepi's Noma, the world's #1 restaurant, to visit London
René Redzepi's Noma, the world's #1 restaurant, to visit London
With the world’s gaze focused firmly on London this summer, there has never been a better time for master chef René Redzepi and his team from Noma in Copenhagen to hop the Channel and put their skills to the test on British soil. The intrepid chefs have recently announced that, from July 28th to August 6th, they will be importing Noma’s signature style of terroir-conscious cookery to Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair. The chefs, who have won the S. Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant award the past two years, are hoping to win the crown again next week, at the ceremony on April 30th at London’s Guildhall. And while a win there would vault Redzepi and team into a rarefied culinary echelon – only El Bulli, with five wins, has earned the award more frequently – the chefs’ summer decampment to Claridge’s may well be the bigger news for foodies.
The East India Company's most monarchial drink
The East India Company's most monarchial drink
London is enjoying its day in the sun. The spotlight is trained on the UK this year with several festivities set to overrun the capital come summer, among them the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which marks 60 years on the throne.
But others have already had more than a few days in the sun. That's the case for a special tea bush planted nearly 60 years ago by Prince Philip on a state trip to Sri Lanka, a plant that has literally blossomed during the better half of a century and spawned a grove of identical bushes that make up the 'royal tea' area on the Pedro Estate tea plantation. Now, to celebrate this momentous occasion for the crown, the leaves will be trimmed and made into Diamond Jubilee Tea, a luxurious Ceylon with a hint of sweetness and a touch of heritage.
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