last update: May 21st 2013
Gourmet

Gourmet

back to overview

Fulvio Pierangelini on creating the perfect dish

Fulvio Pierangelini on creating the perfect dish

by Cornelia Marioglou | May 24th 2012 | 08:45 pm

Fulvio Pierangelini has a passion for food. A very well-known chef, especially in his native Italy where he founded the popular Gambero Rosso restaurant, Pierangelini carries two Michelin stars and the heavy responsibility of coordinating the cuisine at all Rocco Forte hotels around the world. But that doesn't stop him from living out his culinary fantasies while heading up the kitchen at Le Jardin du Russie restaurant in Rome's Hotel de Russie. His philosophy is to work with local ingredients, creating traditional Italian dishes from the basics.

  • Sauté of tender young vegetables with black truffles, a Chef Pierangelini dish served at Le Jardin du Russie
  • Fulvio Pierangelini in the kitchen at Hotel Amigo in Brussels

Though he can frequently be found travelling the world and cooking up something new at various Rocco Forte establishments, we caught up with him in the kitchen of the Verdura resort in Sicily, where he taught us how to prepare a heavenly fennel and orange salad with prawns (recipe to follow). Once the plates were cleaned and dishes cleared, we asked the respected chef about his inspirations and personal favourites.

CENTURION: In your opinion, what makes a dish perfect?
Fulvio Pierangelini: Respect, technique, product… and talent. I received some of it, and I work hard to improve my talents. The respect toward the ingredients and the love of the job is the most important thing, though.

What inspires you when working on new recipes?
It is not only one [thing] that inspires me. Of course, the various markets where fresh products are being offered [are inspiring], but it is not only the various markets. Even a little conversation with a fisherman or the old ladies who find the wild herbs for me are an inspiration to me.

I receive and absorb a lot of input out of those kind of conversations, and I keep all of this inside of me. And at a later stage, I might realise that one or the other idea can be implemented to create a new dish. The ideas just arrive. I am lucky, because everything is inside of me.

  • Melted chocolate cakelet, a Chef Pierangelini dish served at Le Jardin du Russie
  • Le Jardin du Russie restaurant at Rome's Hotel de Russie

Is there a chef who you would consider a source of inspiration?
I never copy anything. It is simply impossible for me to do that. Cooking is my life, and to be a chef is written in my DNA. The skills to do so come from the very inside of me – my soul, filled with sensibility, experience and my very own emotions.

What is your personal favorite dish?
Every dish. If I come to your house and you give me bread and cheese, I will love this. Because it is what you offer to me and I appreciate that. And I am happy with this – what you offer to me is the best.

Fulvio Pierangelini in the kitchen at Hotel Amigo in Brussels

Check back later for Part II, when we reveal Fulvio Pierangelini's recipe for Fennel and Orange Salad with Prawns.

Visit the Hotel de Russie homepage

Sections: Gourmet
back to overview
CENTURION Collectables CENTURION Collectables

Click to discover the CENTURION Collectables special.

MAGAZINE