Massimo Bottura
Italy’s Massimo Bottura was recently named by the French as “the world’s best chef.” He spoke to Italianicious at his Michelin-starred restaurant in Modena.
By Jesper Storgaard Jensen
Massimo Bottura is no stranger to controversy as he continues to introduce the culinary world to some of the most experimental, scientific and innovative food to grace a plate. But, while he is regarded as a giant of modern Italian cuisine, he is also a fierce advocate for retaining and paying homage to the traditional produce his home province of Emilia Romagna is renowned for. That produce may end up as a foam, in a deconstructed or unrecognisable form, but there is little doubt that Massimo is leading the way for the chefs who want to offer art and philosophy along with the food.
His menu is the sort that breaks down the “snobbishness” of a dish such as foie gras and serves it shaped like a popsicle and to be eaten without cutlery. Or, there’s “the potato that wants to become a truffle.”
Massimo’s approach to and philosophies about cuisine and other matters are not going to be straightforward. Even his fellow Italians come in for a wake up call in our interview. “The Italians have stopped dreaming. We have become a depressed nation. I see no hope for a bright future, no ambition. The Italians have forgotten the positive stress that comes from being busy - doing something you love,” he says pensively.
Whatever his words, the 50 year old’s approach to food means that in February this year, the prestigious French gastronomic institution, International Academy of Gastronomy, based in Paris, hung the title of “the world’s best chef” around his neck. Previous winners have been such internationally luminaries as Frenchman, Alain Ducasse; Britain’s Gordon Ramsey and; the Spanish legend of ultra-modern cuisine, Ferran Adrià.
Massimo is not well known as a celebrity chef outside of Italy. But, in his home country, where food is sacred, he is a gastronomic god, renowned for his skillful and brilliant interpretations of modern cuisine. The proof has been in the pudding and last year he received a bowlful when the well-known gastronomic guide, L’Espresso, awarded him the highest ranking ever: 19.75 out of 20. In other words, he came very, very close to reaching culinary perfection. As chef at the two Michelin-star Osteria Francescana in Modena, he came out ahead of the six Italian restaurants that have three Michelin-stars.
Also in 2010, the renowned San Pellegrino ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world saw Osteria Francescana jump from 13th to 6th place - the best ranking ever achieved by an Italian restaurant. In the recently release 2011 rankings, it jumped again to number four. But arguably, the sweetest accolade of all was being named the world’s best chef by the French.
Such tributes, Massimo says, are obviously nice to receive “because it’s an honor not only for me, but for Osteria Francescana’s entire team.” However, his work isn’t about titles. “We work to give our clients an extraordinary dining experience. I often say that each meal should be like a Champions League final,” he says referring to Europe’s most important football championship.
The fact a French culinary institution has so honoured an Italian chef does, however, elicit a laugh from Massimo. “But, joking aside, I actually have much to thank France for. The essentials of classic French cuisine were taught to me in part by the French master chef, Georges Cogny, who lived in Piacenza near Modena for several years. In addition, I spent about half a year with Alain Ducasse at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco. It was in 1992 when Ducasse was busy revolutionising French cuisine. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and also a very important period for me.”
Another incredibly important mentor was the great Ferran Adrià. “I was working with a group of young chefs who were being mentored by Adrià. We began work early in the morning and didn’t finish until after midnight. Of course, we were all super-motivated. During that period I really learned to think independently. I tore apart all my notes and I threw away some of my old recipes. I definitely learned to be more intuitive and to follow my instincts,” Massimo says.
So, where did it all begin for the man regarded as a culinary genius? The youngest of five brothers and sisters, he was, he says, “quite a little terror.” His older brothers would chase him around the house. “Often, I ended up hiding in the kitchen under the big table where my mother and granny were busy cooking for the whole family. Usually they drove my brothers out of the kitchen, so I remember the kitchen as a very safe place, a secure spot.” As a young teenager, Massimo would go to organised dances with friends on Sunday afternoons. “Afterward, we would go to my house and I would make crepes with chocolate for everybody. I was the cook of the group. That’s more or less how I started.”
He also remembers the whole family going to eat at a restaurant near Parma called Cantarelli, which had two Michelin stars. “And often, my father took my brothers and I to dine at the restaurant of Gualtiero Marchesi.” It was in the years before Marchesi had earned three Michelin-stars and become one of Italy’s most acclaimed chefs, but the restaurant was already top-notch.”
Massimo entered the restaurant business when his brother, Paolo, told him a friend had one for sale. “I jumped on it. I remember on the first day I was too scared to go into the restaurant to see the clients’ reactions to my dishes. I served classic French cuisine, but with a focus on local ingredients. I think that people from Campazzo, the local town, were whispering behind my back that I was bonkers. Looking back, I realise that Picasso was right. He said that success is 10% talent and 90% hard work. This is exactly how it has been for me.”
In 1995 he bought the Osteria Francescana and over the last 15 years has transformed the restaurant into a temple of modern Italian cuisine. Today, the restaurant offers clients different menus priced at 90, 130 or 160 euro. They dine in a restaurant decorated with modern art and that looks more like a private apartment and select dishes from a menu that is equally contemporary. The place oozes passion and not just for food. Massimo peppers his speech with discourses about his “culinary muses:” jazz, art and literature.
“I find modern art very important and inspiring to my work. Osteria Francescana is full of modern art. Kandinski’s (Russian painter, 1866-1944) Pyramid is a great spiritual inspiration for me. I’m fascinated with his famous pyramid from 1911 that reflects on humanity’s spiritual life. In my own personal pyramid on the art of cooking, I put at the top culinary creativity. We could say that it expresses who I am. Just below are technical skills and then, at the bottom, the raw materials. These are the three elements that must go together to achieve the best possible result”.
Music is equally important. “I grew up with music, especially jazz. My brother and I have a collection of 10,000 LPs. Music to me is passion and it’s that passion that I put into my work and the dishes I create.” Does all this make Massimo something of a chef-philosopher? “No, I wouldn’t say that. What I talk about is passion. The passion that comes from reading, from listening to music. The passion that comes from pursuing an interest in-depth. To speak about passion is to speak about emotions. Passion is expanding your knowledge, the same knowledge that inspires you to make a new dish. Or, you could simply say that often my dishes spring from my passion and my emotions.”
Staying true to tradition is also something that sits alongside his ultra-modern innovative cuisine. It is also a subject that has given him some controversial exposure. “We speak often about the importance of going local, using local ingredients, safeguarding the local biodiversity and so on. I’ve been doing that for many years. Actually, it would be difficult to duplicate Osteria Francescana in another place,” he says.
But, in 2009, the popular Italian satirical television program “Striscia la Notizia” accused Massimo of relying too much on scientific techniques in his kitchen. After the program aired, Massimo found himself in a media firestorm. Countless colleagues spoke up in his defence, including the Slow Food organisation. So, where do technical skills and the knowledge and use of chemical reactions in a modern kitchen begin and end? Perhaps it is the age-old argument between tradition and innovation.
“Tradition and innovation walk hand in hand. They need one another. Then, when you reach a certain level as a chef, I would say that a certain scientific knowledge regarding the reaction of some ingredients is required. This knowledge enables you to show the utmost respect for the raw materials and to use them in the best possible way,” Massimo says.
The subject arises about food actually looking like it should in its original form. “I can’t say that it’s not important because it is. But, there’s something more important right now and that’s ethics. We are living during the time of a global crisis. People are not only seeking beauty, primarily they are seeking the truth. So, ethics also means showing respect for the raw materials and for the people, such as, for example, the farmers and fishermen, who work the land and cultivate the products we eat. This is fully in line with the Slow Food philosophy. It’s a search for ‘old’ values.” This brings us to that popsicle-shaped fois gras and the potato that wants to be a truffle.
“Take the fois gras. It’s a snobby dish so I decided to make a more relaxed version. The fois gras contains Modena’s famous balsamic vinegar together with Calvados. Then it’s covered with crystallised hazelnuts from Piedmont and almonds from Sicily. All of Italy is represented in the dish. Then, of course, the popsicle shape makes it very informal.
“As far as dishes with strange names, in the case of ‘the potato that wants to become a truffle,’ I know that the truffle is generally considered more noble, more elegant than the potato. But, without good reason. The potato is a wonderful root vegetable. Remember that it saved the entire German nation after the Second World War. Even Van Gogh did a painting of a group of people eating potatoes. The potato should not struggle to be a truffle. It should be proud to be what it is, for when it is used properly it is simply magnificent.”
What ambitions are there left for the man with so many accolades? He laughs at the notion that he may have reached the pinnacle of his personal ambitions. “Absolutely not. The future is like a journey. Awards and recognition are, of course, nice to receive but they belong in the past. I live in the present. What happened yesterday is – almost – forgotten.”
Seasoning that journey is Massimo’s personal philosophy on what it takes to achieve at such a level. “Aside from passion and hard work, it is definitely humility. Only through humility are you able to absorb the knowledge and the energy of the people around you. Being humble also means that you experience moments of doubt. You ask yourself whether you are doing the right thing. So you must fly using your head. Have dreams and ambitions. But, with both feet on the ground.”
Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22
41121 Modena - Italy
www.osteriafrancescana.it