Gualtiero Marchesi, possibly the most famous Italian chef worldwide, has just celebrated his 80th birthday. There are many, the people who, in Italy and abroad, have written extensively on his life, career, cuisine and beliefs. Among the most poignant profiles on the Master Italian chef ever published is the one signed by Spanish food critic Rafael García Santos, founder and director of the prestigious publication Lo mejor de la gastronomia. Here some excerpts from the article published in 2006.
“(Gualtiero Marchesi) has acomplished a corpus of work that is utterly personal and Italian. It includes dishes whose glory will endure the passing of time. His spirit and erudition have created a school with disciples of such relevance as Paolo Lopriore, Carlo Cracco, Enrico Crippa, Davide Oldani, Andrea Berton, etc. It is as a consequence of all this that he is world famous.
Rafael García Santos
His cooking is branded by the kind of passion that comes from art. He paints, in such a way!, using china as a canvas. The beauty as well as the minimalism in the layout of his compositions has given them character and an unmistakeable mark. He tends to display esential, very thought-over constructions, using very few elements, that express talent, loads of talent, so much so that the the way in which he carries it out makes the difference. Two, three, four elements, amazingly enough, compose an astounding, radiant body. The examples are endless. To name a few: the cold spaghetti, caviar and chives salad: a revolution of display, three details, lots of magic, the fundaments of epicure... Another artistic wonder: the open raviolo; a bold, round star of open leaves, extended and pointy like a round, see-through mille feuille ”.
Some of Marchesi´s famous dishes:
1. Rice, Gold and Saffron,
2. Fuchsia Beetroot Risotto (among others) and
3. Open Raviolo
“The reason is that Gualtiero has always been a character very sensitive to beauty, innovation, simplicity and pure, imaculate flavours. All these: the milanese feeling, the french technique and the exceptional gift of taste, both of flavour and inteligence, are a part of the most laureate of the risottos: rice, gold and saffron. A perfect tactile contrast between the cereal and the creamy sauce melting into one other self. And when you taste it, the rice keeps its identitly, the saffron appears unmistakeable and delicately”.
“Traditional flavours, sauces with the body of a model and striking artistic beauty. What can be said of such exceptional works as the spaghetti “Dritti” or the marchesian extravaganza, the virtuous fuchsia beetroot risotto, the erudite veal steak alla Rossini ... a cuisine that´s beyond good and evil. Of a character that transcendes time, that enjoys art and urges you to taste it”.
