OUR COOKING PHILOSOPHY
Simple, natural and respectful of raw materials
When I started writing about cooking I was very young, I was only 18. My teacher was my father Riccardo. He was one of the first Italian food and wine journalists in the early 1970s. I followed him on his journeys to discover lost food traditions and in interviews with wine producers, chefs and restaurateurs. I learned many things. Mainly about natural food, about respecting the season and the art of waiting for a product to be ready, like ham and cheese.
The second important meeting was Alfonso Iaccarino.I met him for an interview in the late 1980s.I had dinner with him in his restaurant, Don Alfonso in Sant'Agata sui due Golfi, on the Sorrento Peninsula.I tasted one of the best recipes of my life, which I still remember: eggplant carousel.In the same dish he served eggplant cooked in many different ways.He told me, "...Davide, remember, anyone can cook foie gras and caviar, but only a good chef can make a good dish out of a poor vegetable. "Even today it is more difficult to cook celery or zucchini than more refined and gourmet raw materials.
The third important person I met in my professional life was a renowned chef from Veneto, Enzo De Prà of Ristorante Dolada, near Belluno. He was teaching a cooking class. He walked into the classroom with a dead pigeon in his hands and began to speak, "This pigeon gave its life for us. Do you want to kill it a second time?" He taught me respect for food: vegetables, game, meat, fish... I don't like it when someone kills any kind of food a second time.
In my life as a journalist, I have tried many restaurants, met many chefs, tasted creative, traditional and innovative recipes: each one has passed on to me a piece of their knowledge, from the properties of foods to the latest cooking techniques. Now, my philosophy is based on enhancing and respecting the original taste of food, using as few ingredients as possible. At Agriturismo Poggio del Gallo, our goal is to offer our guests a wide selection of high-quality, safe and healthy homemade foods.
A new challenge has begun..
