It is said that to go far you have to have strong roots deep in the ground. Osteria Francescana, the Italian chef’s restaurant Massimo Bottura, is the perfect example of that being true.
Three Michelin stars, number one on the controversial but highly mediated list of 50 Best Restaurants in the World, the Francescana continues “Hiding” on a quiet street in the center of Modena and getting the most out of Italian cuisine, especially humble Italian cuisine.
Capuchino, osobuco, risotto “cheese and pepper” (cheese and pepper). They are some classics of Bottura’s cuisine that reveal their attachment to the culinary tradition of Bel Paese. Although, of course, what you eat is not what you expect. You don’t get to be the best in the world without going through where no one has been.
Obviously, pasta has always been a challenge for that tousled chef who walks around the tables in slippers. A challenge because you try to change even one comma from the traditional recipe for tortellini -the typical stuffed egg pasta of your land, Emilia Romagna– and don’t let the world fall on you.
Avant-garde Tortellini
You have to be very brave to serve, back in 1998, six tortellini walking on a thin layer of capon broth thickened with agar-agar. A nod to both the Catholic religion and the one he calls in his book ‘Never trust a skinny Italian chef’, “The religion of the tortellino”.
In this sense, the Noah’s Ark tortellini they are a real heresy. Six tortellini filled each with a different meat: veal, pigeon, guinea fowl, frog, eel and the mixture of the traditional tortellino. The broth is not the traditional one either, but a broth “By accumulation” that mixes the gastronomic genes of Italy and Japan that appear in the roasted bones and in a sheet of kombu seaweed.
It may be because as a child he hid under the table to escape from his four brothers by secretly eating his grandmother’s tortellini, but Massimo Bottura He has a real obsession with that kind of pasta. The tortellini in cream of Parmigiano Reggiano, another treasure of Modena and its surroundings, is one of its most iconic dishes and is part of Festina Lente, one of the tasting menus currently served in Osteria Francescana. The cream is made of water and 36-month cured parmesan and the tortellini are cooked in capon broth.
Finally, the little finger tortellini Also in capon broth, the XXS tortellini that get their name because they wrap around the little finger.
Pasta compression with beans
Although now it is not served in the restaurant, the compression of pasta with beans (yes, you heard correctly, pasta with beans in a fine dining restaurant) is another great challenge of Bottura in Italian cuisine. A narrow glass with several thin layers: one of crème royale with bacon and foie gras, a red chicory, a bacon glazed in Modena vinegar, a pasta that is not pasta but boiled parmesan crust sheets, a hot bean cream and finally a rosemary air, a tribute to Ferran Adrià.
The tagliatelle al ragú
En Italy There is no bolognese sauce, but ragout. In this version of another great classic of the Italian tradition strongly loved in the menu of Osteria FrancescanGoing for a gallery owner and art dealer, the ragout also has marrow, bacon, sausage and chopped candied cherry tomatoes, among a thousand other things. Everything cooked sous vide. The tagliatelle follow the traditional guidelines, more or less: the dough also contains embryonic eggs.
Cetarian spaghetti
Fixed guests from the restaurant menu Bottura, spaghetti alla cetarese They are a tribute to the town of Cetara, near Amalfi, the cradle of so many flavors of Italian cuisine. Spaghetti al dente, pesto of anchovies, pine nuts, capers and garlic, parsley air, crusty bread crumbs and colatura di alici, an anchovy extract very typical of that area. An example of how far a humble dish can go in the hands of a great cook.