Niko Romito, the chef of three Michelin star restaurant Reale in Castel di Sangro is driving us to the heart of the national park of Abruzzo to a formidable shepherd and cheese maker Gregorio Rotolo. It is a cold brisk morning in December just before Christmas when we stop to allow a pack of at least 50 deer to cross the road a few kilometres away from the idyllic mountain top village of Scanno. On the outskirts of this village, 5 kilometres away is the agritourism of Gregorio Rotolo, a cheese maker that is often considered a legend in this region. Gregorio makes cheese which he sells to the whole of Italy and outside but also serves visitors to the region traditional food and of course his products. He has been making unique award winning cheeses apart from other products such as sheep prosciutto since he was 12 years old. His grandfather was a shepherd. He is passionate about his terroir, his animals and his cheeses. “I am radical. I add nothing to the milk. Some defects can … [Read more...]
Errotabarri: the mill making corn flour incessantly for 350 years
At the age of 76, Luis Azzilona is not thinking of retirement. His side hustle while he was working in research and development for a multinational became his full time occupation when he quit his job some years ago. But he has been passionately making corn flour for 35 years. He operates the Errotabarri mill that has worked incessantly for 350 years making corn flour in Gamiz and supplies Michelin star restaurants in the Basque region in Spain. His quest for asking questions and for improvising means that he has been able to find the secret to keep the water mechanism functioning till today telling us he has had to use parts from an aeroplane in one case to keep the mechanism running. It is a chilly morning when we arrive at the mill and as we enter what we notice is the smell of the dry corn being grinded into flour. It is a smell that is both homely and welcoming. Today, the water mill is one of only a handful of mills that are still operating in the region. Luis knows all he … [Read more...]
Benoît Nihant’s Easter creation
Bean to bar chocolatier Benoît Nihant has launched his chocolate creation for Easter. He has created a chick (rather than the traditional egg) as his showcase piece for the Easter festivities. It is available in all his shops (Brussels, Liege, Embourg and Awans) as well as Rob in Brussels. The Poussin Câlin, as it is called, will be available in a limited edition at €56 from 1st March. It comes in two versions, with its beak either pointing upwards or downwards towards the other Easter creations like chocolate eggs. It is made from dark chocolate. The beans come from San Francisco de Macoris in Dominican Republic. The yellow colour is composed a range of flavours which is set to please all chocolate lovers. For Easter, Nihant has also created four flamboyant eggs which you can buy in an assorted box. The four eggs are the milk chocolate egg (a ganache with vanilla from Madagascar), the dark chocolate egg (intense ganache of dark chocolate), the red egg (milk … [Read more...]
Dario Cecchini – the legendary butcher of Panzano in Chianti
No visit to the Chianti region in Tuscany would be complete without a visit to Panzano in Chianti at what may be considered as one of the most famous butcher shops in the world. Dario Cecchini, butcher of the Antica Macelleria Cecchini needs no introduction. He rose to fame during of the mad cow disease crisis when eating a 'bistecca fiorentina' or t-bone steak was prohibited for health scare reasons. He organised a funeral for the bistecca fiorentina and a plaque still commemorates the ceremony (see photo below). He has been mentioned in books such as Heat by Bill Buford and has been featured in most of the world's top newspapers and magazines over the past years. This 59-year-old legendary Italian butcher has literally made Panzano in Chianti a tourist attraction in its own right. While the hill-top village is attractive and located on a high ridge on the scenic Via Chiantigiana, many would probably not stop unless to take pictures of the beautiful scenery had Cecchini not … [Read more...]
A visit to Antica Macelleria Falorni in Greve in Chianti, one of the best butchers in Tuscany
A visit to the Chianti Classico region would not be complete without a stop-over in Greve in Chianti. It is small and picturesque but it is the main town or village of the Chianti Classico wine region and is home to Chianti's largest wine fair that is held every September. Situated between Florence and Siena, a visit to Greve in Chianti would not be complete without heading to the butcher shop Antica Macelleria Falorni which is a tourist attraction in its own right. Part butcher shop, part bistro, it houses a cheese and wine cellar and has an incredible selection of the salamis and hams for which the butcher shop is famous. It was founded in 1806 and has been making salumi of the highest quality for the past nine generations following traditional methods and old recipes that are passed from father to son. They have a range of salamis from the traditional ones with fennel to one with white truffle and another with chianti classico. They also make a wild boar salami among … [Read more...]
Interview with Jack O’Shea: Chophouse essential for nose to tail cooking
There is no question that Jack O'Shea knows what he wants. And he is determined to get it. With the Brussels Jack O'Shea Chophouse finally open, he is now focusing on growing the business to turn it truly global. A long-time proponent of nose to tail cooking and with the intention of wasting nothing, he is now leading by example having opened his first restaurant. "I have always loved cutting and selling meat. But ultimately you never have control of what happens to the meat when it leaves your butcher shop. The ultimate position would be to have your own restaurant and control how the meat is served, to make sure that it is cooked to perfection or as good as it can be," Jack tells me when I met him at the Chophouse in Brussels recently. But the restaurant has also given him the economies of scale he needs to not only follow his philosophy of wasting nothing from the animals but also to grow the business. "What the Chophouse will do is help me to centralise and stabilise my … [Read more...]
Sharing a cow: the new way to buy meat in Belgium and the Netherlands
There is a new way of buying meat in Belgium and this is called crowd butchering. Introduced in May, the inventor of 'crowd butchering' is a pilot David De Keyser who launched the website Deeleenkoe.be or Share a Cow. The concept is pretty simple. You commit to buy 10 kilograms of meat from a cow (or pig as there is also a site for selling pork) at 132.95 euros. For this you will get approximately 10 kilogrammes of beef including roast, rump steak, entrecôte, beef for a stew, hamburgers, mince, and shoulder steaks among others, all in packs of one kilo each. The cow will only be slaughtered once the whole cow is sold. The size of a cow varies but it generally weighs around 700 kilos which means that there is about 450 kilos of meat. The parts which are sold separately are the offal and the fillet because there is not enough for around 35 customers who purchase the cow. Although this might sound like a new concept, this in itiative has ancient roots because it was a practice … [Read more...]
Marie’s Garden in Overijse: a great place to pick up your own vegetables
Partially inspired by the theme from our previous post Henri le Worm (by the way, my children loved the app) and in view of the fact that today was a public holiday, I decided to take the children to a field in Overijse, 10 minutes away from Brussels Marie's Garden is a great concept and a perfect example of a farmer who brings his clients closer to nature. Started in 2012, it was inspired by the farmer's visit to Switzerland where he discovered a similar farm. When you arrive at the farm, you find a large notice board telling you what you are able to find in the fields and what you are allowed to cut. Afterwards, you pick up a wheelbarrow (we could only get a small one because the rest were taken) and then you head to the fields in search of your fresh vegetables. They have nearly 10 hectares with over 30 varieties of fruits, vegetables and flowers to pick. The price of all the bio-certified fruit and vegetables is marked on the board as soon as you enter the field. You are … [Read more...]
The new Rotterdam indoor food market
The new Rotterdam food market is set to become a destination for foodies around the world. Inspired by some of the best food markets in the world, it is being called the food walhalla of the Netherlands with 96 booths selling daily fresh products. It is open seven days a week under one roof in a shopping hall that is underneath what is being considered as the biggest artwork in the world. This indoor market opened its doors earlier this month. It is the first covered market hall in the Netherlands and the facility is expected to attract between 4.5 and 7 million visitors each year. The stunning architectural design in the shape of a horse shoe has a steel cable facade which is the largest of its kind in Europe. A colourful mural depicts a composition of produce on the hall's barrel shaped ceiling. It has been designed by architects MVRDV and is located in the city centre of Rotterdam. The roof is shaped by an arch of 228 apartments. This combination of market and housing is the … [Read more...]
Saveurs Toscanes: A feast for fans of Tuscany
Saveurs Toscanes which took place last weekend at the Arsenal in Brussels was a feast for lovers of Tuscan food and wine. It was great to visit the many stands with producers that made the trip from Tuscany and meet some cheese, wine and meat producers who we had been meeting over the years since the event started taking place. Tuscany, for lovers of food and wine, is one of Italy's richest regions. For wine, you will find appellations such as Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montepulciano. All were well represented at this event and I must say that most of the wines that I tried were good, even those from very small producers who are not known in the wine guides. Tuscany is also home to wines called "Super Tuscans" which are exceptional table wines that do not follow the norms, i.e. do not necessarily use the indigenous Sangiovese grape. These wines have become cult wines and among them is a small producer Chiappini who has vineyards in Bolgheri neighbouring … [Read more...]