Gennaro Contaldo
Property Mail speaks to
the Italian chef about his favourite food, and why he’s dedicated an entire cookbook to it.
WRITTEN BY PRUDENCE WADE A
s Jamie Oliver’s right-hand man, we’ve come to know
Gennaro Contaldo rather intimately: Exuberant, passionate - and as Italian as pasta alla puttanesca. Within minutes of meeting Contaldo, it becomes clear this isn’t an act he puts on for the camera. Te 70-year-old chef is exactly how he is on-screen: Warm, full of energy, and able to talk about food for hours. He’s even set up a little bit of home in his London back yard - a rustic outdoor Italian kitchen, complete with a wood-burning oven and vines growing around it. Unfortunately, East London grapes don’t make the best wine, so he settles for using them for vinegar instead. Contaldo has lived in England for 50 years now, but his love of Italian cuisine is as strong as ever; his latest cooking book is dedicated entirely to the country’s national dish - pasta. He’s written or contributed to more than 10 books now, so it was perhaps high time he produced one that’s all about his favourite food.
30 / PROPERTYMAIL
PASTA IS LOVE Contaldo can’t help but wax lyrical about pasta. For him, it’s so much more than just food - it represents home, family and love. “To me, the only way to remind me of childhood is my mother, my father and my sister making fresh pasta,” he says wistfully. “It’s very romantic. Fresh pasta for me means warmness and family, like a wood fired oven when it’s cold.” Tis gets him talking about Minori, the town on the Italian Amalfi Coast where he grew up. “I remember there used to be pastificio [pasta factory] - there was only one in my home town, it was on the promenade by the sea,” Contaldo reminisces. He thinks back to how this pastificio used to stand two poles on the promenade, with long strings of spaghetti hanging between them to dry - which is pretty much the most stereotypical Italian scene you can imagine.
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