on becoming a private chef pt 2
heavenly pistachio gelato, 8-hour bolognese, the magic of volcanic Sicilian soil, and the best cannolis I've ever tasted
Welcome back to pt 2 of the story on how I became a private chef. If you followed along pt 1, appreciate you. If not, I’m glad you’re here.
Picking up right where we left off — my arrival at Rocca della tre Contrade. Synchronously timed with the arrival of our guest of honor, the wild Nebrodi pig. If you’re squeamish, keep scrolling. If you’re interested in where your pork comes from, proceed with excitement.
In the syllabus, I learned that we would be cooking “snout to nail”. But this gave no-waste-cooking an entirely new meaning. Throughout the course of the program, we would use every last bit of the animal. We sawed separated the ribs, the shoulders, and of course the butt and belly. We reserved fat for frying and incorporating into the charcuterie and pâté. We saved the skin for delicious chicharrones (pork rinds), and can’t forget the cheek for crispy guanciale. The pig was so fresh, we enjoyed the heart + liver, diced then flash-seared in a pan, with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkling of fennel fronds, atop a thick crusty slice of sourdough. I much preferred the 8-hour bolognese and porchetta, personally, but it was a memorable flavor-experience nonetheless.
Taking a few steps back, I’d just like to set the scene a bit. The property is nestled between Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea, with breathtaking views of both. Seriously, one late night we ran outside, Negronis in hand, to watch the volcano erupt — I’ll never forget the contrast of the spewing molten lava against the pitch black starry sky.
If that doesn’t sound dreamy enough, I’m sorry to tell you, the villa is also surrounded by lemon and olive groves, fig trees, and sprawling vegetable gardens with produce so ripe and glistening it looks fake.
Mount Etna, often referred to as Mama Etna, yields surrounding volcanic soil, which is incredibly fertile for both agriculture and viticulture. Beyond the land being rich in minerals, there’s no doubt there’s an extra-something-special (what’s Italian for je ne sais quoi?) in the soil; you can literally taste the magic in every sip or bite.
The owners of the villa, Jon and Marco, are experts in effortless hospitality. They’ve created a space that inspires awe while remaining homey and relaxed. The Chef in residence for the program, Christian Puglisi, is a native Sicilian (raised in Denmark) who made a name for himself, many times over, in Copenhagen. After working in many renowned kitchens (including Noma), he opened multiple award-winning restaurants in CPH, one of which is my favorite pizza restaurant in the world, Bæst.
It was a masterclass of butchery, pasta, sourdough bread & cheese-making, but to me, it was the perfect balance of rustic Italian cooking and the finesse of New Nordic cuisine. Let me just say, when I was seated at the first lunch, enjoying the best vegetable minestrone followed by pistachio gelato topped with wild strawberries, I knew in that moment that I was never meant to go to Le Cordon Bleu in London. Because that would mean that I wouldn’t have come to this program, or tasted the most intensely pistachio-y pistachio gelato I’ll ever have in my life. And that’s on trusting the timing of life.
At this point in the story, I feel obligated to pause and justify mention that I was attending this unreasonably bougie culinary program after living with my parents for a year (covid) and saving many many pennies to fulfill a life-long dream. Pennies well spent I’d say!
Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. Anyway.
I could go on and on and on about this trip. Every detail of it is still so crisp in my mind. But I’ll do my best to keep this succinct and touch on a few more of my favorite highlights.
The days were long, but flew by. Each morning we’d meet in the test kitchen after breakfast and begin the day’s lesson. Each afternoon, we’d enjoy a beautiful buffet lunch prepared by Dora, the in-house chef, whose ability to transform the garden’s bounty is mind-bending (more on her below).
Each night, after aperitivo, we’d join together at a long farm table and enjoy a meal created by all of our efforts in the kitchen. Some standouts include pork meatballs in nduja sauce, handmade busciate with 8-hour bolognese, porchetta crisped to perfection, and the most tender pork roast served alongside crispy potatoes, which cooked beneath the roast, drinking up all the delicious drippings. In terms of desserts, I’ll never stop dreaming about the almond semifreddo or greenies (white-chocolate pistachio brownies — recipe below).
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