Chef Nadia Santini – A Reason to Celebrate
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From simple beginnings to an international success, Dal Pescatore continues to provide its clients the best Mantuan cuisine and excellent service. This year, this restaurant has so much to celebrate for. Not only have they gotten into the prestigious top 50 list of S. Pellegrino, but they have moved up 12 spaces from last year. This success is all thanks to its head chef, Chef Nadia Santini and her team behind Dal Pescatore.
Chef Santini is recognized as the best female chef when it comes to Italian cooking. She has studied in a university in Milan, and this is also where she met her husband, Antonio Santini. In fact, it was Antonio Santini’s grandfather, Giovanni, who started Dal Pescatore, having opened the restaurant in 1926. It started out as a simple restaurant serving traditional Mantuan and Italian cuisine, and pretty soon, its popularity grew that it began attracting clients from all over the country. Their dishes evolved along with the restaurant’s growth.
It was in the mid 1970s that she and her husband got married, and with their background, one could say that they already have their lives planned out for them. They will be inheriting the restaurant started by his grandfather, so, during their honeymoon period in France, the couple visited famed and award-studded fine-dining restaurants to study their styles, techniques, and philosophies and apply it to their own restaurant back home when they get back from their honeymoon.
While Antonio became Dal Pescatore’s maître d’, Chef Santini took over the kitchen and became its head chef. It was at this moment that a new phase for the restaurant began. The couple changed not only the organization and the layout of Dal Pescatore, but the menu was also raised to a higher level.
Using only the freshest as well as the finest produce and ingredients of the area, Chef Santini’s cuisine reflected not only the tradition and the characteristic of the place but it has also reflected her personality as well. One can greatly appreciate the energy and the meticulousness that she gives each of her dishes. Chef Santini also refuses to give in to the latest trends in culinary techniques and instead sticks with the traditional cooking method, making use of well-chosen ingredients to highlight the flavors of her dishes. In fact, they have a kitchen garden where the restaurant gets its produce from. She makes sure that each element of the dish is highlighted not by additional flavors but by the purity of each element itself. She stays true to tradition and respects local ingredients, and this shows in her cuisine.
As the restaurant became more popular, her culinary skill’s reputation grew along with it that chefs from all over the country as well as from around the world began visiting Dal Pescatore to become her apprentice, work and train under her, and learn from her culinary methods. In fact, chefs who have apprenticed with Chef Santini are almost always assured top placement in some of the best fine-dining restaurants in the world.
Under her leadership, Dal Pascatore received numerous awards and titles, among which are three Michelin stars and a spot at the S. Pellegrino’s prestigious list.
Chef Nadia Santini’s Spaghetti with Porcini Mushrooms and Foie Gras
Ingredients:
• 250 g (9 oz.) spaghetti (see Pasta)
• 150 g (5 oz.) porcini Mushrooms
• 150 g (10 tbsp.) extra virgin olive oil
• 100 g (3 1/2 oz.) Foie gras or goose liver
• 80 g (5 tbsp.) vegetable broth
• 20 g (2 tbsp.) green onions
• 20 g (4 tsp.) butter
• 20 g (4 tsp.) celery
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt and pepper
• Basil flowers and leaves
Directions:
1. Pour some of the extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan; add the sliced green onions and chopped celery. Add the vegetable broth and cook gently for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. In a hot non-stick skillet, sauté the foie gras in pieces with the butter and rosemary. Cook the foie gras for two minutes so that a nice crust is formed on the outside, while the inside remains soft and creamy. Remove from the pan and keep warm on paper towels.
3. Combine the spaghetti with the vegetable sauce, mix in the porcini and foie gras and serve very hot. Garnish with basil florets or small basil leaves.
4. Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, until “al dente.” Drain the spaghetti. (The spaghetti will finish cooking in the sauce.) While the pasta is cooking, heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet. When very hot, add the sliced porcini stems, and then the sliced porcini caps with a little rosemary, salt, pepper, and the whole garlic clove. Remove the garlic clove after a brief time.
Servings: Makes 4.
Image Credit:marcdelage.unblog.fr
theworldwidegourmet.com
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