Chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s dishes celebrate the marriage between North and South, between his Neapolitan roots and northern Italy, where he lives. It’s a union sealed by creativity, which led him to win two Michelin stars for the Villa Crespi restaurant and one each for the Bistrot di Torino and Novara. Much-loved in Italy for his appearances on TV programs such as MasterChef Italia, chef Cannavacciuolo has well-founded basics in the tradition of his land, his family and in the flavors of the South. As a Neapolitan relocated to the shores of Lake Orta, the dish that pervades his memory is pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans).
A people’s desire for redemption
“To me pasta and beans means ‘tradition.’ Pasta mixed with beans represents the past, the work and the effort of people who were tackling life’s difficulties with a smile. It represented recovery… it was precisely that, a symbol of poverty and a desire for redemption.” Like many poor and simple regional recipes, pasta and beans ended up in the background not just on restaurant menus, but in houses too. Today it could again become the symbol of a need to restart: “Pasta and beans had practically disappeared in recent years, and I’m really happy that such a symbolic product of our tradition has made a comeback and is now being enjoyed. I think that certain products should never be forgotten, because of the importance they had in the past, which makes them permanently noteworthy. I’m proud and honored to be a representative of this dish, which is so symbolic for the tradition in Campania.”
The traditional Pasta e Fagioli by La Cucina Italiana
Grains and pulses: the nutrition of the future
Grains and pulses are the perfect match from a nutritional perspective, old-fashioned and modern at the same time, and appreciated more today with the widespread wave of even part-time vegetarianism, and the re-discovery of native Italian products. “I feel that all traditional ingredients should be returned to our tables. We are only what we are now because of our past, and I think it’s our duty to keep the memory of those flavors alive, the ones that helped to make our gastronomic tradition a point of reference and recognition all over the world.”
Fusion from South to North
Pasta and beans, a symbol of tradition, does not necessarily mean that we must stay anchored to the past. A dish consisting of two basic ingredients ends up lending itself well to fusion: “My father’s pasta and beans is his pasta and beans, there’s no question of diversity, everyone has their own interpretation of it. And mine became my own at the moment when I joined my vision of the dish with my father’s teachings. Tradition that has been handed down and kept alive from generation to generation.” Produce from the North has entered the great chef’s kitchen: “From South to North, the trajectory of life and the changes I’ve gone through, whatever they are, make me a better person. And I’m making the most of it... From South to North, carrying my traditions and combining them with the local produce from Piedmont, to enrich and embellish my pasta and beans.”