Behind the scenes at Le Colline Ciociare

Salvatore Tessa is a true Maestro who over the past 25 years has been one of the most innovative, visionary and bold interpreters of Italian cuisine. Loved by many and hated by some, due to his blunt ways, which have been imitated by other famous chefs, he is a maieutic philosopher of the ingredient, a charismatic and versatile personality who through his dishes speaks in a universal language that can bring shivers down the spine of even the most skeptical customer at his temple of food. This language can describe lands and faraway places as well as freshly picked forest herbs mixed with the most exotic flavors. His cuisine, like a musical composition, is a reflection of himself, of his experiences, his travels and techniques learned on different continents and everything is tied together by the rapport he has with his own roots.

While I have eaten at his restaurant many times, this was the first time that the ‘Free Cook’, as Salvatore likes to define himself, was in such top form, bursting with new ideas and new dishes for new menu that he will soon offered. Full of enthusiasm, he invited us into his kitchen where on the wall he had written his new Expo Menu, dedicated to Milan’s Expo 2015 world’s fair. It is an infinite global tour through food with one dish following and complimenting the other. I just stood there while he was explaining all this to us, totally amazed at having this privilege of being behind the scenes.

Dinner was a choice between two menus, Classic and L’E, and so we ordered them both, with the chef offering us a taste of a dish that will be on the Expo menu. It all began with some welcoming snacks of delicious mini-donuts filled with cacio e pepe, wafers filled ricotta cheese, a carrot purée with porcini mushroom froth – sensational – and a forest sandwich with marinated cucumber ad red curry. The appetizers were: Humus, a great dish of bread soaked in a broth of herbs and bark, inspired by Japanese dashi, which he studied and experimented with for months after visiting Japan; the legendary bittersweet onion that not being in season was more full and tasty (thus it would be better to wait another couple of months), a definite must; freshly smoked red shrimp with a onion panada carrot and eggplant teppanyaki; mullet wrapped in fig leaves; oyster (a new menu entry) with an apple and tumeric sauce of apple served with a tomato consommé and toasted bread with sea urchins.

First course: tagliolini that were so fine they seemed like silk threads and cooked in oil at 38°C. The consistency was sublime and in the mouth became an impalpable cloud that exploded with a voluptuous softness; fettuccini with grilled tomatoes, pecorino cheese and vanilla, a plate that is now 14 years old and has become a classic not to be missed; and then a novelty that is futuristic in its simplicity – tortellini stuffed with garlic cream cooked in apple broth. It is impossible to describe what a taste sensation this all was. Totally unique!

Beef dominated the second course and was cooked in a western and oriental style: spicy beef in a ginger and orange sauce with sweet and sour red onions swerved with smoked pine and bulgur mashed potatoes.

Dessert? A caramelized potato with a matcha tea, almond froth, potato purée, quinoa and crispy, potato-skin wafers. A sweet/not sweet way to end this tour… then again…

By this time it was after midnight so what could be better than a cacio e pepe pasta, the best you’ll ever have and that has nothing to do with those creamy imitations they offer in Rome. Here it is dry, prepared at the table and served on a simple dishcloth and must be eaten with your hands. While this may seem strange for a star restaurant, at Salvatore Tassa’s home anything is possible. He is the only one, backed up by his team in the kitchen and with his son Giovanni as head waiter (impeccable, courteous, precise and very professional), who can play around, improvise and conduct a concert of flavors with the skill of someone who is not only a perfect master of his trade but can take anything and totally reinvent it.

The 80km trip from Rome to Acuto is only a stroll through the park when you can partake in something like this.

Several months ago, Salvatore reopened Nu’Bazzar, Colline Ciocare’s bistro-melting pot, located below the restaurant. This is where he offers a cuisine that has been ‘contaminated’ by his trips abroad, for the most part Mexico (which he visits often as consultant for the prestigious Italian restaurant La Eno TK) and the Far East. We will report on Nu’Bazzar the next time.