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Giving way to that impulse that has always impelled it to seek out new combinations of flavours and plays of aromas and consistency, Agnesi this year pays a visit to Alba in the Langhe, to celebrate a marriage of interests: that between its finest durum wheat pasta and the marvellous white truffle. Two worlds: the sunny one of corn, and the secret one of the Langhe soil, which meet for the first time and give rise to a perfectly balanced combination rich in harmony.
This innovative combination between pasta and truffle will surprise and satisfy the demanding palate of gastronauts, passionate enthusiasts of fine eating.
THE FRUITS OF WATER AND EARTH: LIGURIA AND PIEDMONT
The history that has bound Liguria, a land of water and sun, and the Langhe in Piedmont, with its ages-old rhythms of fields and woods, since antiquity has been one of trade. One region nourishing the other with its products; generation after generation, men travelled the Via del Sale (Salt Road) that climbs from the sea into the mountains. They carried with them the precious “white gold”, but also anchovies, corn, timber, hemp. On the way, they would meet preachers, smugglers and artists in an incessant coming and going that formed the basis for stories, legends and traditions.
Nowadays, those same roads are followed by enthusiastic “researchers” on the trail of flavours and aromas recalling that story that binds the vastness of the sea to the majesty of the mountains. So it is no coincidence if the warm yellow of Agnesi pasta should be combined with the delicate shades of the white truffle of Alba, and if the flavour of corn should blend with the intense, inebriating aroma of the most mysterious product of the Langhe’s soft hills.
Their union celebrates and renews an understanding founded many centuries ago, one made of goods, but also of a shared approach to life that has produced culture, art and beauty.
3 CHEFS 3 RECIPES
Agnesi has asked 3 great chefs to create and offer 3 recipes in which its durum wheat pasta meets the white truffle of alba. The result: 3 dishes bursting with personality and flavour, offering an experience not to be missed.
Mezze maniche Agnesi with black truffle sauce, “raw fassone beef ragout”, white Alba truffle and anchovy.
Tortiglioni Agnesi with alta Langa butter, parmesan cream, cardoons, Bra sausage and white Alba truffle.
Gemma Agnesi Spaghetti with butter, smoked red Sarawak “Utirancotta” pepper, basmati rice milk and white Alba truffle.
Enrico Crippa
born in 1971, he graduated from the Istituto Alberghiero di Monte Olimpino, Como. He gained his first experience in the restaurant sector at the age of 16 as commis in the historic Milanese restaurant of Gualtiero Marchesi. This marked the start of a dazzling career that brought him into contact with some of the finest European chefs: Christian Willer, Gislaine Arabian, Antoine Westermann, Michel Bras, Ferran Adria. In 1990 he was awarded first prize at the Artistic Cuisine Competition in Sologne, a success which was repeated in 1992. In 1996, he opened Gualtiero Marchesi’s restaurant in Kobe, and remained in Japan at the Rhiga Royal Hotel, Osaka, until 1999.
These 3 years in Japan proved fundamental for his style of cooking. He returned to Italy and sought out a suitable location for his own restaurant. In 2003, he met the Ceretto family, and was able to realise his ambition, leading to the opening of the Piazza Duomo restaurant, in Alba.
The first endorsement of his talent came in 2006 with a Michelin star, and in 2009 he gained further recognition that propelled him into the Who's Who of Italian restaurants: 2 Michelin stars.
The Masayuki Kondo’s passion for cooking began as a child, when he would help his mother prepare traditional Japanese dishes. Later, he frequented a vocational hotel and catering school and took his first steps in the kitchens of prestigious Italian restaurants in Japan. Whence the ever-stronger desire to move to Italy, the better to learn its gastronomic traditions. He arrived in Italy in 2004 and worked for some restaurants with a Michelin star, including Da Guido in Pollenzo, All’Enoteca in Canale, Zur Rose in Appiano and then at the two-star St. Hubertus at S. Cassiano Alta Badia and subsequently the Villa Crespi at Orta S. Giulio.
With chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo, a bond of friendship and professional collaborationwas born and resulted in his being invited to coordinate the team of pupils at the Locanda del Pilone, a splendid location owned by the Boroli family at the top of the hills dominating Alba. This was the start of the adventure that led him into the firmament of the Michelin Red Guide.
Pier Bussetti born in 1968 in Chivasso near Turin into a family of shop-keepers, he lived and grew up in his parent’s grocery. He frequented the Istituto Alberghiero “G.Colombatto” in Turin where, thanks to his teacher and mentor, Gilberto Rosa, a great passion was seeded that immediately influenced his training and led him to gain fundamental experience in Italy and subsequently in France, Japan, the U.S.A. and Spain. In 2007, with his historic partner, Rosanna Basso, he opened the Ristorante Locanda Mongreno in Turin, and soon reached theheights of the restaurants league for the city and whole region. After 12 years, the restaurant moved to the prestigious site of the Castello di Govone, a royal residence of the Savoy household, and since 1997 a World Heritage site.
The "Pier Bussetti al Castello di Govone” restaurant is located in the former Royal Stables of the house; the historic features of the stables have been maintained intact, but the overall building has been renewed with some contemporary touches. Both chef and catering consultant, Pier Bussetti is also a lecturer at the Istituto Professionale Alberghiero di Stato and at the IAAD of Turin, where he holds the chair for the “Food & Design” course.
