意大利厨师在重庆创造独一无二的意式“重庆味”

□ 文/本刊记者 李静

意大利厨师在重庆创造独一无二的意式“重庆味”

□ 文/本刊记者 李静

“重庆是一座充满机遇的城市，我爱重庆，也爱这里的美食！”作为第一位在重庆生活工作的意大利厨师，Emanuele对重庆怀抱着特殊的感情，在接受我们的采访时，他表示，目前最大的愿望，就是将他心目中的意大利美食带来重庆，与重庆的朋友共同分享。

Emanuele是一个乐观开朗的意大利人，从小热爱厨艺，17岁便在罗马的一家有名的餐厅担任主厨副手，21岁便成为罗马哥伦布酒店的主厨。2010年，值上海世博会意大利展馆开展之时，Emanuele跟随作为代表官方的意大利餐厅主厨来到上海，推介意大利美食，从此开启了与中国的不解之缘。Emanuele对这个东方大国产生了浓厚的兴趣，当即决定留在上海的一家意大利餐厅做起了主厨，期待感受不一样的东方文化。

2011年，Emanuele将他心目中的意大利美食带到了重庆，目前在一家五星酒店担任西厨厨师长，负责研发新的菜式和员工培训。Emanuele认为，他对美食的热爱是与生俱来的，最大的爱好就是研发美食，而如今，他只是将这一爱好散播到了这座让他情有独钟的城市。“重庆是一座充满机遇的城市”，Emanuele表示，虽然中西方文化差异，刚开始不太习惯这里的生活，在这里也很难吃到非常正宗的西餐，对于一名专业的厨师来说，虽然有点遗憾，但也丝毫没有减弱他对重庆的热爱。正因如此，他更加积极地工作，期望将更多的意大利美食传播给这里的人们。

对很多中国人来说，印象中的欧洲人大多是金发碧眼，做事风格也总与严谨、守时、讲规则联系在一起。实际上，欧洲人与美洲人、北欧人与南欧人，都有着截然不同的个性。Emanuele称：“我们（意大利人）是用热情做事，无论是烹饪还是音乐，还是对待生活的一切，都充满热情，而且乐观，不太会为未来焦虑。”

虽然来自意大利，说着不同的语言，在重庆工作却并没有给他造成太多语言上的困扰。Emanuele在工作时会选择用英语与同事交流，彼此分享对西餐烹饪的经验，他也会把自己所知的一些烹饪技巧或诀窍告诉他们，互相学习交流。而他的中国同事们也会时不时地向他打听意大利的情况，“意大利的生活怎么样？”“你从罗马来的吗？”许多问题他都会耐心地一一回答。Emanuele告诉他们，罗马也是一座交通拥挤的城市，当地人工作压力很大，但气候非常舒适；而南部是意大利传统文化和饮食的发源地，虽然经济较为落后，但当地的人们更爱享受美食、音乐、舞蹈。

作为一名厨师，Emanuele每到一座城市都会仔细探索一下当地的美食，现在来到这座传说中的美食之都，他更是充满兴趣。Emanuele认为，重庆美食以辣为主，但辣得有滋有味，“这里的红油抄手、豌杂面都是我的最爱。”Emanuele不由笑着说。

不仅如此，Emanuele还根据当地菜式的特色，与意大利菜相结合，自创了一道独一无二的重庆-意大利式美食——Ravioli with Nduja（中文名家制卡拉布里亚辣猪肉、奶油土豆和香草酱馅儿饺子）。他表示，制作这道菜的灵感来源就是自己在重庆吃的红油抄手，因为意大利也有类似的菜式——Ravioli（意式方形饺），也是最为全世界人民所知的意大利菜品之一。Emanuele想到可以将意大利酱汁与重庆的抄手肉馅结合，制作出一道中西结合的菜式。而这道菜就是一个有馅儿的面食，一款经典的饺子。但与以往不同的是，这道菜饺子馅的用料是为了适应重庆菜辣的传统，使用的是卡拉布里亚辣猪肉。辣猪肉是一种源自意大利南部的软的香肠，非常辣，非常适用于炎热的天气，如春天和夏天。为了突出饺子馅的特色，他还用上了清淡的调味汁、黄油和夏香草。

令人欣慰的是，这道菜一经推出，就受到了许多中外食客的喜爱，许多重庆食客也慕名而来。今年4月份，意大利外长访问重庆时也在品尝以后对此赞许有加。

在不少影视剧里，热情奔放、浪漫已经成为意大利人的代名词，Emanuele也是其中的典型代表。“很多女孩子认为，意大利男人最适合谈恋爱，浪漫是他们生活的一部分，意大利男人很多情，但婚后会很传统，十分注重家庭。”谈到这里，Emanuele也表示，太太非常支持自己的工作，跟随他来到重庆生活，让他十分感动。

Emanuele称，几年前刚来重庆时，在此生活的意大利人很少，随着重庆越来越开放，国际化程度越来越高，而如今意大利总领事馆也在重庆开设，这个队伍正慢慢壮大，“目前应该有40多个意大利人在重庆生活吧。”他表示，重庆人民的友好给他留下了非常深刻的印象，而他也结交了许多重庆朋友，平日和他们一起外出，一边进行交流，一边探索这座城市的一切。更难得的是，Emanuele还和在重庆的意大利朋友一起组织了一个外籍足球队，每个月都会组织2到3场球赛，一起踢球，目前球队规模也在扩大，还吸引了许多重庆朋友加入。球队成为了重庆与意大利的友人之间沟通交流的一个平台。他希望这个社交圈子可以不断扩大，让更多的在重庆的意大利人聚集在一起，交流彼此的生活工作。

Emanuele认为，在重庆的生活其实是一种学习，在这里有家的感觉，而这里的一切已经成为了他生活中的一部分，他也非常享受这里的工作和生活，“重庆给我带来了快乐，这里的人每天都喜笑颜开，非常幸福的样子。我也希望尽我所能，将更多的意大利美食带入重庆，创造出更多具有‘重庆味’的意大利美食！”

Emanuele is an optimistic， outgoing and cheerful Italian man who has loved to cook since he was young. He was a sous chef at the Baraonda Restaurant in Rome when he was only 17 years old. He then became a chef at the Columbus Hotel at the age of 21. In 2010，he moved to Shanghai as Executive Chef of an off cial Italian restaurant in the Italian Pavilion to promote the cuisine of Italy during the Shanghai World Expo. Emanuele was deeply attracted by interested in China and decided to stay in Shanghai as a chef in an Italian restaurant so that he could experience the different culture.

In 2011， Emanuele brought his Italian gourmets cuisine to Chongqing. He currently works at a f ve star hotel， where he is responsible for introducing new dishes and staff training. He believes he was born with his love of food and his greatest interest is to make delicious meals.“Chongqing is a city of opportunity”， Emanuele told me. Despite the cultural differences and the difficulty adjusting to life here at first， he now loves the city. Although it was not easy to find a great western restaurant here where a professional chef could work， it hasn't diminished his love for Chongqing， which has inspired his activity at work， to introduce more delicious Italian dishes here.

Many Chinese people view Europeans as mostly blonde， blue eyed， very strict and punctual people who observe the rules involving work. While， in fact， European， Americans，Northern and Southern Europeans all have distinct personality types. Emanuele said: “We do things with passion， whether it's cooking，or music， or anything else in life. We are full of enthusiasm and optimism and less anxious about the future.”

Although he comes from Italy and speaks a different language， working in Chongqing has not been too diff cult. Emanuele communicates with colleagues in English at work. They sharetheir experiences about Western cuisine and he would tell them about his cooking experiences and share his skills， all learning from each other.

His Chinese colleagues occasionally ask him about Italy， “How's the life in Italy？” “Are you from Rome？” He would patiently answer their questions. Emanuele told them Rome is a very congested city， where the locals are under a lot of pressure， but the climate is very nice，while Southern Italy is the sauce of traditional Italian culture and diet. Although the economy is relatively lower there， the local people enjoy good food， music and dance.

As a chef， Emanuele enjoys exploring the cuisine of every city he visits. Since he is in Chongqing now， with its legendary tastes， he is showing more and more interest. He believes Chongqing food is mainly spicy， but very tasteful.“The spicy wonton and Wanza noodles are my favorites，” Emanuele told me with a big smile.

In fact， Emanuele has created a unique Chongqing/Italian style dish called Ravioli with Nduja， based on the characteristics of Chongqing food， combined with Italian cuisine. He was inspired to create this dish when eating wonton in Chongqing， because there is a similar dish， Ravioli （meaning square dumpling） in Italy，which is one of the most popular Italian dishes in the world. Emanuele thought about mixing the Chongqing wonton with Italian sauce to make a blend of the two dishes. It was pasta with stuff ng， classic dumplings. The difference is in the ingredients of the stuffing， to adapt to the traditional spicy Chongqing taste， using spicy Calabria pork， which is a soft sausage from Southern Italy， very hot and suitable for hot weather， such as found in Chongqing in the spring and summer. To highlight the taste of the dumpling， he also added a light sauce， like butter with vanilla. Many customers have shown great interest in his creation and he gained the recognition of the Italian Foreign Minister during his visit to Chongqing in April.

Due to many f lms and TV series， passionate and romantic have become common adjectives for Italians. Emanuele said that although many girls believe romance is in the blood of Italian men， they are， in fact， very traditional and family oriented once got married. When speaking of marriage， Emanuele is very grateful that his wife has fully supported his work and has joined him in Chongqing.

Emanuele said， when he first came to Chongqing， there were few Italians living here. Now， as Chongqing is becoming more open and international， the Italian population is growing. This is also due， in part， to the opening of the Italian Consulate in Chongqing. “There should be more than 40 Italians living here now.” For Emanuele is deeply impressed by the local friendliness. He has made many friends here and enjoys going out to explore the city with them on weekdays.

He even joined an international football team， organized by some Italian friends here. The team plays two or three games every month and has attracted many Chongqing friends to join， providing a platform for communication between local people and Italians. He hopes this network will continue to expand， so more Chongqing people and Italians will gather fogether and share with each other their lives and work.

Emanuele believes learning about life in Chongqing is a process of study. He feels more at home living here and Chongqing has become part of his life， something he truly enjoys. “Chongqing has brought me happiness. People here are very happy. I would like to do everything I can to bring more Italian cuisine to Chongqing and to create more ‘Chongqing/ Italian cuisine'！”

AN ITALIAN CHEF IN CHONGQING Creates a Unique， Chongqing Style Italian Cuisine

□ Written by Li Jing