"London is the right place to be now; it’s the food capital of the world." Italian anglophile and chef Gennaro Contaldo speaks to Emma McAlpine.
Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo moved to London from his small hometown on the Amalfi Coast over 40 years ago. After a stint in Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant where he first mentored a young Jamie Oliver, Contaldo opened up his own Italian restaurant on Charlotte Street – Passione – in 1999. Recently, Contaldo has appeared in the BBC series Two Greedy Italians with Carluccio and is now a consultant for the Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain. Ahead of the Bertolli D’Oro Awards, he chatted to us about Britain’s changing food culture, his favourite delis and trattorias in London and how Jamie Oliver’s teenage dream came true...
How do you think British food has changed since you moved to the UK?
It’s changed so much, it’s fantastic. London is the right place to be now; it’s the food capital of the world. Here I can eat in any country I want to which is unbelievable.
You first moved to England over 40 years ago. How much harder was it to get hold of Italian produce back then?
You could get vegetables like spinach, onions and carrots but there were no ripe tomatoes or herbs like basil. It was hard to get hold of nice garlic; you had to buy it from French men on bicycles. There was no such thing as good olive oil; people used fat or butter to cook with. There wasn't much pasta variety either, I remember the only pasta I could find was macaroni to make macaroni cheese! Now you just pick up the phone and you can get anything you want.
Is there any food you miss from home that you still can't get in the UK?
One thing I miss, which you can get here but you have to order in advance, is Amalfi lemons. The smell and flavour is amazing. They have less acidity and you can use them in salads and eat them raw. But there's not much from home you can't get here now, apart from my sister's cooking!
What London delis and trattorias would you recommend for the best produce and cooking?
I Camisa & Son on Old Compton Street is my favourite deli. It's been there for years and as soon as you walk in you can smell the salami and the proscuitto. There's handmade tortellini, mortadella, ciabatta...almost everything you could ever want in there! You want the feeling of a market in a good Italian deli, the smells and the passion, and I Camisa has that. A trattoria (or small restaurant) I love is Cinquecento. Those guys were my protégées and have a real love for Italian food.
Has England influenced your cooking in any way over the years?
I have learnt quite a lot from England actually. I'm an Italian chef but when I came here, I had to learn how to cook English cuisine and in the beginning I didn't know what to make of it. But then I fell in love. The English can most definitely cook and I was lucky to be taught how to make proper English cuisine.
What's the best English dish you make?
Lancashire Hot Pot! It's my favourite dish. One month without it and I go bananas.
Do you plan on opening any more of your own restaurants in the future?
I have this great venture with Jamie Oliver and every single Jamie's Italian restaurant is just like mine. It was a dream of Jamie's that he had when he was a teenager. He said to me "You look so tired. One day big boy, I am going to open up a restaurant. Maybe I'll become really famous and open up two or three restaurants all over the country and I want you to be in every single one of them. Because I don't want you to have to work anymore." Well, what a big liar! It’s different work now but I really enjoy it. Sometimes we just look at each other and say "hey boy - we done it!"
Gennaro Contaldo is an ambassador for the Bertolli Spread Olive D'Oro Awards, searching for the UK's top Italian delis and trattorias - go to www.bertolli.co.uk to see the winners.
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