Читать книгу Made in Italy: Food and Stories - Giorgio Locatelli - Страница 72

I suppose everyone these days knows the story of how beef carpaccio was invented, but just in case…It happened in Harry’s Bar in Venezia in 1950, when a regular customer, the Contessa Amalia Nani Mocenigo, came to dine. Her doctor had put her on a special diet, which meant she couldn’t eat cooked meat. In a moment of inspiration, Guiseppe Cipriani, the father of the current owner of Harry’s Bar, Arrigo Cipriani, suggested to his chef that he cut up some raw beef into wafer-thin slices, and they then decorated it criss-cross fashion with a sauce made from mayonnaise mixed with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and milk. Guiseppe called the creation carpaccio, after the Italian painter, Vittore Carpaccio, who was famous for his use of brilliant reds and whites.

Of course, now every Italian restaurant has come up with their own version of beef carpaccio. At Locanda we either serve it with our own mayonnaise (as in the recipe below), perhaps with some fresh black truffle grated over it. Or we dress some rocket in a little olive oil and lemon juice and serve it with the carpaccio, with Parmesan shavings over the top. At other times we cook some finely diced broccoli stalks and florets until they are soft (ie slightly overcooked), then whiz them to a purée in a food processor and season. Then we season the carpaccio, brush with lemon and oil and serve with the broccoli purée drizzled on top.

Once one of our suppliers sent a box of persicelle (probably from persicum, which is the Latin for peach), or baby peaches, to Locanda. In Italy, when there are too many peaches on the tree the farmer snips off the smaller green ones, like little fat green almonds, which are mostly thrown away, but are sometimes kept and put into syrup or, as in this case, sent out as a speciality to kitchens. We blanched them, made some truffle oil, which we put over them, and served them with the carpaccio. They were beautiful – but sadly we have never had a box since.

Remember you are showing off raw beef, so it must be the best quality.

300g beef fillet

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (see page 53)

2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and drained (optional)

salt and pepper

Trim the fat from the fillet and chill the beef in the fridge to firm it up and make it easier to cut into thin slices. Place three or four slices at a time (side by side) on a sheet of cling film, cover with another sheet of cling film, then pummel with a meat hammer or rolling pin until the meat is paper-thin. Season the carpaccio and serve drizzled with the mayonnaise and, if you like, sprinkled with capers.