ProfileItalian chef who learned about Asian flavours in the Alps and southern Italian cooking in Hong Kong
- Andrea Delzanno learned to cook with his grandmother in Piedmont, Italy, made dinner every day after school and started working in Italy before moving to Asia
- He learned about Asian flavours from an Italian chef in the Alps, and mushrooms are his favourite ingredient, the chef at Cucina in Hong Kong tells Bernice Chan
“When I was young my parents were busy at work, so most of the time I stayed with my grandparents in the countryside in Piedmont, where I was born. Most of the houses have small farms or gardens, and my grandmother grew her own vegetables and fruit, like figs, pears, grapes and cherries.
“My grandfather went fishing and caught trout in the river behind our home. They’d usually pan-fry the trout with butter and herbs, seasoning and white wine, or grill it barbecue style. We ate the vegetables we grew and what was left over we put in the freezer and kept for winter so there was no need to buy vegetables.
“We raised rabbits and every Sunday my grandfather killed one for lunch. We also had chickens, so we had fresh eggs each morning. When it was mushroom season I went with my grandfather to pick porcini in the mountains and we cooked them with polenta.
“That was my childhood and it started my interest in food and cooking. I always cooked with my grandmother. She put me in charge of breaking the spaghetti and putting it in the boiling water, or cracking eggs to make gnocchi.
“On Sundays she cooked a big lunch for eight to 10 people, so she prepared a lot of food. She usually made rabbit stew with polenta, gnocchi or fresh pasta. My grandparents could survive without money, they had everything they needed.”