Italopunk is the latest recipe collection from chef and author Vanja van der Leeden – a bold, beefy cookbook packed with 145 recipes, 12 chef profiles, 60 restaurant recommendations, and over 400 photographs from a changing Italy.
At its heart, Italopunk makes the case that honouring tradition means letting it evolve.
Q&A with chef & author Vanja van der Leeden
Q: Italopunk is full of recipes, tips and interviews, but it also has the feel of an irreverent travel blog. Tell us about the photo choices. How did you decide what to include and what version or versions of Italy were you hoping to share?
A: The photos were taken by my husband, Remko Kraaijeveld, who is an acclaimed food photographer in the Netherlands. We made a deal that we wouldn’t click the usual cliché stuff that you see in Italian cookbooks. No Fiat 500s, no red Vespas, no nonnas in dark spaces with floured hands, no cypress trees in Tuscany, et cetera. Remko wanted to share the Italy that I experienced while living there. That was a lot more edgy, raw, and adventurous than what the average tourist experiences. With these images, we wanted to say, “If you love Italy, you also need to love its scruffy edges.” Remko carefully looked at the colors of the different cities in Italy and reflected those in the backgrounds. We also collected napkins, placemats, vintage ice coupes, and pieces of textile during our trips to Italy for the styling.
Q: All the chefs in the book, including you, have strong opinions on ingredients: what to buy, where and when to source them, and how to design meals that align with culinary, social, and ecological values. How should readers shop as they cook through this book?
A: Italian cuisine is so successful because it’s simple. It’s simple because the high-quality produce does most of the work for you. If you can, go to a farmers market or a good quality grocery store for your veg, fish, meat, and cheese. It’s going to make all the difference. Also, try to follow the seasons. Seasonal produce tastes better, which makes your job (making a delicious meal) easier. Usually it’s also more sustainable, although that is a difficult and complex claim to make. Of course you can shop at a supermarket as well, but you might have to add more salt, cheese, anchovies, etc., to make your dish flavourful.
Q: If you were to make a meal with only recipes in the book, what would we be eating?
A: A lot, that’s for sure! This question also depends on the season, but let’s give it a go. If I were cooking a simple weekday meal, I would make the pasta with chickpeas, chard, and ‘nduja (Pasta con ceci, bietola e ‘nduja). Or the puttanesca with whole-wheat pasta (Puttanesca integrale). Quick, hearty, and fairly healthy.
For a dinner party, I would start with the crudo of sea bass and citrus-samphire salsa (Crudo di spigola), then the savory tarte tatin of eggplant (Tortino alla parmagiana), then carbonara (Carbonara blasfema) with a shot of vodka, and after that a vegetable dish, like roasted bell peppers with anchovy sauce and burrata (Peperoni con bagna cauda e burrata). To finish, either coffee zabaglione (Zabaglione con caffè) or tiramisu with sesame (Tiramisesamo). If we were in summer, I’d go for the whipped buffalo ricotta with strawberries and balsamic (Fragole con balsamico e ricotta). But the peach gelato with thyme and sweet red wine (Pêche elba) is also tempting.
Fragole con balsamico e ricotta
Strawberries with balsamic and buffalo ricotta cheese
INGREDIENTS
Buy Italopunk here.
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Dining and Cooking