Pizza is probably one of the most addictive foods in the world, according to a study by the University of Michigan. Actually, much of Italian food is, who doesn’t love a plate of al dente pasta or a creamy, steaming risotto, it’s impossible to resist. Chef Eugeni de Diego has written Cocina como la mamma, a book that, in addition to being a recipe book, is a guide to knowing the essential pantry of Italian gastronomy. From the basic ingredients that should be used, their origins and uses, to the techniques to prepare recipes in a more correct and traditional way. Not only pasta and pizza, there is also meat, fish and delicious cocktails; a culinary tour to feel like you are in Italy itself.
Eugeni de Diego’s career in the kitchen began when he was very young: “I come from a humble family, and when I was 14 I started washing dishes at the Giverola hotel in Tossa de Mar; I really liked cooking and I thought I should train myself if I wanted to dedicate myself to this, so I looked for restaurants in Barcelona.” At the age of 15 he joined Ca l’ Isidre as a waiter, an emblematic establishment in the Raval neighborhood specializing in Catalan cuisine: “I consider Isidre and Montserrat my parents in gastronomy.”
At 18 he went to Bordeaux to work at the famous Le Chapon Fin, three Michelin stars, until, two years later, he was called to El Bulli. He worked there for five years, starting as head chef and ending as head chef in 2011.
“Ferran told me that he was the most versatile guy in the world, in addition to working at El Bulli, he had a parallel restaurant, which was the family meal that was prepared for about 80 people.” After the closure he continued to be part of the El Bulli Foundation and linked to Albert Adrià with the openings of Tiquets, Bodega 1900, Pacte and at the very Ferran Adrià events.
Although he has worked in what was the best restaurant in the world, he has never stopped devising his own projects, companies that he has chained one after another with successes that have helped him grow and start again. In 2018, with his wife, he opened Apluma, gourmet roast chickens, but in 2022 he was acquired by an investment fund. A push that allowed him to create Atico, a restaurant management, creation and consulting company. Without abandoning this project, and together with Albert Raurich, they created an Asian take away, Tamae.
“I like everyday cooking in which I feel comfortable working, reaching the general public makes me happy, I don’t want to be a very exclusive person,” “I want to be a chef who makes very good cuisine at a good price.” “, Add.
Last year he opened Colmado Wilmot, a restaurant-bar like the ones before, where they serve traditional stews and some updated dishes, and in 2022 he opened Lombo, where he has been able to experience and learn about Italian cuisine through a long R&D process. And why Italian food? “For me, the essence of Italian cuisine is like ours, that of our mothers and grandmothers,” and he adds: “In the end it is Mediterranean cuisine, they are very similar, it is popular cuisine and they share the same values.”
In the book there are about 85 recipes to travel throughout Italy through gastronomy. Milanese risotto in Lombardy, vitello tonnato from Piedmont, lentils with zampone in Emilia-Romagna, porchetta sandwich from Umbria, spaghetti carbonara in Lazio or cacio e pepe pasta typical of Rome. In the south, the Neapolitan pizza and babá with rum from Naples or pasta made to order from the island of Sicily stand out, among many other delicacies. His favorite dish: “I’m very spicy, that’s why ravioli in brodo are my favorites.”
The prologue is by the Italian chef from the Lasarte Barcelona restaurant, Paolo Casagrande, and says of him: “Very few achieve what Eugeni de Diego achieved, capturing the true essence of Italian cuisine and transmitting it with the same passion that a chef from the Veneto or Liguria, capturing the soul of Italian cuisine.”
All in all, bon appetit!
