Salento. Anno Domini 2019. Lovers of beauty know perfectly well the special property it possesses, namely that of surviving time. Treading the chianche of the historic centre of Leccefor example, one can almost hear the calls of the peoples who over the millennia have landed on this undiscovered island squeezed between the seas, corroded by salt and swept by the wind. Connoisseurs of haute cuisine, on the other hand, know that there has never been a better time in history to come here than now.
Today we descended into the belly of 'Bros Restaurant', inside that amniotic liquid of yellow stone (properly called leccese) that here not only serves as a brick material but is warm shelter, is mother, is womb of the earth. He awaits us, reflective and Gascon as ever. A follower of the ancient 'Salentaoist' doctrine that states: i sènte e tàce bona vita fàce (he who listens and keeps silent makes a good life), he retains the cut of the eyes typical of men of the past with great plans for the future. Indeed, the fresh Michelin Star does not seem to have sated him. He is Floriano Pellegrino.
Thank you for having us, chef.
It's a pleasure! Thank you.
Let's start right away: how would you define yourself using just one adjective?
I call myself a stubborn guy, beyond all limits.
And looking a little more into your story (and your psyche), what kind of guy is Floriano Pellegrino?
Floriano Pellegrino is a boy who started from nothing, from a small provincial town, Scorrano, in the deep south of Salento, with a strong anger and a great desire for redemption. I grew up in an environment that was hostile from many points of view: family, territory, education. I have always had very clear ideas and the Floriano Pellegrino you see today is exactly the same as yesterday, only with much more awareness of its strengths.
How much do you feel like a child of Salento, of this scorched, fiery land that runs through your soul and drives you crazy like the sting of a tarantula, and how much like a citizen of the world?
Salento is my home. I feel attached to this land in a visceral way and the feeling that runs through me is exactly the one you highlighted, like the pinch of a tarantula that almost gives you torment. I left because sometimes leaving is the only way to exorcise problems but, at the same time, I was also motivated to learn everything that could make me a top chef outside my home. The contamination came naturally and in addition to the languages, the different way of living and acting, I internalised the discipline and attitude to sacrifice and work. Combining the local of my land and the global of my professional growth has resulted in today's Floriano.
What formative steps have most influenced your growth to the point where you became the 'rebel angel' of contemporary catering?
Certainly growing up in a 'hostile' environment, as mentioned earlier, shaped my personality and helped me to channel my energies towards a sense of self-assertion. Travelling opened my mind and consolidated even more the goals I had set for myself. Working in major kitchens outside your comfort zone is not easy. It is not for everyone. It requires a lot of daily work on one's person as well as a great sense of sacrifice. The hard work in those kitchens and the 'guidance', especially from my mentor Martin Berasategui, were the pillars of my training.
Unveil a dish that now identifies you and a dish you used to love when you were a child.
I am very attached to raw chicory. Everything related to the earth takes me back to my childhood. Raw chicory was a snack for us children, but not only that, it was a healthy food that started lunch or dinner, a habit that many young people have lost over the years, but which I continue to maintain in my diet. A dish that now identifies me is definitely 'Ricotta forte cotta, ricci', emblematic of my personal journey and taste, of strong contrasts.
List three 'unforgettable dishes' you have tried around the world.
Smorrebrod in Copenhagen, paella in Valencia and frog in France.
"Pilgrim" from the Latin "per agere" meaning to go to the fields, to travel. How important is travelling for a man and how important is knowing, loving and practising nature for a chef?
Probably already inherent in my name was this sense of restlessness and a great desire to expand my boundaries. Travelling is important first and foremost for a man and then for a chef. It is difficult to explain what develops in our psyche, but I know that for me it has been a salvation. A chef must have great knowledge and equally great respect for each individual ingredient. I think we should all dwell a little more on everything we manipulate and which then comes into contact with our being.
Between xylella, the gas pipeline and Ilva, we can say that the heel of Italy has more than a few environmental problems. Have you got an idea of what is happening around our home?
I think that everything we are harvesting today is the result of our thoughtless existence on this earth; of our being superficial and our nature to exploit everything as much as possible without thinking about the long-term consequences. The environment is simply giving back to us what we have given it over the years, without discount. It is difficult to think of solutions to such major manifestations of 'sickness'. On the other hand, we cannot think that nothing can be done yet, just because everything has become too big to bear. I am convinced that the commitment of each of us is crucial, in our own small way. Small gestures can lead to big results.
Moving away from home, however, all the data on global warming says that we are reaching a point of no return. How do you imagine the near future?
What good is scientific, technological progress if we fail to make the world an environmentally sustainable place? Progress should be an act that makes us look forward to a qualitatively better life than in the past and not, on the contrary, make us want to go back, when perhaps having nothing in hand was much less risky.
When you are abroad do you ever experience 'salentine saudade'? What do you miss most about southern Florence?
When I am abroad I miss Scorrano and what it represents to me. I miss the places to which I am inextricably linked. That's why I wanted to move with Isabella to the countryside to be able to absorb its scents during our two-day day off.
Isabella, in fact. How proud of her are you?
A lot. And maybe I should tell them more.
To encapsulate the Salento in just a few words, how would you define it?
Floating in time.
Beauty vs. complexity: the problems of the structural and catering Salento
I will sum it up in two examples: it takes an hour to get to Milan, and an hour and a half to get to Bari. There is still a lot to be done, the Salento, despite the developments of recent years, remains a strip of land a long way from everything. Public connections are not always efficient, or only active at a certain time of the year, the summer; in the catering itself, I believe there is no real middle ground, there is often a lack of quality and a real underlying idea.
What does the word Bros' mean to you?
Bros' is a philosophy, an interlude, like a comma at the end of a word between friends; it is my restaurant, a brand, a sense of belonging that embraces several people. It is a vision and at the same time a container of several common visions.
So there is a wide-ranging Bros' project? And what does it involve?
Bros' is the incipit. The first, like the first child. And if I say the first, it means that there will be other small or large Bros' scattered around the world. Bros' is to Floriano as Floriano is to Bros'. My figure is evolving and with me a whole series of dynamics that I have been putting in place for some time and will soon find a clear place for everyone.
On your excellent brigade: do you have any prerogatives to ask of the guys who are going to apply to work for you? Is it true that the unwritten motto of "foreigners first" applies at your place?
Attitude counts for me more than talent. Head down and hard work, sense of sacrifice and a great desire to go beyond one's limits. Our 'calls' are to foreign guys, it's true... firstly because we would like a team with a very different outlook and secondly, because the pace of cooking is so tight that we can't move around the world as we would like. Our guys are therefore our travels, as I always like to say: 'I bring the world home!!!'.
How important are ethics in a man's life? And how much aesthetics? Do they conflict with each other or do they tend to complement each other?
I believe that one must always follow one's vision and never deviate from it. I believe that this can conflict when we forget the latter in order to follow the aesthetic. Both can only coexist with a strong vision of one's life and what one does.
What is fear? A salvation instinct or a blind, irrational panic that makes us blind to reality?
It depends. Not everyone is saved through fear. And not everyone uses it as a means to overcome themselves. Surely it is such a strong feeling that it can affect everyone's choices, it is up to us to embrace it and turn it into a point of strength or let it crush us.
Dear Chef, first it was Forbes magazine that put you on the list of the most promising under-30s, then it was the Michelin guide that gave you a star. Next steps?
We are always buzzing with new activities and projects. We always try to push our potential to the maximum, with the aim of exceeding our limits and raising the bar higher and higher. Since the opening of Bros', Isabella and I have been quietly working on an important research project related to taste, a metaproject, but only recently have we been able to fine-tune it. Since January, I have been able to detach myself from the 'operational' part of Bros', handing over the task of organising and directing the kitchen to Isabella, so that I can better concentrate on everything that is wide-ranging research.
Judging from instagram, you seem to be able to cultivate a few hobbies in your spare moments. What are your 'extra-cooking passions'?
Rugby for me is not just a sport. Its structure has influenced my physical and mental training. The patterns applied, have become patterns of life and approach at work. The mentality that comes out of it, I try to pass it on every day in small doses to my boys: concentration, resistance to obstacles, teamwork.
And now, before we say goodbye, let's have a tasty forkful of our own business: don't you need a pen-savvy Supermario Bros' for a future book?
We can always talk about it!
| Interview by Mario Pennelli Bolivar |
Bros' - Via degli Acaya, 2, 73100 Lecce LE - tel. 351 661 5513 - www. pilgrimbrothers.co.uk
