She loves big glasses, they are used to hide her shyness. Yet behind the appearance of this woman with very cordial, polite features, which she expresses in a low voice with calm tones, she hides, when she puts herself in the kitchen, a determination that surprises you, a culinary war machine.
At the age of 53 gracefully carried, Isa Mazzocchi, chef and owner with her sister of the restaurant La Palta, a former tobacconist's shop that her parents had already transformed into a restaurant, and which she has now taken over in Bilegno, a hamlet of Borgonovo Val Tidone in the province of Piacenza, has forged all the stages of a culinary training that led her to be awarded the Michelin Chef Woman Award 2021 by Veuve Clicquot with this motivation: "she has a very strong bond with her territory which she promotes through her dishes to make peculiarities emerge. The kitchen, in which she invests all her energies, her tenacity and continuous learning, allow her to range between past, present and future, to bring the guest into a dimension of timeless experience, made of tradition and innovation.”
When the prestigious red star arrived, she said she didn't expect it. And she can be believed given her very courteous ways of doing things, all family and cuisine. Courteous yes, but well aware of the role that a woman must occupy in a traditionally male-dominated sector such as that of high-ranking cuisine.
“Nothing is easy but we must not let ourselves be frightened – she declared in a recent interview – Instead it is we women who let ourselves be frightened by men who tell you that you will never make it, that you will not have enough physical strength, that you will never be able to have a family and children. In my time I heard these things all. Even the pats on the butt, the comments, the blackmail, the looks escaped us. But I only listened to my passion. And I tell all the girls that they can do it, whether it's working at a high level or starting a family. You don't have to give up anything as women."
That she would become a top-ranking chef was proposed to her from an early age with an almost military determination: she graduated from the "Magnaghi" School of Hotel Management in Salsomaggiore Maggiore Terme (PR), at the age of 18 she took part in the competition for young Commis di Cucina, promoted from the Chaîne de Rôtisseurs in Nice, and conquers the bronze medal. She then spent two years alongside chef Georges Cogny. French by birth and Piacenza for love, exclusive staple of haute cuisine in Piacenza. Her desire to learn is unstoppable. Go from Paolo Vai to Il Cavallo Bianco (Ao) to Mary Barale of Il Rododendro (Cn), from Gianfranco Vissani to Baschi al'Albereta of Gualtiero Marchesi, from Herbert Hintner - of Zur Rose (Bz) to Luca Casadio of the Ristorante Panoramica ( To), from Filippo Chiappini Dattilo of the Antica Osteria del Teatro (Pc) to L'École du chocolat at Tain l'Hermitage.
And after so much restless and non-stop work, always shielding herself behind her big shy glasses which she however studies, analyses, compares, discovers sensations, flavours, techniques – recognitions from everywhere begin to rain down on her. L'Espresso places her among the 10 best female chefs, "The Best Female Chefs" evaluates her among the 10 best cooks in northern Italy. Gambero Rosso awards her 2 Forchette, Alma, the authoritative Cooking School of Colorno (PR) calls her as a teacher, and she too is called to teach at the Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences of the University of Parma.
Finally, the great consecration of the Michelin Star has always been confirmed to this day.
The recipe proposed by Isa Mazzocchi for the readers of Mondo Food, the "Millefeuille of boiled meats with sauces and mustards" is a dish that is never missing from the Palta menu. It is a traditional dish for a special day and can be an interesting proposal for the next holiday lunches. Here the boiled meat is presented in layers. The overlapping of the various cuts enhances the flavor of the individual meats, enhancing their lightness and therefore also the possibility of fitting well into a menu, without weighing it down.
The recipe for Millefeuille of boiled meats with sauces and mustards.
Ingredients for people 8
Time: about 60 minutes
• 1 Kg of beef scoop
• 1 kg of ox tongue
• 1 kg of cotechino
• 1 capon
• 1 kg of calf's head
• 1 kg of pork cheeks
• 500 g of clean carrots
• 3 onions
• 200 g of celery
• 200 g of parsley stems
• 4 poached garlic cloves
• coarse salt
For the capon filling
• 500 g of breadcrumbs
• 200 g of Grana Padano
• 1 capon liver
• 2 eggs
• 50 g of cleaned and washed parsley
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100 g of mortadella
• 1 carrot cut into chunks
• 1 stick of celery
Method
Put all the ingredients in a cutter, add salt and wrap the filling in a
sheet of parchment paper, steam for 30 minutes, then cool.
For the millefeuille
Debone the capon, roll it up on itself and wrap it in a cloth, tie as follows
was a salami. Cook the tongue with the guancialini starting from tepid and salted water with
celery, carrot, unpeeled onion, parsley stems and poached garlic clove.
When it starts to boil, lower the heat, cover and cook. At the end of cooking
remove the skin of the tongue and cool.
Prepare the broth with celery, carrot, unpeeled onion, 1 clove of garlic and a few
parsley stem. Start with cold water and immerse the beef scoop, the capon,
bring to the boil and leave to cool.
Cook the cotechino in water with bay leaves and cool. Cook the veal head
in warm salted water with celery, carrot, onion and leave to cool.
Preparation
Cut all the meats with the slicer and with the help of a 7 cm diameter pastry rings
cut circles. Superimpose the meats in this sequence: tongue, head, paddle,
stuffing, capon, stuffing, cheek 2 times. Close the vacuum-packed puff pastry and leave
rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Regenerate the puff pastry in the steam oven for 20 minutes
and serve piping hot with Cervia fleur de sel, Evo oil, sauces and mustards typical of boiled meats.
LA PALTA RESTAURANT
loc. bilign, 67
29011 Borgonovo val Tidone Piacenza
tel. 0523862103 - 3453360722
Email: [email protected]
