Walter Ferretto's recipe, rolata of guinea fowl with chestnuts, stellar tradition in the Langhe

The recipe proposed by Chef Walter Ferretto with a Michelin star at the Il Cascinalenuovo restaurant in Asti is a greeting to the autumn of the Langhe. His cuisine is a re-enactment of the purest Piedmontese gastronomic traditions filtered through the search for innovative solutions that enhance its soul and respect its history

With the equinox of September 22nd, amidst the sadness of many, the door to summer closed, to long days, trips to the sea, evenings outdoors. And the autumn one has opened.

Albert Camus wanted to say “Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower”. Not to mention Soren Kierkegaard, who being naturally depressed loved to say: “That's why I much prefer autumn to spring, because in autumn you look at the sky. In spring the earth”.

With all due respect to the writer and philosopher, it is certain that autumn accompanies most of us with regret for a season of joy and color that has passed away, and introduces us to a season of more gloomy, less carefree and returning to the work routine.

Not so for Asti and the Langhe where autumn has the scent of mushrooms, of truffles of superb living. Now that's a real spring, not an atmospheric one but an explosion of flavours.

Walter Ferretto, chef with a Michelin star at the Cascinale Nuovo restaurant, on the road that connects Alba to Asti, which couldn't be more strategic, of these ancient flavors that are constantly renewed and change with the passing of the seasons, always offering a different and particular, a tension of taste that only a goldsmith in the kitchen can grasp, has always been guardian, officiating priest, and great promoter.

It must be said that he was lucky enough to become friends at a very young age – those friendships that mark your life – of two sacred monsters of Italian and international food and wine, Angelo Gaia and Giacomo Bologna of the Braida winery who stopped to eat in the trattoria of family and for which, partly as a joke and partly to test himself, he began to prepare first courses receiving advice and suggestions for improvement. This changed his life. He put the gear into gear and immediately wanted to try new international and high-level experiences. He bet on the Auberge de l'Ill, in Illhaeusern, five star luxury, two Michelin stars of the Haeberlin family, a name that commands respect in Europe, then on Franco Colombani, the "patron" of the "Sun" in Maleo, one of the made the history of Lombardy, a favorite destination for culinary enthusiasts and a great school for some of today's most authoritative starred chefs, and finally on Christian Constant, the great starred chef of Les Ambassadeurs del Crillon who today owns six exclusive restaurants, in the ville lumière: Le Violon d'Ingres, Le Café Constant, Les Cocottes Tour Eiffel, Les Cocottes Arc-de-Triomphe, Le Bibent, in Toulouse, and Le Bistrot Constant. All open 7 days a week.

An obligatory path for Ferretto to master the techniques and culture of international cuisine which, however, he has bent on expressing the best of the products of his territory, of the traditional cuisine that has made the history of Piedmont, which, like the products of autumn knows and can renew itself from time to time without ever losing its most intrinsic soul. A journey accomplished in teamwork with his brother Roberto Ferretto, sommelier, and great connoisseur of Piedmontese traditions

The international experience makes itself felt the chef gives space to creativity for new trends and flavors becoming the architect of a refined gastronomic proposal in which the tradition of the great Piedmontese cuisine is based in a balanced way with innovation. An example for all is his Lingua ingentilita created in 1987, a millefeuille of tongue and foie gras with strong flavors perfectly combined in an iconic dish that has never changed since 1989 and is always on the menu to represent history. His menu is a geographical map of Piedmontese cuisine: bagna caoda, fondue, tajarin, agnolotti dal Plin, the Piedmontese breed and thistle when it's in season, a map that represents a constant dialogue with a historical cuisine that "will never never in fashion – says Ferretto – but which at the same time must live. The kitchen cannot be an operating room, it must rather be proposed as a creative center, a testing ground where dishes and ingredients can also blend together, where one can create and research"

But what does tradition mean in a starred kitchen? “It is something fundamental which, however, is always changing. It is unimaginable and one cannot even expect the flavors and aromas to be those of the past. the world has changed the earth has changed and this is our cuisine which certainly celebrates traditional recipes but with its own products and ideas” and adds: the kitchen must live it cannot be an operating room rather a creative center a counter where dishes and ingredients can also merge into creative solutions.

the dialogue with tradition by looking at the Cascinalenuovo menu is decisive and vital: it reads like an ancient map of treasures to be rediscovered such as bagna caoda, fondue, tajarin, agniolotti dal plin, the Piedmontese breed and, when season, the thistle, There is all of Piedmont to be enjoyed with a good glass of red wine.

In his cuisine, as we have said, meat, whether it is beef or poultry, plays an important role”. Ferretto subjects them to slow and long cooking sprinkled with good Barbera d'Asti or enriched with fillings, as in this recipe of the Rolata di guinea fowl, packaged with typical autumn products such as cabbage and chestnuts and refined by Marsala wine, widely used in Piedmont both in savory and sweet preparations. "For me . . . The flavors of memory”. For others, a sensory experience of strong intensity.

The recipe for guinea fowl roll with chestnuts and cabbage

Ingredients:

1 boneless guinea fowl

200 g savoy cabbage

100 g sausage

200 g boiled chestnuts

10 Brussels sprouts

6 slices of mountain lard

3 cloves of garlic

1 carrot

1 onion

1 stalk celery

rosemary, sage, bay leaf

50ml extra virgin olive oil

50 ml virgin marsala

Preparation:

Julienne the cabbage and stew it in a little oil with a clove of garlic and a bay leaf.

Wet with water, if necessary, and when it is tender, season with salt and pepper.

Mix the cooled cabbage with the chestnuts and the crumbled sausage.

Season with salt and pepper and perfume with the Marsala.

Spread the boned guinea fowl on the table, season with salt and pepper, arrange the slices of lard and the previously obtained filling, roll up tightly and tie with string.

Place the rolata in a vacuum bag with the vegetables and herbs.

Bake at low temperature in a steam oven for 4 hours.

Remove the guinea fowl from the bag and brown it in the oven at 200° for 15 minutes, then cut into slices and serve with the stewed sprouts.