It may be due to his great youthful passion for sport that Michele Minichillo pursued the other passion of his life, cooking, with the same determination of an athlete determined to forge ahead to conquer the podium.
Thirty years old, from Foggia, even as a child, he spent hours and hours in the kitchen to help his mother and grandmother prepare the traditional Apulian recipes. It was consequent to enroll in the Professional Institute for Enogastronomy and Hotel Hospitality of Vieste (FG), and after this first approach to go and consolidate his training at the International School of Italian Cuisine ALMA, in Colorno (PR), the university of the high gastronomy that has graduated many Italian chefs who then entered the empyrean of the Michelin firmament. Not satisfied with what he learned, he flew abroad to get to know new culinary cultures, new ways of thinking about catering, moving between London, Dubai and New York. Two experiences in particular in which he refines his knowledge and tests everything he has learned up to that moment and which leave their mark on his training: the first with chef Isa Mazzocchi at the 1 Michelin star restaurant La Palta in Borgonovo Val Tidone (PC) and the second to the 2 Michelin Star restaurant Aska in Brooklyn, with chef Frederik Berselius. But even this is still not enough for the young Minichillo who wants to set up his professional career not only from the point of view of gastronomic quality but also from that of economic management, and the opportunity is offered to him in the United Arab Emirates where he acquires and managerial skills with the aim of embarking on a business project of his own.
And with a great deal of courage and resourcefulness at 25 years old, on April 16th 2019, in a historic building of the twelfth century, in the city center of Crema (CR), Michele Minchillo opens his restaurant Vitium. In what was once a parking lot for grooms, he created a room that seats 25, an extremely modern, minimal environment, inserted in a declaredly ancient structure, with brick walls with exposed beams, the result of the suggestions breathed in by the chef during his work experiences in Italy and abroad, a balance between ancient and modern, Nordic mood and underground trends which also scenically summarizes the sense of his refined cuisine. “My cuisine – he explains – is the result of passionate and continuous research, it is a real encounter between past, present and future. It has its common thread in its contaminations. Experimental, creative and full of contrasts, on the one hand it represents the union of my Apulian origins with the experiences I've had around the world and on the other it conveys all my hunger for discovery. My cuisine is like me: ambitious and constantly on the move”.
And so much ambition is soon rewarded: in three years the very young Minichillo is adorned with the prestigious Michelin Star. He likes her creative and experimental cuisine, heavily influenced by the territories that most fascinate him, above all Asia. Wasabi, daikon, katsuobushi, mirin, miso, Chinese cabbage and seaweed combine with more familiar flavors of the western tradition and coexist with burrata, capocollo di Martina Franca, pittula and handmade taralli in a constant balance between contemporary cooking techniques and comforting taste of that housewife. The most emblematic example is the signature Cacio e pepe, prawns and lime mentioned by Michelin guide, which takes up one of the traditional first courses of Italian cuisine - in this case from the Capitoline area - and revisits it by adding a personal twist, which enriches and completes the dish even more. To embellish the signature, there are the purple prawns of Gallipoli, coming from the same region that gave birth to the chef, a mix of peppers - Sichuan, Tellicherry, Cubebe and Sarawak - and two different cheeses used to make the sauce: Pecorino Romano Dop “Scorza Nera” and Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Bianche.
The recipe for Cacio e pepe, prawns and lime
Ingredients for people 4
• 280 g spaghetti
• 4 Gallipoli purple prawns
• Zest of 1 lime
• To taste water, salt, oil, Sichuan, Tellicherry, Cubeb and Sarawak pepper
Method
Lightly toast the peppers in the oven or in a pan. Clean the shrimp from the carapace and intestines. Marinate them lightly with oil, salt, pepper and lime zest.
Cooking the pasta
• 40 g Pecorino Romano Dop “Black Scorza”
• 15 g Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Bianche
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling water for ten minutes. Finely grate Parmesan and Pecorino. Create the “cacio e pepe” cream by cooking the cheeses, peppers and a little cooking water in a food processor at 60°C until the right consistency is obtained.
Finishing
When cooked, drain the pasta. Put it in a pan with the cheese and pepper cream. Stir. Season with salt. Serve. Arrange the marinated prawns on the pasta.
Vitium Restaurant
Via Ginnasio, 4
26013 Cream (CR)
Tel. +39 0373 225703
