By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
From using every part of your ingredients to mastering the art of flavour, these Italian home cooking tips, tricks and traditions from six Aussie Chefs will transform your cooking.
For Pan di Vino Chef Stefano Mondonico, a good risotto is all about umami.
"When making risotto, I love to dice the Parmesan rind into small pieces and let it cook through the whole process to give the dish an extra umami kick and have the delicious crunchy pieces of cheese inside as a surprise ingredient,” he shares, recalling how his Nonna also used this trick to made simple ingredients shine.
Chef Gabriele Coniglio has perfected the art of al dente pasta and his Nonna would be proud.
"When cooking pasta, always add it once the water is boiling, then stir after a minute to prevent it from sticking. I recommend draining the pasta one minute before the cooking time on the packet and tossing it in the sauce over heat for an extra minute. This allows the pasta to absorb the flavours while continuing to cook. For additional depth, a little stock can be used – a light chicken stock works well for most dishes.”
Gabriele goes on to explain the importance of mixing the pasta in the sauce - "It is called ‘mantecare’ and helps the sauce cling to the pasta,
giving it a smooth, glossy texture.
Most of Italian Street Kitchen Head Chef Giulio's tips - which he learned from his Nonna - involve preventing and reducing waste - a particularly helpful strategy for financially struggling families.
"There are multiple options for using leftover Parmesan,” he says. "For example, my Nonna used to place the leftover Parmesan inside the minestrone, which helped give it extra flavour and avoid any wastage. Another option is to scrape the outside of the Parmesan with a knife and grill it for a tasty snack!”
Similarly, according to Giulio, if you have fresh herbs left over, like parsley, sage and rosemary, a great way to use them is to blend them with rock salt. "This will give you a nice, flavoured green salt for your roast potatoes. To maintain the colour, store it in your freezer!”
Finally, one of Guilio's (and his Nonna’s tips!) for giving old bread a new lease on life is to use it to make breadcrumbs. "When Nonna reached a good amount of old leftover bread, she would grate it and use it to crumb chicken or a nice cotoletta!
Tom Giurioli, who co-founded Freddy's Pizza with Dan Leuzzi, shares a tip that blends old-school Italian with a contemporary twist and ties it back to a lesson he learned when he started his own booze brand, Tommy's Booze, during lockdown after a Freddy’s customer gave him a bag of homegrown lemons.
"I called my family in Rome to recreate Nonna’s limoncello recipe and learned the value of hand-peeling each lemon,” says Tommy. "There’s something special about the process…it’s therapeutic and takes me straight back to Italy, sitting with my Nonna,” says Tom. "I still peel all the fruit myself and I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can.”
Some secrets are simple but life-changing, with Amatrice Melbourne’s Head Chef Vincenzo Di Giovanniello revealing his Nonna’s tips for nailing an authentic Napoli sauce:
"She would infuse fresh basil in her sauce and then remove it before serving. This way, you get all the aromatic flavour without the leaves interfering while you eat.”
According to Vincenzo, Nonna’s other tips for perfecting your protein include making the most of every part of your fish - "Don’t overlook the cheeks and jowls - they’re some of the most tender and flavourful parts,”
Also, letting your meat rest after cooking to keep it juicy - "Let it sit for the same amount of time it was cooked. This allows the juices to settle, making every bite more tender and flavourful. Patience = perfection!”
Gigi Pozzoli, Gigi’s Gelato
Finally, while Gigi Pozzoli may have made his career out of sweet treats, his Nonna-inspired tips skew savoury.
"When it comes to pasta, fresh egg varieties are best when made only with yolks. The rule of thumb is four yolks for every 100 grams of flour,” he says. "In risotto land, arborio is for rice salad, carnaroli for risotto and vialone nano for soup.”
