At 4pm on Thursday December 5 in the Sala Rossa in Pollenzo, the Brazilian chef, ranked by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013, will give a talk on “D.O.M. The rediscovery of Brazilian ingredients”. And on Thursday December 5 a unique dinner of his recipes will be served with wines from the Sicilian cellar Planeta
Alex Atala cuts a charismatic, trendsetting figure and at first sight you’d take him for a rock star. In actual fact he’s one of the most interesting minds in world cooking today. Born in São Paulo in 1968, he worked in some of the most prestigious kitchens in France, Belgium and Italy before returning to Brazil to launch his own personal gastronomic project, which came to a climax in 1999 with the opening of D.O.M. Restaurant. The event marked the start of a new era for Brazilian cuisine.
Alex Atala can be described as the paladin of new Brazilian gastronomy in general and as the promoter of the culinary treasures of Amazonia in particular.
Since he was a youth, he has always been fascinated by the riches of the vast Amazonian region, with its giant fish, such as the pirarucu and the tambaqui, its exotic wild fruit and vegetables, such as the cupuaçu, a relative of cacao, and the cubiu tomato, not to mention ants, wild mushrooms and manioc roots, traditional staples in the diet of indigenous tribes.
Atala has raised these primordial products and ingredients to haute cuisine status through unique research work and sophisticated reinterpretations. He has done so with a special eye to sustainability, responsible consumption and seasonality.
His fame has crossed national borders and oceans and today he is a veritable standard-bearer for multiculturalism and biodiversity. At the University of Pollenzo, he will serve a menu of his exotic recipes and more besides.
At 4pm on Thursday December 5, in the Sala Rossa at the Agenzia di Pollenzo, Atala will deliver a special lecture to the students, entitled “D.O.M. The rediscovery of Brazilian ingredients”.
Then, for anyone keen to sample his cuisine, the Academic Tables canteen has organized a dinner on Thursday December 5 at 8.30pm, open to the public by reservation only. The menu will feature Cevichi de berinjela (Ceviche of eggplant), Mini arroz com alcachofras (Short-grain rice with artichokes), Pupunha carbonara (Pupunha peach palm alla carbonara), Ravioli de banana (Sweet banana ravioli), accompanied by the wines of the Sicilian cellar Planeta. For reservations: ristorante@unisg.it – tel. 340 3748532
Planeta is a Sicilian wine producer. Albeit established only in 1995, the company is owned by a family boasting a farming tradition between Sambuca di Sicilia and Menfi that has been handed down over for 17 generations since 1500. Today Planeta captures the essence of the terroir in six different ways. Six in fact are the estates on which it produces wine, each with its own specific research and promotion project: Ulmo at Sambuca di Sicilia, Dispensa at Menfi, Dorilli at Vittoria, Buonivini at Noto, Feudo di Mezzo on Etna at Castiglione di Sicilia and, last but not least, La Baronia at Capo Milazzo. Overall, Planeta’s vineyards cover an area of more than 350 hectares, and a journey round the family properties is tantamount to a journey round Sicily and its greatest wines.