Talk to Pervinca Tiranini It is like sitting at the table with the memory of a family. “I am always positive: when it goes wrong, it can always go worse”begins with that grit family figure. It is a pleasure to hear it tell the events of The spurcaccium-asymbol restaurant in Savona. Farinata, Ciuppin, stuffed anchovies and the warmth of a house: today everything relives in a book written by Roberta Schira which traces 135 years of history. The story of a Savonese family who for four generations has been carrying out a demanding profession capable of giving satisfaction.
The Saga dei Tiranini: from the furnaces to the sea
It all began in 1890, when Pervinca’s grandfather opens a trattoria that serves ravioli. But it is the grandmother Paola, energetic and enterprising, to transform the small place into a point of reference, renamed Sciâ Paola, “Mrs. Paola” into dialect. During the wars, the restaurant becomes a refuge for notaries, lawyers, even partisans. And she, between one dish and another, smash salt, oil, flour and hens. “My grandmother was tough: she was salt with sea water in the wood oven and brought it to Piedmont on the black bag”says Pervinca. That direct way, without frills, soon becomes a family brand.
A ‘spurcaccacciun-a: the reason for a’ derogatory ‘name
“They were other times, and my grandmother certainly did not have the idea of ​​hygiene we have today. Maybe she cleaned the green beans while she was with her feet soaks in a basin. If customers entered, she didn’t get upset”, Pervinca tells. At home, admitted it with irony: “Today I want to do the dirty”. The nickname took hold and left the home, passing from mouth to mouth, from bakers to truck drivers. “Some nicknames were normal, part of everyday language. Nobody was scandalized.”
After the Second World War, the Trattoria becomes a fixed stage for truck drivers. “They were the Tripadvisor of the time. My father was one of them: he met my mother there and married in 1952”. In the sixties, he left the kitchen truck, collecting recipes and knowledge from his grandfather. When the founders retired, the daughter Giuliana took the place in hand, that Partially become the spurcaccium-a, Name out of any modern marketing logic. Fama grew unstoppable. “Known characters were also, such as Paolo Stuppa and Franca Valeri. Today there are customers who were the first time as children: it is a satisfaction”.
The turning point of the sixties, the opening of the hotel and the third generation
Giuliana changes the fate of the family, sensing the value of hospitality next to the cuisine. “The cord of the bag, with us, has always been women: grandmother, mom, me, my daughter”says Pervinca. In the 1960s, he transformed a vegetable garden view into a hotel: the Hotel Pessano was born, from his surname, with 39 rooms and the restaurant transferred from via Saredo. But the cuisine remains the heart of everything. “Never done full board, so as not to lose quality”. In 1986 the children, Claudio and Pervinca entered: the Mare Hotel was born. Expansions, elevations, garage, two salted water pools. She manages, he deals with project and cuisine. A perfect understanding, broken in 2022 by the sudden disappearance of Claudio, creative soul of the company. “If we had been the same, he would not have worked. I paid, he created. So we never failed.”
The sea hotel today and restaurants
Today it is a five star with 67 sea rooms, private beach and diversified offer: in winter half business, in summer refuge for families and gourmet. The management remains familiar, with the fourth generation: the children of Pervinca Valentina, Alessandro and his nephew Alberto. The restaurant in Spursun-A is entrusted to the chef Simone Perattaformed at thezard in Barcelona, ​​three Michelin stars, who arrived in 2018. “He has been able to merge the starry school with my brother’s product cuisine: the fish recognizes himself, is not overwhelmed by useless sauces”.
The cuisine has evolved, but the family recipes remain: like the Ciuppin, which has now become a spaghettone cooked in the soup and served with seafood. Or the stuffed anchovies, served as entrée, according to the grandmother’s recipe. Next to the main restaurant, three other gastronomic souls coexist today: Sushi Beachborn in 2009 from an idea of ​​Pervinca’s nephew, proposes sushi with local fish. The Bistrot the seawanted by Pervinca, offers simple and accessible Ligurian dishes: pesto trofie, spaghetti with clams, minestrone, anchovies and fried foods. In the summer, the beach bar is added, with focaccia, pizzas, cold dishes and smoothies.
A book to tell all this
A book with vintage images, family anecdotes, historical recipes and memories arrives to put order and voice. ‘Spurcaccium-a, a love story. Tongues from achiegisigned by the gastronomic journalist Roberta Schira. “Ours is first of all a love story, which for 135 years binds my family to this corner of Ponente Ligure “says Pervinca. “It is a book that I had wanted for over thirty years. We already talked about it with my mother, imagining that we celebrated the hundred years. I cared because such authentic stories in catering are very rare. And Roberta caught the soul”.
The book is a tribute to a family, but also to a way of doing business. There are those who build companies to sell them, and those who put life there. The tyrants chose the second way. “It’s nice to see that children want to continue. In many families the parents kill themselves of fatigue and then the children take other paths. Everyone is inside and does what he loves. “ From Sciâ Paola to the Gastronomic Ciuppin, passing through Dinner Show and DJ set, the story of A Spurcacciun-A is that of a family that has been able to remain faithful to herself, while adapting to the times and reinventing himself without fear.
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