We publish an extract from the book edited by Manfredi Maretti, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Madonnina del Pescatore, the restaurant always managed by Moreno Cedroni e Mariella Organi. Enjoy the reading.
Forty years ago a journey began that has forever marked my way of seeing the world. For the first time I came across an image of rare beauty that often comes to mind. It is the image of the Cape of Good Hope, there, where two masses of water, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, merge together while remaining distinct at the same time. An image so clear, so immense, that it inspired in me the desire to recreate a similar fusion between two equally incisive forces in my kitchen. I identified these two forces in creativity and tradition, the supporting elements, source of inspiration, creation and energy of my cuisine. It is precisely there that, at the same time, my second journey also began; a journey that makes tradition its basis and creativity its driving force. This journey bears the name of the Madonnina del Pescatore.
This is the message I have been writing on the first page of the menu for years. Today, 40 years after the beginning of that journey, research and development are my two Oceans, the driving forces that ignite and color my inspirations. Thus, the journey of the Madonnina has intertwined with that of The Tunnel, a research and development laboratory that aims to channel the best of technology applied to cooking, at the service of nourishment and taste. Naturally, the “discoveries” made in the tunnel must not overturn the menu of the Madonnina, but must provide additional notes to use.
In forty years my eyes have remained, on the one hand, the same, eyes that still know how to be surprised by the beauty that this world offers us; on the other hand, they are eyes that over the years have grasped new nuances, appreciated the vastness and variety of this world of ours, the richness that resides in this, in diversity. They are therefore, now, eyes that have acquired the firm awareness that the strength of a concept lies in its universality and one becomes universal only by questioning, asking, observing, learning from the other.
As a result, my approach to cooking has changed, the breakdown and composition of an ingredient on a plate, the understanding of the elements, the search for balance and new balances. Every trip I have been able to take in these years has changed me and my cooking, enriching my baggage and broadening my horizons. Only by traveling have I been able to personally grasp the fruits of different cultures, touch the peculiarities of other countries with my own hands, get to know them until I loved them; only in this way, making them my own, have I been able to recreate in my cooking paths that tell of traditions and contaminations, stories of life, tastes and colors. Experimentation in the field, the encounter with new flavors, the intertwining of many cultures have been the lifeblood for my cooking, which has thus had the opportunity to evolve, change, and settle on new balances.
For me, the most shocking and exciting dish in the world is in fact the one in which all four taste elements are present and balanced at the same time, so that the taste buds are excited; a dish in which tradition has managed to guide experimentation towards something new and unique, in which research has reached its peak and sustainability is always a key element.
Images like those of the Cape of Good Hope and more generally memory and places of memory have defined my DNA, constitute my being, mark my steps. Personally, I live life as a journey, like the one I often take on the highway from North to South, with my gaze to the right, towards the hinterland: the landscape has discrete shapes like the character of its people, but hides precious food and wine treasures. It is the landscape of the Marche, a land of tireless toilers with a light heart, supporters of great works.
Rigatoni all’arrabbiata with fresh anchovies and aubergines
The pinnacle of this journey, my North Star: Senigallia. A seaside town of eclectic beauty, Senigallia is the town where I was born. It was July 9, 1964, I was about to be born in the sea because my mother still fished for cannelli. Sweetly blurred memories and other clear and sharp ones come to mind when thinking about my town, like the sand dunes and the reeds that made the seafront of an irrepressible beauty.
Senigallia has seen me grow and I have seen it grow, street after street, flood after flood. And although it has changed so much, it is still a place that offers beauty, like the beauty of Mario Giacomelli’s photographs, always alive.
When I opened the restaurant, in 1984, I went to his printing shop to buy receipt pads, and I still didn’t appreciate his art. I then dedicated “The Black Figure Waits for the White” to him, a dish that bears the title of his 28 book and symbolizes the great esteem I have for him.
From the roundabout to the pier, from Piazza delle Erbe to Rocca Roveresca, to the Palazzo del Duca, Senigallia offers a vast series of postcards for the whole world. Senigallia and its sea, that sea where destiny wanted me to come to light; this sea, which has accompanied me since then, does not abandon me even for an instant, it is present in everything I do: from the Nautical Institute that I attended, to the restaurant that I opened at 20 and which has marked my history, allowing me to design new scenarios in seafood cuisine.
Celebrating 40 years of activity deserves deep thanks, first of all to my wife Mariella with whom we celebrate 30 years of marriage, to our daughter Matilde from whom I have certainly deprived some attention, I can say that Clandestino and Anikó are her brothers. Furthermore, a heartfelt thank you to all our collaborators and our customers who have allowed us to get this far!
