Memories in the Kitchen: the art of Giovanni Trombatore

There is the good scent of fresh and quality raw materials, but there is also the scent of memories, of stories that are lost among literature and aristocratic weddings and recipes of simple dishes but which tell of a Sicily made up of kind-hearted and with great altruism. The call of family in Giovanni Trombatore’s kitchen is strong and in this new challenge in the historic center of the Baroque city you can understand it as soon as you enter the entrance door. To welcome guests, in fact, there are black and white photos that portray the faces dearest to the chef. Like that of mother Nuccia and father Pino, of grandmother Corradina who for years together with her sisters and brothers worked in the kitchens of Palazzo Castelluccio. There is also a photo of a wedding with the wedding banquet set up at Palazzo Biscari in Catania: it is the one between the Marquis Corrado Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio and Agatina Nava, the niece of Cardinal Giuseppe Francica Nava de Bondifè. «It is a way to remember one’s origins – explains chef Giovanni Trombatore – but also a way to tell how some recipes from the past have reached our times, resisting the many attempts at modifications and contaminations with the aim of reinventing dishes and preparations that are then lost in thin air”. There are many anecdotes that come from the past. One also flows into the world of cinema. «Carlo Levi was a guest of Amalia Di Lorenzo del Castelluccio – Trombatore continues – for about a month and had the opportunity to taste the dishes prepared by the kitchen of Palazzo Castelluccio, the kitchen where my aunt Concettina worked together with other sisters and other brothers . A simple but effective cuisine, with the aim of taking care of the substance even before the flavours.”

Some recipes have reached us. «That of the angel hair timbale – he continues – made with peas and veal stew, then worked with bechamel and cheese, it was breaded and then fried to become in effect a pasta arancini. And then the rice pudding, cooked in milk then tossed with butter. A dish of French origins, seasoned with stewed chicken veal strips processed with tomato extract and an onion cream.” Another anecdote concerns the cinema, with Mrs. Nuccia who will welcome actors such as Diego Abatantuono, Silvio Orlando and Margherita Buy, involved in the filming of some films shot between Noto and Marzamemi and who will then return with pleasure to Sicily to find her. And another directly with the Quirinale: with the president Sandro Pertini, recipient of some typical sweets every Christmas.

And it is precisely from that cuisine and those flavors that Giovanni Trombatore’s long journey begins, growing up with those memories that later became knowledge and reported in dishes and recipes. And also on the walls of the new and welcoming place in the center of Noto, where in addition to the photos it is also possible to admire live the typical dishes used to dry tomatoes in the summer or some objects that come directly from the fields. And then there are the perfumes of the past… which come from the present and launch you towards the future.