Massimo
BOTTURA The art of flying with both feet on the ground
«Steam cooked cotechino (kind of spiced Italian sausage)»
Photo: Paolo Terzi
By Jesper Storgaard Jensen
He’s crazy about modern art and is inspired by jazz music. He quotes Kandinsky and Picasso and isn’t afraid to give his dishes bizarre names. Interview with the Italian Massimo Bottura, recently selected as «the world’s best chef», about … The art of flying with both feet on the ground.
Massimo Bottura has a pensive look when he speaks about his fellow countrymen. However, you clearly sense that he does not fall in the category of people without dreams. The 50-yearold chef speaks with exuberance and enthusiasm as if his voice was chopping onions. His hands wave like the born-and-bred Italian that he is. He’s full of nerve and verve which probably played no small role in his receiving several positive accolades during the last year. In February this year, the prestigious French gastronomic institution, International Academy of Gastronomy, based in Paris, hung the title of «the world’s best chef» around the neck of Massimo
«The Italians have stopped dreaming. We have become a de-
Bottura. Other years this title has been given to
pressed nation. I see no hope for a bright future, no ambition.
such internationally acclaimed chefs as the
The Italians have forgotten the positive stress that comes from
Frenchman Alain Ducasse, Brit Gordon Ramsey
being busy doing something you love.»
and the Spanish legend Ferran Adrià.
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