EATING IN 02 / LONDON

I have never been as prolific a cook as I am now, during this lockdown (writes Chiara Rimella). Having gone from eating dinners out an average of three times a week to feeding myself on a daily basis, I have gained confidence in my culinary abilities – perhaps too much. Why else would I forgo old faithful recipes for a cooking class with the fêted Massimo Bottura? As everything from yoga to lifedrawing lessons becomes available online, the chef behind Modena’s Osteria Francescana has taken to posting on social media a daily recipe in a series he’s dubbed Kitchen Quarantine.

His restaurant turns out experimental dishes that have earned him three Michelin stars but online his approach is much more rustic. His affable smile and enthusiastic demeanour make the series: we see him at home, cooking dinner for his family with whatever food he has delivered or using leftovers he finds in the fridge. And, perhaps, that’s where things become tricky.

As a chef with flair – and in what could be described as an Italian fashion – Bottura hasn’t helped those who like to plan ahead. Tune in at 20.00 Italian time to find out what’s on the menu for the night; why would you need to know what ingredients are being used beforehand? Then Bottura explains his methods to us in a confusing – but highly entertaining – mixture of Italian and English, sometimes swapping languages mid-sentence. Worry not: his daughter behind the camera is on hand to translate. The videos start after all the preparation has been done and scant instructions are offered for the completion of the dish. How long do I cook this for? How much stock is too much? And why doesn’t mine look like his? I embark on a recipe for “leftovers” ragù. But Bottura’s leftovers are perhaps not the same as yours and mine. Where he has beef tongue and pork belly, I’m stuck with a couple of rashers of bacon and two sausages.

Undeterred, I follow his advice on when to pour wine onto the meat and when to lower the flame. As for the rest, this experience is more improvisation than instruction. I take solace in Bottura saying that cooking is about love, passion and doing what you like doing. Without him to spur me on, I would probably be less courageous. My bog-standard Bolognese is much less exciting than what I’m eating tonight. Wish me luck.