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SHELL ISSUE - n° 18 - 2019 - € 10
The Art of Sailing
Custom Line Nav
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QUART ERLY - P.I. 31/03 /2019 Intern ationa l € 10, Spedizione in Abbon Chf 10,50 , UK £ 7,50- Poste Italian amento Postale e S.p.a. - 70% - LO/MI
[ GOURMAND ]
PIETRO LEEMANN
An artistic chef working in harmony with nature His food doesn’t just look and taste incredible: it borders on a spiritual experience. We go face-to-face with the inventor of vegetarian haute cuisine by Marta Bernasconi - ph. Lucio Elio
P
ietro Leemann’s backstory is inextricably linked to his professional development. Even a cursory glance
reveals what a fantastic storyteller he is. This is a man with a lifelong compulsion to travel, learn and explore. His boundless curiosity about life has also produced the boldly experimental approach to food that has turned him into a beacon for vegetarian haute cuisine. Always well ahead of the times, his Milan restaurant, Joia, is about to turn 30. Leemann was also the first chef to be awarded a Michelin star for a vegetarian restaurant and has become the undisputed mentor for all lovers of seasonal, sustainable cuisine that incorporates a deep knowledge of the properties of various foods and how they can be combined. “I always try to promote beneficial change with my cuisine,” he explains of his ongoing striving for harmony between the planet and its inhabitants. “I believe that food is important both for our physical wellbeing and our ethical, psychological and spiritual sphere”. Leemann uses all-organic ingredients and takes a low fat, gluten and sugar approach. That might sound a bit sackcloth and ashes to some but the reality couldn’t be more different. Chef Leemann is a master when it comes to creating dishes that look like impressionist paintings, pouring his ideals and feelings into colour and form. His primary source of inspiration is almost always nature. “Anything can be sparked on a simple walk. Then seasonality comes into the ingredients I choose and I will also find myself
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Chef Pietro Leemann and some of his creations. The names of his dishes alone tell a story: Top, left, “Homo Vegetus” and, right, “Belly Button of the World”. Centre, “Anachronism” and below “The Face of Nature”.
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[ GOURMAND ]
“The fascinating thing for me is that cooking aboard is an ongoing, everevolving process that depends on the raw materials that you find in the ports”
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simultaneously thinking about form, the look of a dish which
become a chef is often the result of a desire to work on ships
is never casual. My dishes don’t look like anyone else’s because
and travel. I worked on gourmet banquets for Costa Crociere
I don’t follow trends or fashions. Presentation to me must be
with Gualtiero Marchesi. The fascinating thing for me is that
linked to the kind of dish you want to serve”. When we ask
cooking aboard is an ongoing, ever-evolving process that
for a few practical tips, Leemann talks about communal times
depends on the raw materials that you find in the ports. My
aboard. “It is both fun and simple to do your own sprouting so
cuisine today is also a voyage of sorts. I love using ingredients
you’ll always have a fresh ingredient to add to lots of different
from different regions.” To celebrate Joia’s 30th anniversary and
dishes as well as an aesthetic extra. Context is also important.
a certain approach to vegetarian cuisine, Leemann is publishing
You are almost always at sea in summer and wind and sun
a book that is as much about basic preparation, techniques and
means there’s a thirst to quench. So then you need to serve
the way the kitchen is organised, as recipes. The chef is also
up dishes with a liquid base and a tiny bit of acidity. The third
actively involved in promoting the values of vegetarian cuisine
element is to always alternate cooked and raw to create a
through the Joia Academy which organises both theory-based
marriage between hot and cold.” Leemann adores the water
and practical courses for professional and enthusiastic amateur
and his dream is to have a home overlooking the lake. “The
cooks alike. Because even in this enlightened day and age, not
allure of cooking on the water is always the hook for chefs,
everyone is aware of the sheer richness that vegetarian cuisine
particularly when they are starting off. In fact, deciding to
has to offer.