Mateo Zielonka

MATEO ZIELONKA: THE PASTA MAN

Words Jo Denbury Photography Katharine Davies

It is a wet and foggy morning as I drive to meet Mateo Zielonka, accompanied by a torrid 40-mile-an-hour wind and horizontal rain now so commonplace in our Dorset winters that I won’t dwell on it. On arrival, the sanctity and calm of Mateo’s newly renovated kitchen offers a warm, dry welcome. We are enveloped by the smooth lines that only Corian work surfaces can provide – a surface well-suited to the work of Dorset’s very own Pasta Man.

During ‘Lockdown I’ many of us found sanctuary in our kitchens – a place to occupy our minds, hands and simply pass the time. Food trends became crazes, fuelled by social media and our longing to connect with others. One such trend was handmade pasta. Its potential for experimenting with shape, colour, and flavour is endless, and the dexterous creativity proved addictive. Across the globe, hands were kneading and rolling in a joyful bid to achieve a garganelli, cappelletti, farfalle or pappardelle worthy of the ravenous ranks on Instagram. It was a strangely compelling movement and Matt, as he prefers to be called, was at its forefront. >

Born in Poland, Matt’s first visit to England was at around the age of nine: ‘We came as a family for three months,’ he recalls. ‘I didn’t speak any English and we stayed in Plaistow, East London. It was such a good experience to see how different England is to Poland, how multicultural it is by comparison, and I loved it so much that I knew I wanted to come back.’ Roughly 10 years later, Matt’s best friend Micky was working in the UK. ‘He messaged me and suggested I come and visit.’ Matt arrived with nothing more than a backpack, a few clothes and no idea that he wouldn’t be returning to Poland. ‘I ended up getting a job with my friend at Mishkin’s (a Jewish deli in Covent Garden) as a kitchen porter. I spoke no English – we learn German in Poland – so I started to learn English by picking up the utensils and asking the cooks to name them. But gradually I began to help more in the kitchen and soon became a commis chef.’

Nine years ago, restaurant kitchens were still weighed down in machismo. ‘It was stressful and exhausting,’ says Matt. ‘I used to work an 80-hour week – it was so busy, you’d have no private life, it was long hours for minimum wage – but I enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the sense of teamwork.’

Today, Matt has been showing us how he makes a simple pasta dough – pouring the flour onto the kitchen counter, making a well for the eggs then slowly whisking them into the flour. It’s a perfect marriage of two humble ingredients. When the pasta is made it is wrapped and placed in the fridge to rest so we take a moment to drink coffee and chat. He is looking forward to seeing the new film – Boiling Point – starring Stephen Graham as the overwrought head chef of a restaurant in meltdown. The film is shot in a long, single take, heightening its pressure cooker tension. ‘It’s going to be stressful just watching it,’ he says. Elizabeth his partner joins us. She works from home as a freelance cook-book editor and gets to eat a great deal of pasta.

‘Making dough creates a mental space – feeling the dough in your hands is very therapeutic,’ explains Matt. Dorset, it seems, has had a similar effect. ‘It’s such a great part of the world,’ he muses. ‘The sea, lots of beautiful walks and lovely people.’ I would imagine it is the perfect antidote to the frenetic pace of a professional kitchen, but when did he make the switch to pasta? ‘Well, I first learned about Italian cooking when I worked at Polpetto with Florence Knight. It was there that I learned about the ingredients and >

flavours in Italian food. Inspired by this, I then took a job at Padella, one of the best-known pasta restaurants in London where the pasta is freshly made and served as small tasting plates.’ (There is a branch very close to Waterloo so if you are making that journey it is worth a visit – just be prepared to queue.) Matt didn’t stay in the job for long, but he was hooked on pasta. Inspired, he bought himself a pasta machine and began experimenting.

‘I met Elizabeth six years ago and she is a vegetarian,’ continues Matt. ‘That changed my way of cooking. I became a more creative cook because for a vegetarian you need to use more spices and herbs and experiment more with vegetables. It’s been a fantastic experience and for me much healthier. When it comes to pasta, it’s such a simple thing – you only need flour and eggs or semolina and water if you are vegan. It can take a bit of practice at first but it’s totally worth it as everyone likes eating homemade pasta.’

The simplicity and relative affordability of the ingredients makes it easier to seek out the best. ‘Ideally you will track down Italian 00 flour, available in any supermarket, and also look out for rich-yolk eggs which will make your pasta lovely and golden.’ Living in Dorset he relishes the opportunity to source locally as well as further afield in the west. For flour Matt uses Molino Pasini ‘00’ Pasta Fresca Flour and Molino Pasini Semolina, both stocked at Mercato Italiano in Bridport who also deliver across Dorset for a small charge. It is worth asking too at Ingredients, the deli towards the bottom of Cheap Street. Matt’s eggs are from the hens at St Ewe Eggs in Cornwall where they are fed a diet supplemented with marigold petals to encourage the golden yolks. (Note to self: grow more marigolds.) For herbs and salads he goes to Tamarisk Farm in West Bexington but I know Steve at

Sherborne Market Store carries similar.

‘Really though,’ says Matt, ‘I like simple things, such as a tomato sauce with half a burrata on top.’ What has continued to draw such a huge following to his posts on Instagram and YouTube is Matt’s spectacular use of colour and shape. ‘It’s not very complicated,’ says Matt, ‘for example if you have two beetroot in the fridge you can make purple pasta or use leftover spinach for green – it prevents wasting vegetables and kids love it.’ Matt’s dough has now rested long enough and he heads back to the counter to continue. It is inspiring to realise just how little you need to make good pasta – a few tools, simple ingredients and patience. There’s nothing extravagant about it – it’s just good honest food.

For now, Matt splits his time between Dorset and his job as head-chef at 180 The Strand for The Store X – a collaborative studio and arts space – just another hop and a skip from Waterloo incidentally and another place worth a visit. There he cooks lunch for around 200 diners on a daily basis and there are usually two pasta dishes on the menu. Matt’s plan is to be in Dorset full-time, sharing his pasta-making skills and drawing on the inspiration of our local produce. In the meantime, treat yourself to a basic pasta machine, pick up a few ingredients from your deli and try this simple fresh egg pasta recipe. The low-carb diet can wait for another year…

@mateo.zielonka

The Pasta Man: The Art of Making Spectacular Pasta (Quadrille), £15 (hardcover), is available from Winstone’s Books at a Sherborne Times reader offer price of £14.

SIMPLE DOUGH RECIPE FOR FRESH EGG PASTA

Ingredients 260g Italian 00 flour, plus more for dusting 2 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks

Method 1 Tip the flour onto a clean worktop or board, make a well in the centre and crack the 2 whole eggs into the middle of it, then add the 3 egg yolks. 2 Break the egg yolks and start to whisk them, slowly incorporating the flour as you go. When everything starts to come together, use your hands to knead the dough and continue to work it for around 10 minutes. 3 If your dough is too moist, dust it with some extra 00 flour. If it feels too dry and crumbly, wet your hands under the kitchen tap and continue to knead.

After 10 minutes your dough should be smooth and pliable. Cover the dough with an upturned bowl and leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes. 4 Take a quarter piece of your pasta dough (leave the rest covered until you’re ready to use it) and start rolling the dough twice through each setting on your pasta machine, starting at 0 and finishing on setting no 7. Rolling twice each time gives you a better, more pliable texture. Now cut the sheets into 25cm lengths – or whatever length you fancy. 5 Attach the pasta cutter to your machine and guide the sheets through it on the tagliatelle or tagliarini cutter. Fold the cut pasta into loose nests on a tray dusted with a generous amount of semolina. If you’re cutting the pasta more than an hour ahead of cooking, cover the whole tray with clingfilm to keep it airtight, otherwise it will start to dry out. 6 To boil the pasta, bring a large pot of water to the boil, season generously with plenty of salt, and drop the pasta into the water and boil for 1-2 minutes.

Depending on what sauce you are serving it with, it’s always a good idea to reserve some of the pasta cooking water to loosen your sauce to make it sure it covers every strand of pasta. Buon appetito!