Chef Talk: Gianluca Piaggi, Executive Chef @ Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong East

Chef Gianluca Piaggi has recently been appointed as the new Executive Chef of Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong East, overseeing the kitchen operations of Casalingo, an authentic Italian restaurant, and Pudong City Bistro, an all-day-dining restaurant featuring cuisines from all around the world. Talk was invited to meet the new chef at Casalingo and to sample a selection of his innovative Italian dishes, rooted in traditional fare. As we entered the restaurant, we were extremely impressed with the casual dining atmosphere and home-style appearance of the space. Although it had not even reached noontime on a Monday, the eatery was bustling with people. The airy and open ambience, combined with the wooden design, and open kitchen in the centre of the room with a sumptuous buffet style antipasto counter, including salads, cheese, hams, bread and much more, added to therelaxed dining style that Casalingo exudes.We selected three dishes from the a la carte menu; pappardelle with mushroom, black truffle and sautéed sea scallops (RMB 138 net), roasted lamb with braised shallots and mint pesto (RMB 288 net) as well as codfish with vegetable stew and parsley sauce (RMB 220 net). The pappardelle is made freshly in the restaurant every morning and the egg pasta noodles not only taste fantastic, but are also slightly al dente and fantastically chewy; a texture you just cannot recreate at home with the dried variety. The black truffle and scallops intensify the flavour by adding an extravagant yet earthy dimension. The roasted lamb was, obviously, cooked to perfection; tender and slightly pink in the middle. The mint pesto was an interesting twist on the classic, and slightly acidic, mint sauce more commonly served with the meat. Finally, the codfish melted in the mouth and was the perfect warming stew for the winter, so much so that we implored Chef Piaggi to impart upon us his recipe. Luckily he told us that the dish is quite easy to prepare at home and all the ingredients can be found in the market. No stranger to China, Chef Piaggi has lived in China for almost seven years, and recently moved to Shanghai after living in the southern part of the country. He also has experience working in Thailand, Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, England, Switzerland and Taiwan. It is clear to see that Chef Piaggi is equally as passionate about travelling as he is about food. “Being a chef is a job which could give me the opportunity to work in many different places and explore different cultures.” Although well travelled, he seems to be a purist and doesn’t feel the need to change his menu to suit the different environments he finds himself in. “I never change, but offer dishes to match Chinese taste without forgetting the Italian tradition.” Although, he gets many of his ideas from talking to his guests, so head down to Casalingo if you want to inspire the chef with your personal creations. Look out for Chef Piaggi’s highly recommended dish. The top tip is, when recreating the codfish dish, do not overcook the fish. “Codfish has a very tender and juicy texture so it is essential to pan fry the codfish to the right point that it will be crispy on the outside whilst maintaining the tender and juicy texture.” Buon appetito!

Merluzzo: Codfish With Vegetable Stew And Parsley Sauce

Ingredients:

180g codfish

100g onion

100g yellow, red and green peppers

100g courgette

100g aubergine

100g tomato

100g parsley

15g capers

50g green olives

5g anchovies

100g olive oil

A pinch of oregano (according to taste)

A pinch of salt (according to taste)

A pinch of white pepper (according to taste)

Method:

Begin by searing the codfish in a pan before placing it in the oven to finish cooking (be careful not to overcook the fish as this will lead to it being very dry). Stew the vegetables starting with the onion, before adding the courgette, peppers, tomato and aubergine. Season the stew to taste. For the sauce, blend the parsley with olive oil, capers, green olives and anchovies. Serve the codfish on a bed of vegetable stew with the parsley sauce poured on top.