Italian savours
Italy seen through its gastronomy, not just pasta and pizza !
Anyone who sums up Italian cuisine as a few specialities based on pasta is doing real injustice to our neighbours across the Alps. They, like the French, have taken recipes with vegetables, meat, fish and sauces to the level of fine art…
As essential as ever… No point denying it, pasta is to Italy what bread is to France ! And it’s sublimated by chefs from Cannes to Monaco in lots of combinations, sometimes classic, sometimes original, but always brimming with taste. Tomatoes are its favourite companion, then come basil, various spices, cheese, vegetables (La Zucca Magica can always be trusted here), meat, seafood and shell-fish, not forgetting truffles. White ones from Alba, rare and precious, the emblem of refined recipes. There are dozens of types of pasta : from spaghetti to lasagna, cappeletti, taglioni, oriechette, cannelloni and all kinds of ravioli. The specialist in the field is Spaghetissimo Mille Pâtes. Then there’s Oscar, a native of Naples who runs a restaurant of the same name in Antibes and certainly doesn’t hide his passion for fresh pasta. At La Baie d’Amalfi, in Italian inn style, pasta is served with stewed sword-fish and calamari. But take note : it has to be “al dente”, as stipulated by the chef at L’Auberge de Théo. And what about risotto ? It goes just as well with seafood and shell-fish as with the traditional mushrooms and highly sought-after melanosporum - or quite simply with Parmesan cheese. One commendable idea is to try risotto with Il Terrazzino lemon. In fact, rather like France, Italy is made up distinctive regions, each one with its own speciality. Piedmontese beef stew, osso-buco from Milan, calves’ liver from Venice… Among the real basics, you’ll also find gnocchi, garnished with butter or basil (on the menu at Da Laura, but only at lunchtime), polpette (meatballs), lamb with mint, polenta, capon with Nocia truffles, bruschetta, saltimbanque… One thing’s for sure, there’s no place for monotony in Italian cuisine ! Franco Ansalone of Il Rigoletto, the only real Italian in Cannes, designs ravioli depending on his mood : round, square, half-moon… Then on to desserts. One immediately comes to mind : tiramisu. To be relished at Polpetta, a chic and expensive ristorante in Monaco. And don’t deprive yourself of a really good coffee, as only the Italians know how to make. The one served at lI Terrazzino (with its Napolitan cuisine, a delightful terrace and genuine charm) is accompanied by limoncello made with mandarin oranges from Sicily ; a treat for the taste-buds !
And if...
… you suddenly get the urge to eat Italian without leaving home, just drop by a delicatessen. Dishes prepared by La Botte are so enticing that they are given a warm welcome by professionals specializing in “ready to eat”. In Nice, the most well-known address is Da Andrea, though there are many more bursting with ideas for menus. Just take a glance to compose your own : choose from sauces (Bolognese, freschezza, basil, Don Vincenzo…), ravioli (with artichokes, flap mushrooms, stewed beef, salmon…), antipasti (little rolls of mozzarella with ham, semi-dry tomatoes, aubergines and pepperoni grilled with olive-oil, onions in balsam vinegar…), cold meats (Parma or San Daniele ham, pancetta coppata, speck…), cheese (Tuscan tome, Taleggio Mauri, mascarpone…), pasta (penne rigate, lasagnette, papaverini…), refined grocery products (white Alba truffles, black truffle cream, oil flavoured with truffles…) and finally, desserts. A shopping list to be completed by wine… Italian, of course !
Address-book
Auberge de Théo, 52 avenue Cap-de-Croix, Nice (04 93 81 26 19). Menus : 19 to 50 €. À la carte : from 40 €. Da Laura, 8 rue du 24 Août, Cannes (04 93 38 40 51). Approx. 25 to 30 €. Il Rigoletto, 60 boulevard d’Alsace, Cannes (04 93 43 32 19). Menus : 14 to 46 €. À la carte : from 45 €. Il Terrazzino, 2 rue des Iris, Monaco (00 377 93 50 24 27). Menus : 23 and 38 €. À la carte : from 38 €. La Baie d’Amalfi, 9 rue Gustave Deloye, Nice (04 93 80 01 21). Menus : 18 and 29 €. À la carte : approx. 40 €. L’Allegro, 6 place Guynemer, Nice (04 93 56 62 06). Lunchtime menus : 22 to 33 €. À la carte : approx. 58 €. La Voglia, 2 rue Saint-François-de-Paule, Nice (04 93 80 99 16). La Zucca Magica, 4 bis quai Papacino, Nice (04 93 56 25 27). Menus : 17 to 27 €. Oscar’s, 8 rue du Docteur Rostan, Antibes (04 93 34 90 14). Menus : 23 to 50 €. Polpetta, 2 rue Paradis, Monaco (00 377 93 50 67 84). Menu : 23 €. À la carte : 38 to 55 €. Pulcinella, 17 rue du Portier, Monaco (00 377 93 30 73 61). Menu : 28 €. À la carte : from 38 €. Restaurant Vecchia Firenze, 4 avenue Prince Pierre, Monaco (00 377 93 30 27 70). Menus : 10 to 30 €. À la carte : from 35 €. Spaghettissimo Mille Pates, 3 cours Saleya, Nice (04 93 80 95 07). À la carte : 9 to 22 €.
by Cécile Olivéro - photos : E. Andreotta
