Accurate and authentic': the key cookbook for classic Italian cuisine

Chef Mark Hix turns to the pages of cooking legend Anna Del Conte’s Gastronomy of Italy

Mark Hix

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Anna Del Conter at home in Dorset: ‘Anna’s writing encapsulate the Italian approach’ says Hix. Photograph: Matt Austin/REX/Shutterstock

Although I probably have about 2,500 cookbooks in my collection, I don’t really read them that often. I’ll pluck one off my shelves occasionally. There are a few proper reference tomes, though, that I do go back to: Roger Phillips’ books – Mushrooms and Wild Foodare two. Another is Anna Del Conte’s Gastronomy of Italy.

I’ve always been a fan of Anna’s. and she’s always been a fan of mine. We’ll still sometimes meet for lunch or dinner. We once went to Italy together, about 25 years ago, to do a talk – I don’t remember exactly what the talk was about, but I remember having the best ricotta I’d ever tasted, all freshly made. And I remember tasting farinata for the first time. Anna is a motherly figure. It was great to be with her.

I got my first copy of Gastronomy of Italy about 20 years ago; I think I found it secondhand, flicked through it quickly and bought it. I’ve since bought another. Anna’s writing is excellent, classic Italian cuisine, accurate and authentic. This book in particular is so good – both on ingredients and dishes. Anna’s writing really encapsulates the Italian approach. Anyone who reads her – whether an amateur cook or a restaurateur – would find that. She’s an authority. I will often refer to her when I’m writing, to double-check what I’m doing is authentic.

Italian food, contrary to Thai food, say, or Vietnamese, doesn’t need adjusting to British ingredients, since most things Italian recipes call for are readily available in the UK.Italian food influences all sorts of people, mostly because it’s so simple and all about the ingredients, which is what good-quality British food is about, too. Of course, depending on what your definition of British food is, you might disagree, but – for me, there are definite parallels between the two traditions: the braises, the simple cuts, the grilled meats on the bone. Take the classic bifsteakFiorentina, the simple approach to fish, and to vegetables and salads – all these Italian stalwarts find an echo in what we make in the UK.

The caponata recipe from Gastronomy of Italy always stood out for me, because Anna adds strong grated chocolate to the regular ingredients – the aubergine, vinegar, capers, etc – to give it that balance of sweet and sourness.

Caponata

A Sicilian dish that appears in many different versions throughout the island. It is a mixture of fried aubergine, celery, onion and tomato, to which artichokes or wild asparagus may be added. It is sometimes garnished with small octopus, prawns or shrimps, small pieces of lobster or bottarga (dried mullet or tuna roe). For an even richer caponata, a special sauce, called salsa di San Bernardo, is poured over it. This is made with sugar, vinegar, toasted almonds and dark chocolate: a sweet-and-sour sauce very much in the medieval style.

Serves 4Vegetable oil, for frying
750g aubergines, cut into 1cm cubes
Salt and black pepperThe inner stalks of 1 head of celery, coarse strings removed, cubed
100ml olive oil1 onion, very finely sliced
225g canned plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 tbsp granulated sugar6 tbsp white wine vinegar1 tbsp grated dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
4 tbsp capers, preferably in salt, rinsed
50g large green olives, pitted and quartered
2 hard-boiled eggs, to serve

Heat 2.5cm vegetable oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, add a layer of aubergines and fry until golden brown on all sides. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkling each batch lightly with salt. Repeat until all the aubergines are cooked. Fry the celery in the same oil, until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

Pour the olive oil into a clean frying pan and add the onion. Saute gently for about 10 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, over a moderate heat for about 15 minutes, then season to taste.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan. Add the chocolate, capers and olives, and simmer gently until the chocolate has melted. Add to the tomato sauce and cook for a further five minutes.

Mix the aubergines and celery into the tomato sauce. Stir and cook for 20 minutes, so the flavours blend. Pour the caponata into a serving dish and leave to cool.

Before serving, pass the eggs through the smallest holes of a food mill or push through a metal sieve over the caponata.