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When I arrived in South Africa I offered Nothern cuisine -
very clean, very simple, very light
And it was difficult because
everyone was used to large sauces
cooking for a long time, doughy cooking, adding spices we know nothing about
I saw carpaccio with ginger, curries,
which don't make up a large part of our cuisine, especially in the North
My dishes were very easy and simple.
For me, carpaccio is the best meat,
that I breed myself,
with a dash of olive oil and flakes of parmigiano
This, for them, was unthinkable
They like everything more
They don't have a precise culinary identity
They copy everything and add from their own experiences
So they mix Greek, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Asian, Indian, Dutch cuisines
English cuisine basically doesn't exist; it's a mix of everything
South Africans ate with their eyes, until a few years ago
So simple dishes like risotto alla milanese with saffron is worth nothing to them
But if you put umbrellas, foam, olives, and cherries it becomes something interesting
I never put up with this
and, after a few years, I managed to impose what I do
We're born with Barilla pasta,
so it's a pleasure to use it and sell it,
it's part of our DNA
I've always used it and would like to keep using in abroad
Today I have made pasta with beans, a typical dish of the North
Everyone thinks pasta with beans is a winter dish;
I've always had it in the summer
with fresh beans that grow at the start of summer
It's a peasant dish
South Africans don't go to a restaurant to have a peasant dish
So I added fresh mussels which gave it a mainstream interest
And it's a dish that sells particularly well in the summer
People like it, so, once again, I won