VISITING Chef Bruno Cingolani will take diners on an authentic Italian journey at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain’s La Pergola restaurant this weekend.
The event is set to feature an exciting display of the finest Italian cuisine, including homemade tagliatelle with Piemontese-style beef ragu and delicious hazelnut sponge served with a special sauce.
Guests can also enjoy select ingredients including special truffles, brought all the way from Italy by Chef Cingolani, La Pergola and the Batasiolo team.
Chef Cingolani, who has 50 years’ experience in the field, told the GDN that he started experimenting with food at the age of 12 – going to school in the morning and working in the kitchens in the evening.
But like most Italians, his curiosity for food was piqued at an earlier age, when he was around five or six, waking up to the smell of meat sauce being prepared for lunch, something he says all Italians are used to.
“Those are the kinds of flavours that you cannot erase from your memory,” he said.
“It was then that I realised there was something in me, just waking up to those aromas and learning. I later started adding my own techniques.”
The specially-curated menu is a simple one, especially the pasta, but a lot of work has gone into the braised beef cheeks, which undergo 12 hours of marination and three-and-a-half hours of slow cooking before it is served to diners.
Most of all, the chef is focused on quality ingredients and letting them shine through his dishes.
He believes in simplicity and is a true champion of using natural ingredients to maintain the original flavours of his dishes.
The hotel is marking Batasiolo Week, named in recognition of Beni di Batasiolo in Northern Italy, and guests are invited to try the special menu at the restaurant, which will be served until October 29. For further details and bookings, call 3655 1333.
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