This doesn’t mean that these pizzas are too elaborated or creative, given they’re mostly designed with foreign clients in mind: they want a good pizza, the emblem of Italian and Mediterranean food, in a 5 star setting.

The perfect example is given by Fabio Ciervo, executive chef at Hotel Eden in Rome, the elegant hotel of the Dorchester Collection off Via Veneto.

Originally from Sant’Agata dei Goti, a nice village in Benevento’s Sannio region, he used to be a sportsman, and holds a master in Nutrition, which he completed while the hotel was closed for the significant renovations that made it even more refined and modern, without losing its charm.

Ciervo decided to introduce pizza in the menu at Il Giardino, the hotel’s “informal” restaurant on the same floor (and with the same view) of starred restaurant La Terrazza.

Here the chef presents a Mediterranean cuisine based on simple and healthy recipes, with great raw materials and homemade processing. So of course there had to be pizza. In this case Ciervo – who started working in a pizzeria in Volterra during the summer, while he was at catering school – applied the same meticulous research on products and techniques he uses with all his dishes, with attention to flavours and nutrients.

So on top of creating a special area in the kitchen for counter and oven (an electric one with a rotating dish, to guarantee a perfect baking), he studied flour, dough and toppings so as to make tasty and easy to digest pizzas.

On top of a long maturation and leavening (at least 48 hours), he uses non-refined Petra flour, with a specific blend that includes spelt and soy, for a greater concentration of fibres that can keep the glycaemic index low, while having a special texture and a round and “rustic” flavour.

As for the seasonings, which change seasonally, the chef chooses the ingredients with the same care used for La Terrazza:

organic fiordilatte and fiaschetto tomato purée from Apulia, ‘nduja from Calabria, an extraordinary tuna preserved in oil and a selection of different extra virgin olive oils from all around Italy, to be paired with the flavours of each pizza.

There are only few pizzas in the menu, but they are truly delicious. They’re served in a “traditional” way (not sliced) and you can relax and enjoy them and the view of Rome’s rooftops.

The recipes, divided into pizzas with or without tomato sauce, include Marinara and Margherita as well as Il Giardino with fiordilatte, cherry tomatoes, rocket, prosciutto and shaved Parmigiano, and the one with date tomatoes, buffalo milk mozzarella, tuna belly and basil.


Editorial Board Identità Golose
source: http://www.identitagolose.it/news/view.php?id=97

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