It was not a sign of alarm but curiosity. Why should a chef originally from Sri Lanka, who runs a successful restaurant in the centre of Milan focused on Japanese techniques matched with a fusion style – he calls it Wicuisine – test himself with our dough?

This resulted in the following question: why not ask the person concerned? And so we did.

«In the kitchen I have three electric ovens that can guarantee the perfect temperature. So I wanted to test myself in a field I had not explored before, that of pizza. For now I’ve eaten it and served it to my staff, but I go on with my tests, with the goal of presenting it as an amuse bouche at restaurant Wicky’s in a few months’ time, when my best version will be sound».

There’s still that question: why pizza? You’re a chef looking at the Mediterranean Sea yet with eastern eyes… «And I’m doing so in this case too: Italian technique and Asian ingredients».

Which means: white and whole-wheat flour, mother yeast, leavening of over 5 hours... Yet his oriental approach already peeks out, «I add a little rice flour, with the objective of fine tuning, in the future, a dough only made with the latter, so it can be gluten free».

Meanwhile the disc has already acquired a “Neapolitan” look, soft in the middle, with a thick and crispy edge.

The garnish is original: mozzarella Pod, then amberjack or Japanese scallops, kongxincai (Chinese water spinach), Thai basil… «I bake the disc for a couple of minutes, I season it then put it back in the oven for 4 minutes». 

The result is a success, and Wicky’s happy: «I now work in Italy, where I dish out my cooking, the result of techniques I learnt in Japan. Yet I don’t know where I’ll go in the future, perhaps I will end up in Tokyo: and then I want to apply the same model, that is to say stand out with a different style, in this case thanks to the Italian influence, which means pizza too. Research, in order to keep your excellent food in my heart. No matter where».

Carlo Passera
source: http://newsletter.identitagolose.it/email.php?id=568

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