MEMORIES OF ANTONIO

Barney Desmazery remembers the godfather of Italian cooking, Antonio Carluccio

The last time I saw Antonio Carluccio was at the Harrogate BBC Good Food Show last May (when the picture, right, was taken). He was on fine form for a man of 80, affably cooking orecchiette con broccoli e cozze (pasta with broccoli and mussels) and piatto di vegetali con salsa olandese (bouquet of vegetables with hollandaise sauce) in front of a packed theatre, and holding court with profound answers during the Q&A sessions. But what stays with me most is seeing him backstage, leaning on his hand-whittled walking stick, chuckling like Sid James and entertaining us all with jokes that everyone would ask him to re-tell.

I grew up in the 80s with parents who loved the BBC’S Food and Drink show – to me, Antonio was Italian food. His book on mushrooms, A Passion for Mushrooms, was bought for me by a well-meaning friend of the family when I went to catering college, and I remember my chirpy college pal Jamie (yes, that Jamie!) being very excited about going to work for the master of pasta. When I first met Antonio, he’d just opened an eponymous deli, and was conducting a risotto masterclass. He was a lot more vigorous with risotto than I’d been taught to be – shaking the pan and stirring roughly while he added ladlesful of fast-boiling brodo. I’ll never forget the taste of it. Risotto and wild mushrooms all of a sudden made sense. He ignited my love for both, and sent me away with a special forager’s mushroom knife, which I still use today. I’ve since had the pleasure of working with this great man over the years, and it was on the shoot for this veal recipe, right, that I was blown away by the simplicity and brilliance of this dish. He said to me the wise words I now impart to all younger food fans: ‘The best food is MOFMOF – minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour.’ Chef Antonio Carluccio, we’ll miss you.