In Italy, top woman chef mixes it up with sunshine flavours from tiny island
AWA R D-W I NNI NG y ou ng Ita lian chef Martina Caruso’s love of food is in her blood – a nd she has t he tat toos to prove it.
At j u s t 29, Ca r u s o ha s become a hit in the world of haute cu isi ne by usi ng t he sunshine f lavours of her tiny volcanic island of Salina and g iv i ng a moder n t w i st to t radit iona l recipes.
Earlier this year, she was named Italy’s female chef of 2019 – just three years after she became the youngest Italian to win a Michelin star at the family-run Signum restaurant and hotel on Salina.
The flavours from the idyllic island infuse Caruso’s dishes and her favourite ingredients are even tattooed on her arm: garlic, oil, hot pepper, octopus and the sea.
From a young age she watched her father Michele, who as Signum’s chef was devoted to traditional recipes.
“At first, my father did not give me any room, he did not want me to become a chef, a tiring job,” Caruso says.
But she f lew t he nest for t hree years to train at a cooker y school near Sicily’s capital Palermo.
Caruso later took her place as a chef in t he family restaura nt, where she showed of f her tech n ic a l a nd creat ive ways of cooking.
“I convinced my father by showing him what I knew how to do.”
Her mantra is “simplicity”, says Caruso, who was awarded the female chef of the year title by the Italian Michelin guide and Veuve Clicquot in March.
“But simple doesn’t mean it’s easy,” she laughs.
In one of her appetisers, Caruso takes “bagna cauda”– a typical dish from Piedmont in northern Italy, which consists of garlic and anchovies, but gives it a Sicilian kick by using sea urchins.
Salina is known for its capers, which she makes into ice cream, something t o be savoured in small quantities due to the potent flavour of the tiny green berries.
Boils down to ‘home cooking’
Her menu also includes chargrilled moray eel, which she cooks on embers in her garden. The delicate white fish is scarcely eaten on the island today but she is keen to continue using the traditional ingredient.
Another local speciality is her “mezzi paccheri”, short tube-shaped pasta with an intense squid sauce, based on a recipe made by fishermen’s families.
“Fr ench c u i si ne i s v er y much based on tech nique, t he marriage of f lavours. To t hink up a dish, Ita lian chefs may be more traditiona l, and t hat’s what I do by listening to the country’s elders,” Caruso says.
However, Caruso’s mother, Clara, the mayor of the small town of Malfa, has never even cooked an egg.
Instead of the kitchen, Clara turned her attention over t he course of 30 yea rs to t ra nsforming a number of old pastel-coloured proper t ies into what has become a boutique hotel in Sa lina, a n isla nd of just 26 square k ilometres.
She has also tried to increase tou r i sm on t he i sla nd by inviting artists into a former palace that has been turned into a cultura l centre.
Salina was featured on the silver screen in the film Il Postino, which was shot there 25 years ago. The classic is screened every day during the summer at an outdoor cafe on the island.
At the restaurant, Caruso’s father Michele still takes care of ingredients in the early morning and her brother Luca works as a manager. “We try to make the young people of the island work,” she says.
“My father was taught by his mother. In Italy, the cuisine of ‘the mamma’, home cooking, is fundamental,” the chef says.
The feminine cult in the kitchen can be seen in the large number of Italian women who have been distinguished by Michelin awards.
For Caruso, the Michelin title is “an important moment” in terms of her image, but it also gives her a pretext to talk about being a woman working in haute cuisine.
She makes sure she works with a diverse team.
Her r ise to fa me has not prompted her to leave t he i s l a nd, whose popu l at ion goes down to just 2,000 in the winter.
“I can explore t he world in t he winter, but I won’t leave Sa l i na, it’s home,” she says.