Chef Mimmo De Filippo: ethics in the kitchen (part III)

2017-03-29 Ever since we were children, we have been brought up believe that what we like is bad for us. But at the organic food restaurant “Apriti Sesamo” in Parma, chef Mimmo De Filippo and his wife Antonella Fusco do their best to make us change our minds: a healthy dish can also be very tasty.
Vegan cuisine, which Antonella describes very effectively to diners, is actually much more attractive than it may initially appear. It’s true that it uses no products of animal origin, but it can be a true feast for the senses. You must try it to believe it!
Which of your dishes represents you best, Mimmo?
“Those containing seitan, because I often make the seitan myself, and I put all my energy into making it. Seitan carpaccio with pumpkin, Mediterranean seitan stew, a dish in which I draw on my roots in Puglia, and seitan cutlets are my homage to the gastronomic tradition of Italy. Seitan is more appropriate than soy-based products for use in place of meat in traditional dishes, though we also use tempeh and tofu in new versions of recipes historically based on meat or cheese.”
What qualities do you think you possess as as chef?
“I am a good observer, which allows me to take into account people’s encouragement, advice and recommendations and reflect on them when developing new recipes. We all grow thanks to contributions from other people. We need to be humble enough to talk to other people and learn from them.”
How do you create your recipes?
“With fresh ingredients in season, and on the basis of the oriental philosophy of yin and yang. I have learned to classify foods as belong to one or the other of these two types of energy, feminine and masculine. To achieve balance in a dish, I attempt to combine the two, so that they will be balanced and add flavour. In my menu of the day I seek to include all five flavours, acidic, salty, hot, sweet, and bitter, and make sure that they are all represented.”
What is your attitude to tradition and innovation?
“My cooking is not only a vegan version of traditional Italian dishes such as vegetable-stuffed tortelli [a filled pasta traditional in Parma, ed.], with tofu in place of ricotta cheese, but also new dishes made with oriental ingredients such as seaweed, tofu or tempeh, which help to amplify and add to traditional vegan dishes in which the protein comes from legumes.”
How do you define an “ethical food”?
“A vegan food, which demonstrates that we do not need to eat other living things to survive. And not only is it ethical, it is healthier too, as revealed by the many illnesses we have unfortunately been seeing in factory-farmed animals, from mad cow disease to bird flu.”
Can food nourish the soul?
“Definitely. Above all, because eating in a certain way can help people with spiritual practices such as meditation. For example, in the yoga tradition, garlic and onions are said to interfere with concentration and spiritual progress… What’s more, food can change our mood and even the depths of our soul. Chili pepper and ginger are both spicy, for example, but one cools us down while the other warms us up, and they have different effects on the way we feel.”

Mariagrazia Villa

Photos: Edoardo Fornaciari