Food&Kitchen: a chat with DJ Marco Pipitone

2018-02-12 Marco Pipitone is a photographer at the photo workshop of the Study Centre and Communication Archive (CSAC) at Parma University.
He has always been a music fan, and since 1996 he has deejayed at some of Italy’s best-known clubs, including “Onirica” (Parma), “Transilvania” (Milan), “Fuori Orario” (Reggio Emilia), “Estragon” (Bologna), “Le Capannine” (Catania), “Cage Theatre” (Livorno), “Capanno Black Out” and many more.
In 2001 he created “Endenocte”, a dark-wave music project. He writes a blog and the “9 canzoni 9 di Marco Pipitone” column in the national newspaper “Il Fatto Quotidiano”.
What is your first thought when you go into the kitchen, Marco?
“I put my problems behind me when it’s time to make dinner”.
What dish best represents your life, and why?
“It may sound banal, but it’s pizza. Pizza stands for happy times connected with special moments in my life.”
What wine gets your heart beating?
“Ribolla Gialla, a white wine from Friuli that goes beautifully with vegetables, with flan, with flavourful cheese, soups and rice dishes. It has a particularly fragrant, delicate aroma with particularly evident floral notes, which make this wine truly special, especially if served cold”.
What is tops in the kitchen for you?
“The fragrance of food cooking. Food is only cooked properly if it “decorates the house””.
What is the ingredient you can’t do without?
“Spices. I love cooking with spices and figuring out how to use them”.
What is the most fun item in your kitchen?
“A mortar and pestle, which of course I use with spices.”
Is there a dish you’d like to try making?
“I love Indian food, and for years I have been looking for somebody who can teach me how to make lentil dahl.”
Which recipe do you do best?
“I have been making a number of Middle Eastern dishes for years, such as couscous, or vegetables prepared according to ancient and quite complicated recipes”.
What are the qualities you appreciate in a cook?
“An enterprising spirit and creativity are the distinguishing features a cook must be able to draw on.
What does food mean to you?
“I love food, but I’m also detached from it: I don’t deny myself the pleasures of the table, but rather than the food itself, it’s the preparation and the creation of the courses that I like. A perfectly prepared dish is a truly creative act, which is art.”

Mariagrazia Villa