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Alessandro Pavoni, Ormeggio, Sydney

You’ve just released your first cookbook, a tribute to Lombardy. What are your hopes for it?
Paul Seusse

You’ve just released your first cookbook, a tribute to Lombardy. What are your hopes for it?

My main goal was for people in Australia to cook the food of my home region in their homes. Some people think northern Italy is only about butter, but it’s not.

I grew up closer to a lake than a mountain. The lake produces a microclimate which is Mediterranean – so lots of extra virgin olive oil, lemon, a lot of citrus.

How did you go about choosing the recipes?

We travelled to Italy to see what I didn’t see when I grew up and to rediscover the region. I assembled over 100 recipes through family and friends, some from my grandma and my aunty. I cooked them all for six people and it took us one whole year to do that.

What’s on the plate at Ormeggio in September?

Tomato fettuccine with mud or spanner crab, perhaps, and baby basil. The end dish tastes and looks simple, but it’s very technical. We dehydrate the tomatoes to a powder, put that into the egg mix, and then cook the pasta dough in a tomato consommé.

Do you leave room for affogato?

I always like to finish with gelato and warm berries or an affogato. I love mine with vanilla gelato, strong coffee and grappa. That’s my grandfather’s dessert.

Ormeggio, D’Albora Marinas, Spit Rd, Mosman, NSW, (02) 9969 4088

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