Remembering Antonio Carluccio

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Commendatore Antonio Carluccio OBE,  Italian chef, restaurateur, godfather of Italian gastronomy


The cookbook that has most influenced your cooking

Scienza in cucina e L’arte di mangiar bene by Pellegrino Artusi

The food of love… What would you cook to impress a potential date

Something simple but utterly delicious, for example, scrambled eggs and white truffle for breakfast

Your top five dinner guests, dead or alive

Katharine Hepburn, Sigmund Freud, Mozart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Ustinov

Fast food –  your top snack tip

Caviar on blinis

Most memorable meal in  film/literature/painting

Babette’s feast

Your worst kitchen disaster

Trying to make a sweet avocado tart

What do you eat  when you get home from the pub [or similar]

Whatever is edible of the leftovers in the fridge, or freshly cooked (7 minutes) spaghetti aglio e olio

What would you like your final meal to be?

Spaghettini with fresh tomato sauce and basil

What is your secret talent [in or out of the kitchen]?

My secret talent is not to know that I have a talent

What did you eat for breakfast today?

Porridge with milk

Most over-rated/ under-rated food/seasoning/gadget

I hate the word trendy in food, and all the various useless kitchen gadgets

Your inheritance recipes – the one you inherited [and from whom] and the one you’d like to pass on to your children

By memory, all that my mother used to cook for the family, plus my own input.  This has helped me write 23 books in the past 30 years, all related to the glorious, simple food of Italy and all of this I will pass on to future generations


Vegetables by Antonio Carluccio is published by Quadrille, £25, quadrille.co.uk. For a taste of Antonio Carluccio’s recipes visit breadandoysters.com/magazine/recipes/