In Bangalore to head the South Italian cuisine festival “Capri to Calabria”, Italian chef Luigi Ferraro talked about working in India after having spent years across the globe. I came to India first as a tourist. As I came across the variety of spices that Indians use, which interested me, so I decided to work here. Butter chicken Masala is his favourite dish, but he still believes Indian food is a bit spicy. In Calabria too we like spices. There will be fresh chillies on every table. We are fascinated with your spices.
OPEN TO NEW FOOD – According to Luigi Ferraro, Indian chefs sometimes change authentic Italian cuisine, like spaghetti, and make it totally different. I have to work around that. However, people here are open to new food, so it is nice working here. He has also spoken about Calabrian cuisine in his book, “Calabria, in tutti i sensi”. I feel this cuisine isn’t well known, and wanted to change that. Because it is on the coastline, there is a lot of seafood, which makes it different from the cuisines of the surrounding places. Most of all, he wants people to learn more about Calabrian cuisine. That’s why he has added his own dishes to the menu for the food festival, and they are his take on what Italian cuisine means to him. Before going back to Italy, chef Ferraro seeks to go to China and to work in Hong Kong for a while.