Do you have Italian friends? Surely every single one of them is their own person, beyond stereotypes and clichés.
But there is one thing common to many, if not most, Italians all over the world: An unshakable belief that Italian food must be preserved according to tradition and prepared following fairly rigid rules.
Even Italian food critics in the recent past were reluctant in accepting variations to the canon of Italian cuisine. It took years of harsh reviews before they accepted Massimo Bottura's revolutionary take on Italian classics at his Osteria Francescana restaurant in Modena - now ranked no. 1 in the latest edition of The World's 50 Best Restaurants.
Once considered heretics, the new generation of chefs is finding recognition in Italy by changing the monolithic tradition of local cuisine.
It's something that is also happening here in Australia today.
, the Italian 'bible' of Italian food and wine, has named two Sydney-based establishments among the best Italian restaurants in the world, and each of them flouts tradition.
Pyrmont's LuMi Bar and Dining was named Restaurant of the Year 2019, and Surry Hills pizzeria Al Taglio was awarded 'three slices' - the top rating in the pizza category and a recognition given to only 11 establishments outside of Italy.
What do the two restaurants, quite different in their fine dining and gourmet pizza styles, have in common? Both of their chefs migrated from the Northeast of Italy in the '00s. And neither are afraid to use Australian native ingredients in their dishes.
LuMi's king fish ceviche with with seasonal herbs from the Blue Mountains, finger lime and jalapeños Source: Federico Zanellato
Fine dining with Australian seafood and native herbs
LuMi's Federico Zanellato, 2017 , is comfortable subverting Italian traditions by presenting a fine dining selection where Italy, Japan and Australia co-exist and, according to Italian critics, thrive.
"We offer a contamination of Italian cuisine with ingredients and techniques from Asia and in particular Japan, while always sourcing fresh Australian ingredients," Zanellato tells SBS Italian.
Among those, he only uses local species of seafood - which do not exist in the Mediterranean – from the Southeastern coast of Australia, all the way from New South Wales to South Australia, and beyond.
"We recently started using products from Western Australia as well, for example crustaceans such as marron [a local variety of crayfish]," Zanellato says.
Other native Australian ingredients widely used in the ever-changing menu at LuMi are finger lime, lemon myrtle, Australian saltbush and warrigal greens.
"Finger lime is fantastic!," raves the chef. "When you open it you obtain small spheres that resemble caviar but have a flavor similar to lemon. On our current menu we use this 'lemon caviar' to provide acidity for a ceviche-style raw seafood dish," he said.
LuMi's Macadamia chawanmushi with spanner crab, lemon myrtle and finger lime Source: Supplied
And while an infusion of lemon myrtle is added to a dish combining crab and dashi (a Japanese style stock), saltbush can act as a substitute for normal salt while also adding something unique to a dish.
"Saltbush in Australia is a plant whose leaves, if eaten raw, are extremely
salty," says Zanellato. "We fry them and use them on our dishes, instead of salt, to add sapidity and crunchiness."
Zanellato does not overlook a famous native Australian export either: macadamia nuts. He uses them to prepare a typical Italian pannacotta dessert after having extracted macadamia milk from them.
"We use the same traditional process used in Italy to produce almond milk," he says.
LuMi's Emptied Granny Smith apple stuffed with liquorice mousse, finger lime, eucaliptus gelee and green apple sorbet Source: Federico Zanellato
'Authentic' Italian pizza comes with barramundi and kangaroo
Al Taglio is a small pizzeria in the heart of Sydney's hipster hub Surry Hills. Its chef, Enrico Sgarbossa, is determined to push the boundaries of what he calls "gourmet pizza".
His pizza is distinctly different from the traditional Napoli-style, a style which has become extremely popular in Australia in recent years and is is governed by some quite strict rules of preparation.
Sgarbossa seems unafraid of breaking one of the golden rules of Italian pizza here as well: the use of wood-fired oven.
"My pizza, which is still an Italian pizza, is crunchier and friable and it cooks in an electric oven," he says. "The experience of eating it is closer to the one you have with a piece of bread, like a ciabatta."
Al Taglio's Pizza with ricotta milk base, creamed barramundi, polenta chips, cherry tomato & a pinch of parsley Source: Supplied
But it is the topping that truly sets this pizza apart, and they hail from Sgarbossa's experience of cooking restaurant dishes rather than solely focusing on traditional pizza. His attitude is one which gleefully embraces the use of unorthodox ingredients from his adoptive home of Australia.
"Barramundi Livorno-style is a revisitation of the traditional Tuscan seafood stew caciucco, using a native Australian fish," he says. "We then adapt this dish - usually served on a plate - in order to make it possible to put it on a pizza base."
Al Taglio's Pizza with "barramundi Livornese" Source: SBS Italian
But barramundi is not the only Australian ingredient that can be found in Enrico Sgarbossa's menu, which frequently changes according to seasons and the chef's inspiration.
"Throughout the years I have used a bit of everything on my pizzas. Lamb, which is almost unheard of in Italian pizzerias, Australian sea urchin. And even kangaroo."
Al Taglio's pizza with potatoes, goat cheese, smoked macadamia zucchini, mugolio Source: Supplied
