Giorgio Locatelli Kitchen Confidential

Giorgio Locatelli of London’s celebrated Locanda Locatelli on his favourite flavours of the festive season, from game to truffles, cabbage to capon

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What I cook at Christmastime depends entirely on where I am. It might be 25oC in Naples on Christmas Day, while in northern Italy it’s -25oC, so you eat different dishes. When I’m with my family, in the north, I make stuffed capon, because my grandad always did. We get it as a chick in the new year, then raise it until Christmas, so every time I go home, I check in to see how he’s growing! The capon’s filling includes truffle, mushrooms and breadcrumbs, and it’s cooked gently for two hours, then sliced. The next day, we use the leftover stuffing to make tortellini im brodo (in broth).

Forme,winter vegetables are as exciting as the summer ones. Last year I had a love affair with cabbage. I made a typical Milanese dish of stuffed cabbage – a real working man’s recipe. The cabbage is stuffed with pork, and I serve it with risotto and some cooked Savoy cabbage leaves that we crisp up in a dryer.

Of course, at this time of year truffles are very important. I use them in all sorts of dishes but one of my favourites is ravioli stuffed with a whole egg yolk. It’s become an iconic dish and when you get it just right, you cut into it and the runny yolk becomes the sauce for the pasta. Traditionally, there is some ricotta and spinach in with the egg but I fill mine with potato and truffle. We normally serve just one, but when Fergus Henderson came to Locanda Locatelli he asked for them again and again until we ran out.

We will definitely be using game through the winter and I make a lovely ravioli with pheasant, as well as a pappardelle with hare ragout, made with red wine and topped with 92 per cent Colombian cacao.

Every year my family makes me prepare my panettone bread and butter pudding, which I serve with caramel and orange sauce. The citrus fruits are great at year’s end – mandarins, clementines… but I also love quince, which I cook in amaretto. And of course castagnaccio, the typical Italian chestnut cake made with chestnut flour, rosemary, pine kernels and, in my case, topped with a luscious chestnut mousse (locandalocatelli.com)

Who i'm using

Carlo Caporicci has the best and the biggest truffles growing on his Umbrian estate, San Pietro a Pettine (sanpietroapettine.it). Our crab and lobster come from Portland Shellfish in Dorset (portlandshellfish.co.uk).

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