Chef Profile: Don Alfonso Iccarino

Alfonso Iccarino is a paradoxical chef. One the one hand, he fits in the "local and seasonal only" mode of so many modern chefs, rhapsodising about his farm, La Peracciole in Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi in Italy, which overlooks the island of Capri. "Our farm faces the sea, so when we cook the vegetables grown on our farm, we don't even need to put salt on them", he says. On the other hand, he is not the carbon emission-watching type of chef who wouldn't serve anything in his restaurant that's not grown within a 10-kilometre radius.

Rather, his goal is to import his little patch of southern Italian locality, wherever he happens to be cooking. And recently, he happened to be at Don Alfonso 1890 at the Grand Lisboa in Macau, his only outpost in Asia. How did a man so attached to his roots (both historical as well as the physical roots of the many plants he grows) get so far from home?

"Alan Ho", Iccarino says. "He came on an eating tour of Italy and ended up at my restaurant". The restaurant he is referring to is the original Don Alfonso 1890, the two-star Michelin, family-owned and operated restaurant that is part of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux group of luxury hotels and restaurants. "He was the first Chinese man I've really met, and also one of the most knowledgeable people about food, ever". "You don't need a food dictionary with Alan around", chimes in his wife of nearly fifty years, Livia. "He asked me if I wanted to open a restaurant in Macau and gave me a week to think about it", Iccarino continues. Everything moved "so, so fast" from there and now Don Alfonso 1890 is the must-go-to restaurant for Italian cuisine in Macau.

Though to hear Iccarino describe it, one would say that Don Alfonso 1890 might be the only Italian restaurant worth going to in Macau. He describes his cuisine and method of cooking as one of extreme simplicity but packed with the original flavours of Italy. Iccarino is also obsessed with health. He talks constantly of his organic farm that is free of chemicals, or "chemics" as he charmingly calls them, and of vegetables and fruits packed with essential oils and minerals. Southern Italian cuisine, in his view, is healthier not only because of the vast amount of fresh vegetables, fruits and seafood used, but also because what is not used. "It doesn't take much skill to make something taste good with cream", he says. Or eggs, for that matter. Northern Italian cuisine is rich, thanks to its influence from neighbouring France and uses more butter and cream in its cooking, as well as eggs in its pasta. Iccarino, on the other hand, is particularly proud of his own handmade egg-free pasta.

At least four times a year, Iccarino descends on Macau to cook a seasonal gala dinner. He brings much of the produce from his own farm, and also sources other ingredients with the generous support of Ho. This spring, the theme of the dinner is "meat" and guests will be served the best meat from all over the world. This year, there is no meat sourced from Iccarino's own farm, but that may soon change.

La Peracciole grows vegetables and fruits at the moment, but Iccarino is branching out into lifestock. He has been experimenting with raising chickens, feeding them herbs, mice and bits of organic bread that Livia bakes. "Did you know that the chickens we eat now take about three months to grow, but the ones I'm raising take 9 months? What do you think happens when you eat chicken that grows that fast?" When we fail to come up with a suitable response quickly enough, he laughs, "You grow that fast, too!" gesturing to his own waistline.

So while Iccarino fits into the Michael Pollan-mode of the modern chef that advocates traditional lifestock raising, eating seasonal and local produce; what about the not-so-modern fact that he routinely flies in produce from over 9,000 kilometers away, if only to provide the most authentic Italian cuisine to a Macanese hotel half a world away? Well, that too, may soon change enough, as the chef is contemplating opening an organic farm in China. Were that to happen, Don Alfonso Iccarino may just become the most modern chef serving up the most traditional southern Italian cuisine in this part of Asia.