Specialized Ingredients

[kyheirloomer]

Welcome to Cheftalk, Chef Batali.

Many of the recipes in Molto Gusto call for specific ingredients that may be difficult to find outside of big cities. While I appreciate your desire to work with, and recommend, the best ingredients possible I was wondering why you chose to not supply alternatives and/or generic names?

 

[mariobatali]

The purpose in writing Molto Gusto was to provide the simple recipes and ingredients we use at Otto to the home cook. We tried to use basic, fresh ingredients—peas, tuna, linguine—along with different ingredients that you might not use every day, but are still available—fava beans, octopus, and cardoons. The recipes are simple, and we go through many variations on the same ingredients—Linguine with Clams, Cacio e Pepe, and Lemon. We try to encourage people to seek out new ingredients and appreciate their simplicity.