Pietro Parisi is a Chef who hails from near the Vesuvius; he learned his trade at the court of the “sacred cows” of international cuisine such as Ducasse and Marchesi. After a number of prestigious experiences in Italy, France, Switzerland and in Burj al-Arab hotel in the United Arab Emirates, in 2005 he has found his Restaurant “Era Ora”.
Today, we will discover his story.

1) What episode started your food passion?
There has not been a real episode that ignited in me the passion for food but were the places where I grew up that they gave me the strong influence to believe that food is something to love and to follow, think that my childhood was among tomato fields and hazelnuts trees, and my breakfasts were bread and tomatoes, then think about what I could ever do in my life with farmer grandparents passionate about the good food. Here is because I am a cook.

2) What are the essential “Made in Italy” products for your kitchen?
Products that I always have in my luggage are tomato St. Marzano, semolina pasta, salted codfish, extra virgin olive oil, colatura di alici and buffalo mozzarella.

3) What is the recipe that represents you best?
I think that there isn’t a recipe that represent me, but the products that are indispensable in my recipes are tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt cod, pane cafone, semolina pasta, cheap fish. These elements form my recipes. One of the recipes that gave me great fortune and visibility in global scale is the steamed eggplant parmigiana in a jar, a kind of street food parmigiana which over the years has delighted the palates all over the world.

4) What is your (italian) recipe most popular among your customers?
The Italian recipe longer required and the spaghetti with tomato sauce and pizza maybe because the simplicity to the table is the one thing that is missing in the world. Italians sometimes  do not notice it as a dowry and not to exploit to the fullest.

5) Speaking about the “Italian Sounding” phenomenon, what do you think are the solutions to oppose it?
The best weapon to fight the Italian sounding is probing the culture and especially abroad to make people understand that in Italy there are craftsmen who bring strength and dignity to uphold the quality of products that are not always able to defend. Many are my battles to defend the Made in Italy abroad but unfortunately it is still a long way to go and the institutions are not always present to defend it, just a small trick is needed to imitate the real Made in Italy. I see so many fakes and many business work only because they write names in Italian almost always wrong. Italy is a great power of food sector and you have to spread this conception. Especially those who go abroad to promote the Italian spirit must never change the fate of the true Made in Italy to do business but must remain faithful, otherwise in a few years the real Made in Italy will no longer exist.

6. What are your future projects?
My future plans are several, I do not know what I can bring to a close, but for sure one is to raise awareness of small producers in the world and give him the right merits. In Italy there are people who do not use social but they work hard to create great products but are often outclassed by much lower quality products. Certainly my commitment is to promote the real Made in Italy in the world to help ordinary people as was my grandmother Nannina.