Gelinaz, the chef’s collective, are back in town on the 3rd December. But this time, they are not travelling, they are staying “at home”. What travels this time, are their recipes. Each chef had to submit eight recipes that are typical for him/her, but she/he never served them at the restaurant yet. Those recipes were then shuffled and sent to another chef who will remix them in his/her own way and serve on the 3rd of December, for one night only, dishes inspired by those recipes to her/his guests. The guests and the chef will get to know whose recipes was interpreting the chef only at the end of the dinner through the Gelinaz ambassador who will attend the dinner (I will be that night the ambassador at the Aimsir restaurant in Ireland). Ambassadors will also take care of communication from the restaurants on that night, so if you are curious what is happening on the other side of the world, do follow us on Instagram (mine is here).
Angelo Agliano has received the recipes. And now?
What was your first thought when you read the recipes you received?
I had a laugh. I never thought I would get Mexican recipes. But then, I thought it was very funny and I was happy. I think we are going to have quite a night cooking Mexican in a Sicilian way!
What do you think of them now?
They are very interesting recipes with very good produce. I am thinking now how to put together my own interpretation, even if some of the ingredients I won’t be able to find and I will have to make them by myself, like mussel powder or cod throat – I never heard of these ingredients before and I don’t even know if we have them in Hong Kong.
If you had to choose an animal to describe them, what would it be?
(Laughing) Maybe a snake, because even if it’s not a normal pet, after a while you can domesticate it. The recipes of the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle Stay In Tour are like snakes, they need time to be domesticated.
How will you approach it?
I would fix it with the eyes and not move a single toe.
What will be the greatest challenge for you in this Gelinaz project?
I want to be as playful as possible and make sure that everybody has fun that night. The greatest challenge will be to have people appreciate the fact that cuisines and cooking have no boundaries.
And what are you looking forward to?
I am really looking forward to experience the way that all those chefs and all those foodies are going to be connected all together throughout the world in one night. That should be an almost mystical experience.
First of all, for Christmas, I am going back to Sicily to see my family and recharge myself before 2020. I just launched the Gems & Pearls dinner series in my restaurant in Hong Kong for which I am inviting prominent and interesting shefs (lady chefs) every trimester. We just had Valeria Piccini in November. In January, Antonia Klugman will fly to Hong Kong. She will be followed by Viviana Varese, Isa Mazzocchi. They are all also Gelinaz! girrrrrrls.
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PS Do check also Philip Rachinger, Niki Nakayama, Jeremy Chan, Niko Romito, Bo Songvisava & Dylan Jones, Antonio Galapito, Christophe Hardiquest, Antonia Klugmann, Jordan Bailey, Selassie Atadika, Rodolfo Guzman, Alberto Landgraf, Virgilio Martinez,Alex Atala, Zaiyu Hasegawa and Santiago Lastra.
