Born in Empoli, Tuscany, Simone Rugiati graduated from the Hotel Institute of Montecatini Terme. After gaining some training as a commis in some Tuscan restaurants, he started working for some cooking magazines, also directing “Buon Appetito” and “Mangiar sano”. Known face of “Cooks and flames” in recent years has increased its popularity on social media so that today on Instagram more than half a million followers. Rugiati is again at the helm of a new TV show on Discovery’s Food Network “Italy in bites. At the restaurant” hosted by Simone himself.
The unstoppable Rugiati will soon present his new book “Prima le Materie”, published by Gribaudo. Simone is also very attentive to humanitarian projects aimed at raising awareness of the environment and less well-off populations. The latest cause he joined is a real breath of fresh air for many. He loves tattoos: he has an oriental flower in the center of his back and a phoenix on his left arm.On his right arm he has a Japanese mask and the words “Luck’n Dreams” in addition revealed another tattoo that perfectly embodies his terrific dynamism.
You will find out in our exclusive interview ..
Hi Simone, then: TV, cooking show, interviews, events, travel …
You are chef, showman, producer, influencer, you have a book coming out …
Do you ever have a weekend off?
Never, also because I prefer to work 7 days a week and then take two months of vacation and relaxation. You are a top! Exactly! It is no coincidence that I have one tattooed on my arm. In fact I can’t stay still because if a top stops, well it falls … I like to go fast, but when I go on vacation, to get into the holiday mood, it takes me a good ten days, but then nothing can stop me.
Are you that fast also in driving?
At the right point, at the moment I have a Škoda Enyaq: a fully electric SUV I find it ideal, since I make rather long trips in the car where I often drive and, in case you drive another person, I take the opportunity to relax, I must say that it is very silent.
Can you tell me about your travels?
A little everywhere, starting with the most canonical destinations, such as Asia, South America. Then I discovered Kenya, I went back both to fish, since I am an avid fisherman, and to take care of a new project. I stayed for two and a half months, then returned in November for another 3 months to create a charity association that will produce a documentary film that will tell you everything we do with the sponsors’ budget. This project will support many families in Kenya with food, water, medical care and school. It will be a way to build something for those who need it and to communicate it cinematically on Instagram.
The first thing you do when you wake up?
With one eye open and one still closed, I check my mail and messages, then I go downstairs and I am lucky enough to have a bar right under the house and I have breakfast there.
If I walk into your house and poked around in your fridge, what would I find for sure?
All the space you want… it’s literally empty, except some fruit juice, maybe some organic lemons. You know, one day I am at home, one day I am in Sicily, one day I am abroad and in addition I have my office 300 meters from home, so I eat in the office for lunch and in the evening I am almost always around, so at home there is very little or nothing.
Never in the fridge?
Nutella… I didn’t even like it as a child. Then you will never find packed meat.
Any exceptions?
Maybe a Genoese pesto, but it must be very fresh and of the highest quality.
Let’s go back in time. do you remember any disaster in the kitchen?
Sure, when I was 4 years old. I perfectly remember the apple pie that I took out of the oven, put it on the wooden table, irremediably burning the wood… the sign can still be seen today. And then the first lasagna with meat sauce I cooked at home. I peeked into the book of a cooking school, I copied the recipe and … unfortunately also the doses. Too bad the class was 60 students … Result: a mega lasagna for an army … luckily we had house painters .. .
Do you cook at home?
Yes, yesterday at lunch, to celebrate my passion for fishing, I made a dish with fish, or rather with five types of fish. Today I made a new dish, using the heads, the tails, in short, the “leftovers” of yesterday.
Are you a fan of the “no waste”?
Absolutely yes, I am careful not to buy too much and to get only what I need, in the right quantity and all fresh. I’m dumbfounded if something is thrown away in the kitchen that would have other possibilities of use.
An example?
Just yesterday. I wanted to make a salad of white celery and bottarga. I had the bottaga in the pantry and for the celery I went down to the greengrocer next to the house. Minimum effort, no waste.
A dish in your heart?
Grandma Livia’s unsurpassed ribollita. It was my grandmother who made me understand how much power those in charge of the kitchen had. I remember Sundays in the family: those who watched television, those who played football, those who read the Gazzetta, but at the moment when you could hear the sound of pasta being poured into boiling water … magically everyone left what they were doing to sit at the table for be the first to enjoy that goodness. Whoever cooks is like an orchestra conductor who raises his baton and sets off the magic of music.
Mondeghili con crema di topinambur e cavolo viola marinato con lime
Mondeghili with Jerusalem artichoke cream and purple cabbage marinated with lime
Ingredients for 4 people –
300g white beef – 100g round of veal – 100g real beef – 80g mortadella – 30g parmesan – 1 stick of celery – 4 carrots – 2 onions – 5/6 Jerusalem artichokes – 3 eggs – 200g Flour – 300g breadcrumbs (or panko) – 200g purple cabbage – 2 limes – Nutmeg to taste s – Seed oil to taste – Extra virgin olive oil to taste – Salt to taste. – Flaked salt to taste – Peppercorns to taste
Method
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, add the celery, carrots, onion and finally add the beef steak, the veal round and the real beef. Boil the meat for 3/4 hours keeping the heat low; the water must boil gently. After cooking, let the meat cool. Grind the boiled meat and mortadella in a bowl, mix the meat and mortadella mixture with Parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper and add a grating of nutmeg. Create some meat balls and then flatten them to create the typical shape of mondeghilo. Pass the modeghilo in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. For the Jerusalem artichoke cream: stew an onion cut into julienne strips in a pan, peel and dice the Jerusalem artichoke and add it to the onion, add a couple of ladles of broth and cook. With the help of a blender, blend the Jerusalem artichoke with oil, salt and a sprinkling of pepper. Cut the purple cabbage into thin strips with the help of a mandolin, season with oil, salt, lime juice and two grated zest. Fry the mondeghilo in abundant oil until it becomes golden brown. Proceed with the dish, placing the topimabur cream, the mondeghilo, the marinated purple cabbage and finally the salt flakes at the base.