Fortunato Amatruda, owner of the Crema restaurant awarded the Gambero Rosso's Three Spicchi, talks about his cooking on pizza between memory and awareness.
Photos by Lucio Elio
The restaurant
There are places that you need to discover, to know deep down, in order to fall madly in love with them. In Crema, close to the city's park, there is in fact a restaurant that all lovers of good pizza should visit: it is Anima Romita, the contemporary pizzeria founded by chef and lievitist Fortunato Amatruda.
As soon as you walk through this restaurant you will be embraced by a unique atmosphere, a corner of the world without space and time that could easily be found in a New York City neighborhood. Inside the restaurant every object is chosen, calibrated, thought out. From the old Singer positioned at the entrance to the colonial-style velvet armchairs. Everything is perfectly in place.
An order that seems random and instead is designed precisely to make the customer feel at home. Here in fact vintage and avant-garde dialogue naturally, in a place where one is invited to stop, breathe ... simply “stay.” “Anima Romita is my home,” Fortunato says, ” and, at the same time, it is the restaurant where I would like to be to eat, drink and feel good. In fact, in such a location, tasting a pizza -maybe paired with cocktails- is the perfect idea for an evening that lends itself to be unforgettable.
Anima Romita, the meaning is in the name
Anima Romita was born on the wings of Fortunato's affection for his father. Salvatore Amatruda, in fact, had a restaurant called La Luna. So the chef was inspired by a Renaissance poem by Junius Bazzoni entitled “Luna Romita,” which in that adjective claimed the romantic uniqueness that would define the identity-or even better, the Anima-of his restaurant. And so it was that the moon gave way to the soul.
The gastronomic proposal
Stunning raw materials, attention to detail and a choice of ingredients that retrace the thread of an awareness aimed at telling a story. And highlighting these treasures are the doughs. From the traditional to the contemporary to the cloudy air and the wonderful Integrale Tramonti, made with 100 percent whole wheat flours, spelt and fennel, which is also amazing in its “contemporary” version with type 9 flour (Petra), corn and wild fennel and served in eight low-glycemic index wedges. Needless to say, it is absolutely forbidden to leave Anima Romita without trying this creation by the chef who, with good reason, has earned him many awards and accolades.
The Tasting
Kicking off a truly unforgettable tasting is the Green Pizza, which is Anima Romita's 100% vegetable and no-waste creation, made with Tramonti whole wheat dough and all parts of the friariello. The leaves are fried and the stems mashed and made creamy. It has also been enriched with repassed glasswort, vegan mayonnaise (with soy vegetable drink) with caper and Uhmami, a spreadable cream with a cheese-like consistency, reminiscent of Kechek el foquara, the so-called Lebanese “poor man's cheese,” made from fermented cooked grains.
This was followed by the Anima di Marinara, one of the central pizzas for Fortunato's philosophy. “This is a special pizza for us,“ explains Amatruda, ‘ not only because it gave me the opportunity to measure myself against tradition and simplicity, but also because it is one of the pizzas that led Anima Romita to obtain the prestigious award from Identità Golose ’Ode to Tomatoes.'”
And never was an award name more apt. For this creation is definitely an ode to tomatoes. In fact, there are those of Piennolo DOP and cherry tomatoes, which are placed in a pan seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and herbs and baked in a low temperature oven for over two hours until caramelized. Only at this point are they whipped and sieved to be baked with the disc of dough (strictly Tramonti whole wheat). They are then finished together by a garlic-basil pesto in which the former is previously cooked in oil in order to completely lose the coarser and more indigestible component. The third pizza was no less interesting either. In fact, it was a true homage to the territory.
This is the contemporary Tramonti con coniglio, mostarda di zucca cremasca and Salva Cremasco DOP. The type of dough lends itself to different types of toppings, but this version is definitely one of those that enhances it the most, also bringing to light the chef's two souls: the Amalfi one - with the dough - and the Cremasque one - with the topping. To close, a whole-hearted tribute, the Pizza Salvatore 1968, dedicated to Fortunato's dad. The ingredients? Truly mouth-watering: cream of Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, fresh fiordilatte, white ragu, Caiazzane olives, Lodi raspadura from Azienda Bella Lodi. A dedication of love that takes inspiration from the creation of that father who in his Pizzeria Luna placed precisely the Salvatore pizza at the top of all.
For from the past, passing through the present, the goodness of these dishes is boldly and confidently projected into the future, in an alpha and omega of taste, in which fond remembrance, perhaps is precisely the secret ingredient that makes these pizzas indelible.
Contact
Anima Romita
Via Ugo Palmieri, 1, 26013 Crema CR
Phone: 0373 476224
