100% vegetarian cuisine and a “House of Seeds”: the Borgo Egnazia restaurant and Chef Domingo Schingaro become guardians of biodiversity.
Due Camini, the restaurant located in the Borgo Egnazia resort (fresh from receiving two Michelin stars) and led by chef Domingo Schingaro, has recently become entirely vegetarian. This news, but above all this change of direction, has generated considerable curiosity and even some surprise. But is it really something unexpected, or can we speak of a natural evolution?
The new vegetable course at Due Camini
At the helm of the Due Camini restaurant since 2016, Chef Domingo Schingaro has always had a soft spot for vegetables. In fact, the menu has always included an entirely green tasting menu, and his skillful handling of Apulian produce has always stood out. Schingaro has fully embraced this clear predisposition or attraction to nature. "I felt the need for an internal revolution. A revolution that began with careful research and then pushed me beyond what I believed to be the boundaries of my cuisine. It was a natural process," he says. In fact, traditional Apulian cuisine is viscerally linked to the world of vegetables and therefore does not need to bend to forceful demands in order to be convincing from a green perspective; if anything, it is a legacy emphasized by Schingaro's creativity.
It is even more convincing when you consider the new menu as an unstoppable ticking clock, before which there is nothing to do but wait, and above all respect, the passing of time. Because it is nature that dictates the times and ways, and it is the season that (literally) puts the cards on the table. In fact, in this year of firsts, the new vegetables are accompanied by new menus. In the charming, warm, and textured Sala dei Due Camini, guests become protagonists in a four-handed game with the chef. On the round marble table, the menus are laid out before the guests, who can combine a tailor-made experience.
The choice requires a minimum of two cards (the restaurant recommends at least 3 or 4) where you can venture into total variations of individual seasonal products: Barattiere, Lettuce, Tomato, Savoy Cabbage, Chickpeas, Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Zucchini, Chicory, and then also Melon, Almond, and Moraceae. The menus, which naturally change constantly, fluctuate according to what the harvest has to offer. The entire experience is driven by a strong no-waste philosophy, which can be traced back to the non-alcoholic pairing “Naturalmente”: seasonal fruit or vegetables combined with tea, herbs, and flowers harvested on the grounds of Borgo Egnazia. It is a work of ideas and creativity, in total synergy with the cuisine and the chef's vision.
A three-course menu
At the table, bread takes on the colors of the earth with ancient wheat flour, pepper and friggitelli water, sweet olive pâté, and tomato confit. A mosaic of flavors to dip into ricotta butter enclosed in caciocavallo cheese. Non-alcoholic pairings precede each course, and the preparations in the dining room kick off a delightful spectacle of herbs, sauces, and natural foams. Everything is sustainable, so every part of the ingredient finds its place. A cold green apple juice, with fig extract and fig leaves, accompanies the first course – Lettuce: umami leads the way to barbecued romaine lettuce with figs and salted lemon. As a side dish: seafood salad and pinzimonio with turnip greens.
The herbaceous flavor provides a backdrop to the sea, with sea fennel, sea asparagus, and oyster leaves. Then a drink made with rhubarb, tonka bean, and currants heralds the second course – Chicory: spaghetti with chicory extract, peaty whiskey, prickly pear powder, and cacioricotta cheese. Here too, as with every course, the trio of dishes begins. The main dish is accompanied by two sides: puntarella (raw and cooked) with sweet potato and licorice powder and, finally, a chicory coffee sandwich with wild garlic mayo and julienne chicory. Flavors that reveal, bite after bite, the individuality of each ingredient and the extraordinary centrality (also) of its scraps. With the third course, Schingaro seems to be having fun with a game of illusion – Savoy cabbage: with three peppers (black, green, and timut), with brandy reduction. It is accompanied by pita bread with red cabbage and yogurt, as well as savoy cabbage rolls stuffed with walnuts and pears.
Perhaps the most focused, because it is capable of simulating and dissimulating, bringing the taste into a three-dimensional palate of vegetable textures. To drink, yellow peach with mint infusion, celery and calendula foam, and burnt black lemon powder. Finally, the not-so-sweet dessert is the result of double fermentation: mulberry and fig milk; figs in mulberry and wild bramble ferment escabeche. "We have a range of about 15/16 vegetables that rotate according to availability. You never know what you're going to get, and that's fine, because we have to be at nature's disposal and not the other way around,“ says the chef, who continues: ”The decision to become 100% vegetarian was a natural evolution. We noticed that certain dishes were more stimulating, not only in the kitchen—because vegetables have a capacity for transformation that no animal protein possesses—but also for the guests in the dining room."
A new way of thinking about agriculture and cultivation is emerging, one that goes hand in hand with the preservation of ancient Apulian seeds. Yes, because on the land of Borgo Egnazia (but also on that of their local suppliers, as far as Ostuni, such as Le Carrube), ancient varieties that were disappearing are beginning to take root. A project called “Casa delle Sementi” (House of Seeds): seeds of varieties that have been lost are first sought out, then collected, handed down and, finally, cultivated. Seeds that will be protected thanks to an organic and regenerative cultivation model, without forcing or chemicals. The restaurant Due Camini thus inaugurates a new phase in its journey, with a project that looks to the future through the care of ancient seeds and the protection of biodiversity. In short, through a gesture of gratitude, what the earth has given is returned, with a commitment to preserving the agricultural memory of the territory.
The Wine Cellar
In this year of innovation and change, the Wine Cellar, inaugurated last April, will also provide plenty of inspiration. A hidden vault surrounded by a prized collection of over a thousand labels, the result of twelve years of research and development by Giuseppe Cupertino and the expert sommeliers of Borgo Egnazia. The heart of the collection is the vertical selection of Apulian wines (often hard-to-find vintages that reflect the identity of the region) as well as prized international wines and great Italian appellations. These are accompanied by the cuisine of Due Camini, but from a new perspective: here, Chef Schingaro studies the perfect pairing with wines, just as sommeliers do in the restaurant. A unique taste experience to be enjoyed seated at the large central table, with a focus on wine tasting.
CONTACTS
Strada Comunale Egnazia - (72015) Savelletri (BR);
Phone +39 080 225 5351;
due.camini@borgoegnazia.com
