Blog

Here our journey into the kitchens of chefs from all over Italy starts again, to chat with them about how this waveco® technology can help in experimenting and finding new culinary solutions. With its innovative induced maturation© technique, waveco® has become part of the kitchen staff of the most famous restaurants in Italy.

This time we will join chef Ernesto Iaccarino at his “Don Alfonso 1890” Restaurant, an enchanting place where the gastronomic traditions of the Sorrento Peninsula and the Amalfi Coast are combined with innovation.

waveco® in chef Ernesto Iaccarino’s cuisine

Born in 1970, Ernesto Iaccarino is the last link in a dynasty that has been cooking since 1890: this date is stamped on the sign of the Don Alfonso Restaurant, founded by Alfonso Costanzo Iaccarino, grandfather of the father of chef Ernesto himself.

In his restaurant in Sant'Agata sui due Golfi, in his splendid kitchen with a view, Ernesto Iaccarino is inspired by impeccable raw materials - many of which come from the Le Peracciole farm, 8 hectares of property perched on Punta Campanella - assembled according to contemporary techniques with a taste of Mediterranean tradition. The Don Alfonso 1890 restaurant has 2 Michelin stars and its emanation, Don Alfonso 1890 San Barbato in Lavello, also obtained its first Michelin star.

Among his creations are interpretations of regional main courses such as paccheri and innovations such as the grouper with vanilla. His kitchen is the perfect place to experiment with all the possibilities offered by the waveco® machine.

Interview with chef Ernesto Iaccarino

Our Francesco, NCG Marketing Manager, met Chef Ernesto Iaccarino and chatted with him about cooking, technology and the enhancement of raw materials. 

Q: Hello Chef, first thing first, welcome back and thank you for agreeing to give us an interview and thus devote time to us. Can you tell us how you got to know waveco®?

A: We met with Fabrizio [Fabrizio Merlini, Next Cooking Generation’s General Director & Sales Manager] a few years ago and he told me about this new technology he was developing. Then we made the promise that when it was ready I would receive it to study every possible application.

Q: What made you decide to include waveco® in your kitchen, what impressed you most?

A: I've always been drawn to everything new. For me cooking has always meant evolution and contamination: many dishes that today we consider tradition are the result of successful contamination or innovation. At the time, I used to serve a dish made with amberjack, and  when you use this kind of fresh fish, it is sometimes a bit tough: with waveco® I was able to obtain soft and super fresh fish.

Q: Compared to the past, how is waveco® helping you in the management of raw materials? I am thinking of supply, conservation, storage. And, more generally, of the global management of your menu.

A: In a restaurant like ours you never know what you will consume first, because customers can also choose à la carte and not just from the menu. In last minute orders waveco® helps me to tenderize meat and fish when needed.

Q:  Having introduced the machine in your kitchen brigade for quite some time now, and having been actively using it, what do you think of the induced maturation© technology generated by waveco® focused ultrasounds?

A: I think that in kitchens like ours, technology is essential.

Q: Can you tell us how your signature dish could be redesigned using waveco®?

A: This year I put on the menu “Squid Buttons stuffed with the catch of the day with spicy pumpkin broth and carrot puree with ginger”. Making a pumpkin broth is not an easy trick: so, after having carried out all the traditional steps, I placed the broth with all the pumpkin into waveco®. And I must say that the extraction of the pumpkin has definitely improved.

Q: Chef, the slogan used for the last edition of Host 2021 and for this interview is: “I waveco®, and you?” Can you share with us a personal consideration that may be useful in letting all the colleagues who still don’t use this technology understand its added value?

A: It is necessary to always get to know and to understand a new technology, and then use it when needed.

Ernesto, thank you for this nice chat: it is a pleasure to spend time with a true innovator of Mediterranean cuisine like you. And it is an honor for waveco® to be in your kitchen. 

Keep following us and don’t miss our interviews with the most innovative chefs of Italian cuisine, like Ernesto Iaccarino, and their advice for the best use of  per il migliore utilizzo di waveco®.