Fulvietto Pierangelini

Fulvietto Pierangelini, a guy with a serious palate pedagogy, is in love with his pigs. «When I came back from school, I used to go to Gambero Rosso and my father, Fulvio, prepared lunch. But since there’s never been a staff mess at the restaurant, I chose what I wanted and the raw materials were the same used for the clients, the same we had at home on closing days». That is to say: food, for the Pierangelini family, is something too serious to be reduced even fleetingly to some chicken bought from a supermarket.

Despite his thus developed passion, Fulvietto soon realised that the restaurant was not for him: «I helped my father when it was necessary, especially in the dining hall. I enjoy cooking for my friends but dealing with staff and clients is not for me », he says. After the scientific lyceum and the military service, he thus preferred the bathing establishment Bucaniere, offering simple but rigorous dishes, basted by a cook on the basis of Gambero Rosso.

Meanwhile Fulvietto launched another activity that is making him famous among gourmets. «My wife Barbara had a farm called L’Agave, bought by her father a bit as a joke, and never used. We fell in love with the place and in 2000 we began to restore it. We wanted to produce wine but the circumstances were not favourable so we opted for olive trees and arable plants, leaving viticulture for the future. There were many hectares of woods and stony pastures left, and I didn’t know what to do with them. That’s when pigs came to mind». A self-trained breeder, Fulvietto has treasured the lesson learned from his mistakes. To cure the meat he has relied on the knowledge of the Spigaroli’s, exceptional artisans from Emilia, who take care of maturation for him. «Some products have given fantastic results from the start, like coppa, culatello and spalla; for others, like salami, we had to make some adjustments because the techniques used weren’t suitable for the cinta senese bred in Tuscany. Then there’s lard: I make it with my father in the marble basins, with a totally personal recipe ».