Starfinancer

If you were on a desert island and you could only take one food with you, what would you choose? The pasta! Most Italians have no doubts. It doesn’t even have them Gianmarco Tognazziactor, wine producer in his company La Tognazza, a great lover of good food, even in this son of art: memorable dinners, in the family home in Velletri, of his father Ugo, with guests from the world of cinema and artists. “Pasta in absolute terms is the essential food for meif it only depended on me I would eat it every day for lunch and dinner “, says the actor – currently working on the set of the film The Undecided Spouse who could not (or perhaps did not want to) leave the bathroom anymorewritten and directed by Giorgio Amato – becoming the spokesperson for a passion that unites Italians across the board.

Tognazzi, why is pasta so loved by Italians and around the world?

“It has no rivals, it goes well with fish, meat, vegetables, it is an excellent alternative to bread with which it has a lot in common. With the dressing you can make infinite compositions. Ugo in his first book Binge he writes: “I am sick of spaghetti”, well this “disease” has been handed down to us. And if you think about the variables, from timbales to lasagna, wholemeal, kamut, with the various formats that affect taste and texture … well, you realize that it is a brilliant invention. The fact that it is born in the East is another story, but it is here that the perfect formula was found with wheat and egg, which unleashes the imagination. And Italy has become the country of pasta par excellence. Sometimes it is considered inflated, but artisan pasta factories have relaunched it. And when you don’t know what to do, a plate of pasta always saves you “.

Your father Ugo made it a symbol of Italianness, does pasta rhymes with conviviality?

“Let’s think of the tennis tournament that Ugo was doing in Torvaianica: it was called“ The golden colander ”, it was attended by actors, directors, journalists. With the excuse of playing, he had a nice banquet and the real prize was the spaghetti at midnight prepared by him. The tournament had called it that to make fun of the British silver “salad bowl”; Ugo used to say: “I am Italian, and I make a gold colander”, for him it was a symbol of Italian identity “.

Many say that it is addictive, what effect does it have on you?

“Pasta has a magical power: after eating it I feel satisfied. If you don’t eat from hunger, it becomes taste, taste. If, on the other hand, you are languishing … I eat 250 grams! An abundance born of Ugo’s dinners in Velletri: real banquets with two first courses, two second courses up to 6 courses. Even today, the biggest quarrels with my sister Maria Sole happen when she eats together because she makes fair portions, but I always want more, at least another 4 forkfuls for an encore! “.

Who cooks in the family?

“My brother Ricky is good, but I eat less frequently with him. Instead, I often see Sergio Cammariere and Fausto Sciarappa at the table, but who has the gift of king of the kitchen is Marco Minetti, actor and great chef, the best after my father “.

What do you think of the combination with wine and in particular with his Tognazza wines?

“Pasta has such variability that it finds the right match even with the wine with which it goes hand in hand. In fact, most of the pastas and wines find a mutual exaltation. Usually a wine tasting is not combined with pasta, but at the table the music changes and the connections are endless. My wines? Well the red Antani with the Amatriciana it is his death, As if it were it has a transversality that makes it a wild card. The White The mad desire with carbonara? An extraordinary thing. But beyond the wines that I produce, I would like to emphasize that glasses and pasta give each other exceptional mutual support “.