Voyage of discovery

KATE FRASER

I'm admiring the skill of chef Mauro Battaglia as he flip- flops a pan of butter, pancetta and slivers of sage in that insouciant manner that says "professional chef".

He is completing his favourite dish. "Casoncelli is maybe my signature dish. It's a typical ravioli from the Lombardy region - my part of Italy."

Battaglia is a long way from Lombardy and his hometown of Bergamo. He is thinking of home today because his mother has been on the phone.

"It was so hot there, she said, such lovely weather."

He smiles wryly. It is grey and dismal beyond his kitchen window and fallen leaves lie dank on the street.

When he arrived in Christchurch to take up the position of head chef at Tiffany's in Oxford Tce, it was summer.

"Such nice weather for many days," he remembers.

Although he had spent 12 years in London and loved big- city life, he was looking forward to new experiences in this much smaller place.

He speaks of wanting to search out the charms of Christchurch, which is the home town of his wife, Kirsty Morrison, and to using the "wonderful lamb and venison I cooked with in London".

"I used to read Cuisine (magazine) and my expectations were high." He sighs.

He started at Tiffany's on January 21 this year. A month later, he was looking at broken plates, smashed glasses and a kitchen around his ears.

"I had such mixed feelings. Straight away I wanted to say to my wife, 'Let's go'." But he had made a commitment to Tiffany's and the restaurant building, for all its age and river situation, was rocked but not wrecked.

Repairs were made, new chattels ordered and by late April the kitchen was back to its orderly self and the restaurant reopened.

"It is different looking outside now to an empty centre city, but I'll wait to see what's going to happen, and in the meantime, we are very busy."

This is a man who, as senior sous-chef at the Connaught Hotel in London, was in charge of 21 chefs. "I was always at the pass, not doing the prep. Now I order, prep, cook, everything. It is nice, though. I enjoy cooking."

Battaglia has clearly brought imagination and technical excellence to his position, but he owns to a struggle when working out our ways.

He accepts we like to eat earlier than they do in London and Bergamo. He appreciates we don't have affordable access to the silver peaches, perfect melons, game and variety of fish European chefs have.

He was unaware until he arrived, however, that we don't have trout farms and he is not sure he will ever cease to be surprised that oysters are not generally served fresh from the shell.

He is coming to terms with the fact that we export our best meat, fish and fruit, and he is embarking on his own voyage of discovery to source the ingredients he wants.

His preference for "simple, nice food" has brought an appreciation of our seasonal turns.

"I am liking that the climate and the land here can provide quality and I am making pumpkin ravioli, groper ravioli, duck ravioli.

"We are developing a new menu for winter months and maybe it's too early to tell, but I think we will see the benefits soon."

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Casoncelli alla bergamasca

260g topside beef (or any cheap braising cut)

25g small-diced carrots

20g small-diced celery

20g small-diced onion

1 whole garlic clove, skin on

80ml red wine

250ml chicken stock

1 sprig of rosemary, sage, thyme and bay leaf tied with string

120g Italian pork sausages

15g breadcrumbs

20g grated grana padano

10g sultana

80g (about half) conference pear

2 amaretto biscuits

1 egg

Tip of a tsp lemon zest

Pinch nutmeg

Salt and white pepper

Cut the beef into small chunks, then brown the meat with olive oil.

Stir in the vegetables with the herbs. When they colour, add the sausage meat, break it up and add the wine.

Leave to evaporate completely then pour in the chicken stock.

Cover with a lid and braise slowly for 40 minutes or until the meat is very tender.

If necessary, add more chicken stock, but when the meat is cooked all the liquid should be evaporated.

Discard the garlic and herbs and leave to cool.

Mix this braised meat with all other ingredients, put in a food processor and whiz to a fine paste. Makes 450g of filling.

For the pasta:

250g "00" flour

150g egg yolks (about 9)

2 Tbsp water

Place the flour in a mound on a large flat surface.

Make a well in the centre.

Add yolks and water to well, then mix ingredients in with a fork and work the flour into the liquid until most of the flour is incorporated.

Form dough into a ball, let rest for 10 minutes, then knead until smooth. Rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To make the ravioli:

Put the dough through all the numbers on the machine until you have a very thin sheet.

Place small (about 7g) amounts of filling down the centre of the sheet, leaving about 4cm of space in between each one.

Fold the pasta over the filling and use your hands to close it around the filling, making sure there is no air inside.

You will have a half-moon shape of filling.

Cut the ravioli out with a round cutter and shape them by lifting the ends and gently pressing each on the top.

To serve:

170g butter

150g diced pancetta

12 leaves sage

40g toasted shaved almonds

Grated grana padano

Put half the butter in a pan and cook the pancetta until soft.

Add sage and a little water. Cook ravioli in a pan of salted water for 3 minutes, drain and put into pan with pancetta.

Add and melt the rest of the butter.. Add a handful of grated grana padano, and sprinkle with almonds.

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