Restaurateur Bill Marchetti does what he was born to: Italian food.
The roast duck that chef Bill Marchetti is keen to make for us is not a quick fix — but in this festive season, a little extra effort can hardly be called a waste. Donning his bright red chef coat and a wide, proud smile, Italian-born Marchetti started preparing the dish the day before we met, so as to have the sauce ready for the rest of the process.
He recalls the days when he learnt about the “freshness of food”, in the summer of 1966 at his father’s eatery in the town of San Benedetto del Tronto in Italy. His family moved to Australia soon after, and that explains why the Aussie in him springs out so often, especially when he’s cooking for himself — his favourite is a barbeque by the pool.
Between Italy, Australia and Asia, Marchetti insists on at least one conclusion, that cooking has to be in one’s blood. On that account, Indians score — “They are natural cooks,” says Marchetti — but perhaps the Japanese win, because they get the “special” tag. After umpteen trips to India for various promotions, Marchetti finally settled in Delhi, an opportunity he says was too good to be true — but not before a year-long stay in Goa. “It’s Goa, you know, one has to stay there for a while,” he grins.
The master of Italian cuisine is not so confident about Indian food. “The problem with me cooking Indian food is that it’s not in my blood. I know the principle behind every dish but you need to know the spices like an Indian,” he says. “For me, it works with one spice. Now, I love elaichi. Once I put so much of it in the dish that it was inedible!” he laughs. “My kind of food is basically European,” he says.
While carefully roasting the duck to just the right crispness, Marchetti looks around his year-old restaurant in Delhi — Spaghetti Kitchen at Select CityWalk — with pride. The business part is important, but he also enjoys it. He widened the scope of this restaurant as he decided to keep it open all day long to complement the mall it sits in. The wine bar, clearly, is his pet project.
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While he plans restaurants in Kolkata — “I love that place” — and Chennai, at Spaghetti Kitchen he’s eager to see whether a special menu for late afternoons will work. It’s Venetian Cichetterie, a concept from Venice, with lighter meals and smaller portions of wine or beer.
From the days of Nirula’s, Marchetti observes, things have moved along rather well for international cuisine in the country... For now, we are leaving Italian to him.
FAVOURITE RECIPE
ROAST DUCK WITH GREEN PEPPERCORNS
1 whole duck (1.8 kg)
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp sweet paprika powder A tsp oil
Salt to taste
For the sauce
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
Some parsley sprigs
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup red wine
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns, black
Juice of 4 limes
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp green peppercorns
Remove wings and feet, massage duck with garam masala, paprika, oil and salt. Roast at 180°C for 30 minutes. Discard juices. Turn it over and roast for 30 minutes. Repeat the same process, turn duck breast side up and roast for another 30 minutes. For the duck sauce, remove all the meat from the duck carcass and refrigerate. Chop the bones and add them to the roasting tray with chopped vegetables. Roast the vegetables and bones for 30 minutes. Add tomato puree and roast for another 30 minutes. Add red wine and stir well to amalgamate all the crunchy bits. Transfer into a large pot. Remove with a ladle all the fat from duck roasting juices. Add it to the pot, top up with one litre water. Simmer for seven hours. Strain sauce and put it into a pot for reducing, over high heat to result in 300 ml of thick, brown sauce. Add honey, lime juice and green peppercorns and adjust seasoning. To serve, place the meat on a roasting dish, add a cup of water and place in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Serve with optional mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and steamed asparagus, and sauce on the side.