It’s a sunny lunchtime in Milan and Ratanà’s restaurant terrace hums with the chatter of affluent office workers from nearby Porta Nuova. Today’s hot topic is not the latest vogue-ish ingredients – the artisan pecorinos and Chianti naturales – but the elegance with which chef Cesare Battisti elevates the overripe, the discarded and the stale. My son declares his Milanese meatballs, formed from meat cuts first used to make a broth (and tenderised in the process) “nicely melty”. “Delizioso!” our neighbour exclaims into her asparagus risotto, a verdantly green creation assembled from recovered asparagus ends.
米兰一个阳光明媚的午餐时刻，来自附近新门(Porta Nuova)的富裕上班族在Ratanà餐厅的露台上聊着天。今天的热门话题不是最新流行的食材——手工制作的羊乳干酪和天然基安蒂酒——而是大厨Cesare Battisti提升熟透、废弃和不新鲜的食材的优雅。我儿子说他做的米兰肉丸“很好地融化了”，这些肉丸是用最初用来做肉汤的肉块做成的(肉块在这个过程中变得柔软)。我们的邻居对着她做的芦笋烩饭大声说道，“真好吃！”芦笋烩饭是一种用回收的芦笋末端组装而成的翠绿的菜品。