On Representation, Integration and Food that Celebrates All that We Are
Chef Jessica Rosval, Head Chef Casa Maria Luigia, Francescana Family
For the last 10 years, Canadian chef Jessica Rosval has been living in Modena, Italy where, next to traveling extensively to showcase the Oesteria Francescana experience to the world, she heads the kitchen at Casa Maria Luigia. So she’s definitely not a stranger to the exhilarating crunch of packing a complex dining experience into a mere 5-6 courses without all the integral elements.
For this lunch in particular, Rosval took over the kitchen at Fairmont Nile City’s l’Uliveto with a menu that reflects the work her team does at Casa Maria Luigia: mixing traditional elements — like a wood-burning oven — with newer techniques to create food that tells diverse contemporary stories, food that, according to her, “has traveled the world but is still entirely Italian in its essence and in its ingredients.”
There are many parallels I could draw between Italian and Egyptian culture, strongest among them is our shared reverence for food and meal times. On weekends especially, lunch is a boisterous family affair where that famous Italian dolce far niente (pleasant idleness) attitude is taken truly to heart.
While the details may differ, the broad strokes are the same: food is meant to be shared, conversation should flow without end, and no meal is complete without a few quintessential customs, like a piping hot glass of minted tea or a sip of homemade bitter liqueur.
Written by Reem Khamis
Chefs Jessica & Massimo in the kitchen
Baccalá
From the get-go, it was clear this experience would stand out. Walking through the open kitchen, with the wood-fired oven blazing in the back, the chef and her team waved at us with bright smiles, stopping for the occasional chat even as they went about their final preparations. It felt more like walking into a family home than a formal restaurant.
Dinner typically starts with a set of Antipasto Italiano. We savored a cloud of baked focaccia that melted in my mouth, a hummus of Noto almonds (from Noto Valley), a combo of pureed and roasted Jerusalem artichokes and a Modenese ricotta that I will continue to dream about, possibly forever. It was the perfect conversation starter, prompting introductions around the various tables and easing us into the rest of the meal.
“What is eating if it’s not sitting around a table and sharing [food] off of a plate with somebody and having that very convivial moment..”
- Chef Jessica Rosval
Antipasto Italiano
Drawing on her Canadian roots, for the second course Rosval presented us with a flame-roasted Baccalà fillet on a thin sheet of cedar wood. The salted cod came out of the oven on fire, literally, before being swiftly put out by an unfazed Rosval. A few of us — drawn in by the allure of an open kitchen — watched in panicked awe and thought: Is that supposed to happen? Yes, yes it is.
The ultimate dish for travelers, it combines two age-old traditions from across the world: ‘planking’ and salted cod. Planking is a Canadian technique where whole fish is slow-cooked on a log of cedar wood over an open fire. As the meat slowly cooks, the wood burns around the edges, gently smoking the fish. While it’s typically freshly caught salmon that’s at the center of this dish, the chef opted for cod which became a tradition in Italy by way of the Norse, who traveled across Europe thousands of years ago.
Second on our trip around the world was a Thai-inspired Italian lamb dish that felt at once very familiar yet very new. Presented in two parts, first we bit into a bun stuffed with succulent shredded lamb and laced with green curry. The second part of this concoction felt like a breakdown of Thai food essentials: tender meat, fat and a hint of acid. Translated into Italian, you get a juicy strip of grilled lamb with a velvety pistachio cream and a slice of grilled peach dressed in all the acidic goodness of a Papaya salad.
“It’s really important to remember you can get the same amount of awe, happiness, fascination from a perfect piece of ricotta. Sometimes the purity of the ingredients and the idea can still bring us into those emotional spaces.”
- Chef Jessica Rosval
At this point, we were ready to cleanse our palate in preparation for dessert: here comes the Amaro. In typical Modenese tradition, Casa Maria Luigia makes its own liqueurs to preserve the herbs and floral notes of Emilia Romagna’s short growing season, which naturally grow bitter as they age. Expertly balanced by the bright acidity and hint of sweetness seeping into our tongues from the lemon peel sorbet, it was the ideal cleanser.
Now we were refreshed and ready for dessert.
Mysteriously called ‘Cielo Terra Mare’, the dessert is a confluence of the minerality of the earth (an ash-flavored meringue), the minerality of the sea (a salt water sorbet) and a raspberry coulis tucked in between. A salty, sweet, earthy blend that one guest perfectly described as that sensation when you bite into vanilla ice cream after having been swimming in the ocean; it tastes cool and sweet but you can still taste the salty seawater on your lips.
Two (ok, really three) servings of dessert later, the tables were cleared, the wine glasses filled and the space reshuffled for the round table discussion on female-led kitchens. With chef Mirette Aly busy preparing for her own dinner only a few hours later, the remaining three female chefs participating at Cairo Food Week sat down to discuss the trials, triumphs and future of women in the culinary industry.
Moderated by entrepreneurial investor and INJAZ founder Dina El Mofty, chefs Natsuko Shoji, Sahar Al Awadhi and Rosval discussed everything from how they started their careers to the challenges they continue to face, opening up about how they are separately working to support the next generation of female chefs.
While each chef traveled a different path, they all shared the same set of crucial factors for success — they did the work, they stayed focused on their craft and they developed their skills both in and out of the kitchen. They were also always kind to themselves.
While each chef traveled a different path, they all shared the same set of crucial factors for success — they did the work, they stayed focused on their craft and they developed their skills both in and out of the kitchen. They were also always kind to themselves.
Their best advice on leading a team? Create a space where collaboration is encouraged, where everyone feels involved and respected. If your team feels invested in the work and that you are invested in their success, “you could probably conquer the world.”
It’s no secret that breaking into the culinary industry is hard, harder still on women, but all three chefs have hopes for the future and are taking active measures to ensure the next generations of female chefs feel supported and encouraged.
“Knowledge doesn’t really belong to anybody. If you’ve gained it, it’s your duty to pass it on.”
- Chef Sahar Al Awadhi
Dina El Mofty, entrepreneurial investor and INJAZ founder
