Marcello Rapisardi and Wilden. herbals: a very sweet story

Marcello, can you tell us your story?

I started like everyone else, working my way up through the ranks in pastry workshops and in the kitchen. I quickly realized that “normal” restaurants didn’t appeal to me; I needed something more challenging (I was DJing at the time, in the 1990s!).

Doing research, I discovered chefs like Aimo, Sadler, Knam. At that point I sent my resume to Knam specifically, who at the time felt I didn’t have the skills and sent me to do a season at Relais & Chateaux. There I got to work with Luigi Taglienti and to come in contact and work with visionary chefs and pastry chefs of the caliber of Ernst Knam, Moreno Cedroni, Ezio Santin, Herston Blumenthal…

Herbs and Plants: an anecdote in your professional life.

In my beginnings in the kitchen in the 1990s, Knam made a chocolate with Aloe vera and lime, which was definitely cutting edge for those years. We cleaned the Aloe, opened the plant … I remember it as a revelation, a good feeling, I had no idea you could put a plant like that inside a chocolate. A world opened up for me. From that moment, I began to taste, study, and experiment with how I could extract the best from each plant.

Even in my later experiences, I was fortunate to work alongside visionary personalities who taught me how particular plants and herbs could be used for particular applications. At Relais & Chateaux they were harvested directly in and around the restaurant garden, and that was the beginning of my study of the application of plants in the kitchen. It is necessary to study everything from seed to leaf and flower. Nothing should be underestimated.

At what times do you feel “Healthy and Wild”?

When I think of a dish, a dessert or a single serving, I feel like this. I get in touch with each ingredient and feel healthy and wild. For example, in the recipes I created with Wilden infusions. herbals, I baked the wheat for the pastry inside the infusion. I first follow the directions suggested by the Company that created the product, those read on the infused sachet, and hear what the product in purity has to say to me, what comes out overwhelmingly. Then from there I start working and experimenting. I have fun with the ingredients. The more interesting and special an ingredient is, the more I enjoy it.

If I said, “Share Your Nature,” what would you say to me?

It is a beautiful motto! For me Share Your Nature means saying what I think, being natural, spontaneous, normal, as you see me. I like the idea that infusions can be consumed throughout the day and not just in the evening. The recipes prepared for Wilden. herbals also cover all 24 hours of the day, from Savory Pie to Millefoglie.