Oh Lord won't you buy me a Molteni stove...

Janis wanted a Mercedes Benz. Others dream of owning a Ferrari. I honestly couldn't care less for cars. But I do care for kitchen appliances. So you can imagine that it was not without some  emotion that I took the chance to cook on what one of Italy's leading food and wine magazines defined as "the Ferrari of stoves": a Molteni stove.

For those interested in fine restaurants Molteni stoves are surrounded in an aura of legend: they were and are in many of Europe's top kitchens. Big names like Ducasse and Bocuse have their own impressive made to measure stoves. Plus, don't they look just great?

My chance to cook on one of these famous stoves came at a meeting of food lovers that took place a few weeks ago in Zürich, organized by the ever friendly and hospitable Ed McGaugh and Boris Markov, who kindly hosted all of us and let us ab-use his fantastic kitchen. Although Boris was a master of understatement when describing his stove, insisting that his Molteni was just the simplest model and not that special at all, this particular amateur cook was deeply impressed. Being used to my puny home stove, I just loved the heat one can get from the burners -just think about real wok hai there- and I just loved the solid top, great for those occasions where you have many pans needing many different temperatures. If I knew I'd be settling down somewhere soon I'd definitely consider saving up to get one of these babies in my kitchen. Even the smallest one would be OK...still it is twice as big as my home one, so I'd probably need a new kitchen too.

I won't be writing about the meal in detail, some nice experiences are better kept in one's memory than on paper. Still, it was a great day of cooking, eating and drinking spent together with a great company. Below you'll find the menu and the list of the wines. You can also see a couple of pictures from the meal here.

Antipasti:

Prosciutto, salame, coppa with piadine (Boris and Alberto)

Pizza course:

Assorted Neapolitan pizzas (Alberto)

Risotto course:

Saffron-gambero risotto (Ed)

Tomato and watermelon salad in a sweet watermelon reduction (Eric)

Fish course

Sauteed lake fish with zucchini flan (Boris)

Pasta course

Timballo di Maccheroni (Alberto)

Intermission:

A short walk to swim the dog and go for a row on the lake of Zürich

Meat course

Veal Marsala (Boris and Ed)

Sautéed spinach (Boris)

Roasted red and yellow peppers (Boris)

Green rice casserole (Ed)

Desserts

Plum tarte (Fabienne)

Fricktaler cherries marinated in kirsch (Melanie)

And the wines

Macvin de Jura from Desiré Petit

Lambrusco "Il brusco di Cantarelli" NV, Trattoria Giuseppe Cantarelli

Saale Unstrut Riesling Trocken Sekt 2002 Von der Henne from Naumburger Sektkellerei

Saint Saphorin Les Blassinges 2003, Pierre-Luc Leyvraz - Chexbres (chasselas varietal)

Meilener Räuschling Seehalden 2004, Hermann Schwarzenbach - Meilen (räuschling is native varietal to the Lake of Zurich region)

German Auggener Regent barrique (red)

South African, Fairview, Goats do Roam in Villages

2002 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Noir

1994 Rostaing, Côte Rôtie, Côte Blonde

1990 Ch. Figeac, Saint Emilion

1998 Moet & Chandon Champagne

Trester from Auggen Germany (like a grappa)

Comments

[clare eats]

WOW!
That is one Helluva stove, it make my brand newie look very shameful.... but at least it works!

I guess upgradeitis can strike at any time :)

[Sarah]

Oh my god. Appliance porn. *whimper*

[Ed McGaugh]

Right you are to pay homage to that stove! I have cooked on most conventional restaurant stove from Wolf to Vulcan but this was my first Molteni. We achieved something similar to the Monteni cooking surface at Venue with a flat-top hamburger grill left on medium high, but that's like kind of like saying a VW beetle gets you from point A to point B just as well as a Ferrari. There is something about the way the whole "mass" of the Molteni heats. Boris can explain it better, but basically mass is a good thing and this stove has mass! By the way...for the sake clarity a Molteni is a French made stove and in fact some Ferrari's are cheaper that a Molteni! If you want to really cook get a Molteni...if you want to heat your house and warm up the occasional tin-of-beans get an AGA.
http://www.molteni.com/

[Alberto]

Clare, upgraditis is a very dangerous pathology, but boy do I understand you.

Sarah, I wouldn't go as far as calling this porn, I rather see it as appliance erotica :-). If I had gone for the lighted burner money shot... now, that would have been porn!

Ed, seems you don't really like AGA ;-). The price for some Moltenis is definitely higher than that of a Ferrari from what I've heard, but then I doubt most of us would need any of the massive stoves that the pro's use. The starting price is probably more in the range of what a... VW beetle would cost.

[Lisa]

ooooooooooooooooooo drrrroooling....

alberto,
what do you think of Borreti stove/oven?

[Boris]

Well, to be honest, I'd call it appliance fetishism. Pricewise, it's somewhere near a big motorbike, but I find an immensly more creative way to spend some carburant.

A large open burner is really a nice thing whenever you need to heat up something very speedy: blanching of vegetables is the best example.

The solid top has a lot of mass and can be heated to very hot temperatures if necessary. However, combined with copper pans, by it's mass (and inertia) it offers a high stream of heat at relatively low temperature. Therefore you can sear or sautée without having burnt fat or ingredients which you have almost always when doing it with a powerful open burner. Sametime by simply shifting you pan from the hot to the less hot zones, your heat source is extremely "reactive". No wonder the French chefs call these ranges "pianos". Running the once heated solid top with the gas flame underneath near the minimum, you can cook a whole menu for a small bistro without touching a knob in order to regulate your heat. That's why French chefs still install these old sytle appliances, even combined with the most modern induction heaters.

[Alberto]

Boris, thanks for the explanation of how the solid top works. The piano comparison is absolutely spot on.

Lisa, I've never cooked on a Boretti, only saw them in shops. They sure look good though, especially those with a more "granny's kitchen" feel to them.

[keiko]

Hi Alberto - it's the most gorgeous oven I've ever seen!

[Brett]

Alberto, I'm suffering from a new affliction--appliance envy. You are so lucky to have cooked on a Molteni! In my ten plus years cooking professionally, I've never been so fortunate. Only a few of San Francisco's high-end restaurants have them. Love your site--this is my first comment, but surely not the last.

[Alberto]

It is, isn't it Keiko?

Brett, I think I am a long time sufferer from appliance envy too, I only didn't know what my condition was called ;-). Thank you for stopping by and commenting, it made me discover your blog. Fantastic name and good luck with the tea house idea!

[wasabi]

Count me as one of these appliance fetishists.
wow, that is a thing of beauty. not to mention the splendid meal described.

is it normal to fantastize about appliances?

[pastafrolla]

Alberto
fantastic oven but... would you share the ricetta for your timballo? That looks even more impressive to me!(I could not find it on your site but if it is already there pls point me to the post).
grazie mille!
pastafrolla

[Alberto]

pastafrolla,

no recipe yet but it's coming up sometime in the not-too-far future. The recipe still needs a little tweaking IMO, to taste and look as it should.

[radish]

god, my heart skipped a beat looking at this beauty. wow. this will take up half my apartment, but wow, well worth it :)