Egg spaghetti, garlic, oil and chilies

Carlo Cracco has a well-ordered brain that allows him to communicate a well-structured message. One of the two styles that characterize his work greatly fascinates us: the minimalist one that harmonizes sharp flavor contrasts. We have many examples in which infinite contents are reduced to titles. Works of genius like the risotto, of the highest quality and flawlessly cooked, with three magical touches: anchovy oil, lemon and cocoa; it is impossible to express more with so few points. He has taken this same concept to different areas and reached his zenith with the greatest of the great flagships of Italian cuisine: pasta. He has successfully bested the dichotomy of with or without egg. And he has done it by denying the main ingredient and leaving out the flour. The creation, because this is a creation deserving of the greatest culinary honor, consists of making, from the egg—even better, from its essence, the yolk—the most delicious of pastas. It can then be given various shapes: macaroni, spaghetti… we choose the latter. They have revolutionary qualities. First, the color screams for attention: saffron-like, befitting the yolk of a corn-fed free-range hen. Next comes the texture, dense and buttery at the same time, evoking certain salted fish roe, like those of the Mediterranean ling. The flavor surpasses the richness to become immaculately delicious. And then, there are the enhancers, of this yolk’s purity in the unmistakable form of spaghetti and the texture of roe: the oil and the chilies, with which it is sautéed, and the garlic, which is smoked and softened with milk and converted to cream.