Chef Eternal
“You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.” Thomas Keller
There are two photos hanging on the wall in the Neapolitan restaurant: the first is Diego Maradona’s (1960–2020), who played seven seasons for the SSC Napoli soccer team, and is still considered a saint by older Neapolitanos; the other is Cesare Stellino’s (1946–2020), the “ristorante’s” famous owner/chef who cooked for royalty, artists and Maradona himself. According to reliable sources, the two died on the same dreadful November day, the 25th.
Stellino’s reputation is the main reason we’ve chosen this particular place for dinner.
Even with my rudimentary Italian I understand the head waiter telling us he knows today is our Thanksgiving, and if we want they can serve us turkey a la Stellino. Frankly, not a single one of us had jenny roast in mind while touring Italy, especially not here in the “trattoria” district of Naples. Okay, what the hell, “tutto bene.”
He admits, turkey is not a favorite cooking poultry in Italy, but he can assure us “nessun problema.”
After we take our first bites into our Thanksgiving meal thousands of miles from home, we conclude that the assumption about Cesare Stellino’s immortality was greatly exaggerated.
*****It was first published in Friday Flash Fiction on June 14, 2024.*****
