Giancarlo Morelli and the Starry Night of Tropea

The Taste of the Sublime.

An invisible line that connects the sea of the Coast of the Gods to the deep furrows of Lombardy's soil: A thread of light that crosses hills, waves, laughter, and memories. And it is along this thread that chef Giancarlo Morelli walks gently, yet with purpose, a man with a full voice and an ancient heart, who has made simplicity his banner and raw ingredients a form of prayer.

Born amidst the scents of the Bergamo countryside, Morelli grew up the son of farmers, learning, before even how to cook, the most difficult art: understanding time. The time of the seasons, the right time to sow, the time nature needs to reveal itself, unhurried. Perhaps it is this sense of rhythm, this loyalty to slowness, that echoes throughout his entire cuisine. With a stubborn love for the truth of ingredients and the lightness of artistry, he has sailed ships, led French brigades, earned stars and crossed continents, always carrying with him that ironic smile, reminiscent of good wine and whispered midnight confidences.

His adventure begins at sea, aboard the legendary Pacific Princess, where the ocean teaches him patience. Then comes Paris—the discipline of French cuisine, long nights in the kitchen, and the friendship of the essential. His talent is shaped by the greats: Bernard Loiseau, Alain Ducasse, the Troisgros brothers. But it is in returning to the land, in the warm embrace of Seregno, that Morelli builds his home, his kingdom, his heart: Pomiroeu.

That name, round like an apple, meaning “apple tree” in dialect, already tells a story: an aspiration to simplicity, to roots, to essence. It is there that the dish that would change his life is born. A dish that is not only an explosion of flavor but a manifesto, a small hymn to being rather than appearing. The dish that earned him his Michelin star, and which still today expresses his deepest philosophy.

Carnaroli Risotto with Beetroot, Sweet Gorgonzola, and Liquorice Powder.

A simple and disarming dish. Elegant in its composition, powerful in harmony. Like a Rothko painting, but edible. The rice, chosen with obsessive precision, always 24-month-aged Carnaroli, is cooked in beetroot juice until it reaches a deep ruby red that seduces the eye and evokes fire and earth. The creaming is a velvety embrace with butter and sweet gorgonzola, offering roundness, creaminess, and a hint of untraceable pleasure. And finally, the liquorice powder: a theatrical flourish, a balsamic breath that cuts, lifts, opens. An unexpected finale, a poetic signature.

The recipe was born from an intuition, as true strokes of genius often are. It was a winter night. Fog cloaked the Brianza region. Morelli was searching for a dish that would speak to the heart more than the stomach. He didn’t want to impress. He wanted to evoke. So, he took three ingredients he loved viscerally, beetroot, gorgonzola, liquorice, and put them in dialogue. Like three instruments that might seem dissonant but together generate a deep harmony. The next day, the dish was on the menu. A few months later, Michelin made it legend.

And now, Tropea. His deepest voice. Here, where the sea breathes with ancient intensity, the chef stages an event with the flavor of unforgettable dawns. At Infinity Tropea, amidst terraces suspended over the azure and the timeless song of the wind, Giancarlo Morelli wove a night of stars, with the grace of one who does not need to dazzle, but simply to remain.

The menu is not announced, it is intuited. It surfaces like a sea-born poem whispered to the ear. Vegetables converse with fish, oil caresses, aromas rise like prayers. In every dish, the sense of a meeting. In every gaze, the tenderness of someone who knows that to cook is to listen, to love, to protect. Calabria responds with its colors and silences, with lemons whose thick peels catch the sun, red figs, and wild herbs that perfume the night.

There is something in Morelli that resembles great storytellers. A form of generosity. A desire to make space, for others, for flavors, for life. His cuisine becomes a pretext to remember that beauty lies in proportion, that ethics are an ingredient, and that love is something you slice with a knife.

And as night fades and the sky fills with true stars, the feeling remains that something has happened. Something to do with time, with memory, with that eternal gesture of giving. And in the end, isn’t that what we truly seek from a chef? Not spectacle, but authenticity. Not noise, but a caress.
And Giancarlo Morelli, on that night in Tropea, gave us both.

Risotto in Three Acts: Root, Cream, Powder

Poetry on a Plate

Imagine the plate as a canvas: deep ruby-red rice, glowing like embers of a winter fire, crowned with creamy whispers of gorgonzola and a frail veil of liquorice perfume—an orchestral finale in edible form.

🧾 Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 320 g Carnaroli rice

• 2 small cooked beetroot (≈200 g), pureed

• 100 g sweet gorgonzola

• 50 g butter

• 50 g Parmigiano‑Reggiano, freshly grated

• ½ small shallot, finely chopped

• 150 ml dry white wine

• ~1 L hot vegetable broth

• A pinch of salt

• Liquorice powder (to taste)

🥄 Method — Rhythms, Stations & Sweet Finale

1. Awaken the senses: In a medium saucepan, melt half the butter and gently soften the shallot until it's translucent, scented like early morning light.

2. Toast with intention: Add the Carnaroli, stirring until each grain gleams—awake and ready.

3. A whisper of wine: Pour the white wine and stir until the aroma of the earth is freed.

4. Layer in color: Begin ladling the hot broth gradually. At mid-point, stir in the beetroot purée—watch the rice blush a profound, garnet red.

5. Velvety crescendo: When the rice is just al dente (14–16 minutes total), remove from heat. Stir in remaining butter, Parmigiano, and cubes of gorgonzola until silkily cohesive.

6. Liquorice signature: Plate in generous nests—finish with a soft dusting of liquorice powder, a whisper of balsamic intrigue.

🎨 Serving & Ensemble

Serve warm, gently swirling the gorgonzola’s sweet richness into the red depths. The beetroot’s soil-born sweetness meets creamy tang, while the liquorice adds that poetic twist—like finding an unexpected line in a love poem.

© Charlotte Madeleine Castelli | All rights reserved