Gennaro Contaldo, 72, in the outdoor kitchen in his garden in north-east London 

My haven, Gennaro Contaldo: The Italian chef, TV presenter and mentor to Jamie Oliver, 72, in the outdoor kitchen in his garden in north-east London

• Gennaro Contaldo shares significant items in his garden in north-east London
• Italian chef, 72, treasures a ceramic sculpture received from Eduardo Paolozzi
• Also cherishes a bag his mentee Jamie Oliver gave him for his birthday 

By Angela Wintle For Weekend Magazine

Published: 22:31 BST, 13 August 2021 | Updated: 22:31 BST, 13 August 2021

Gennaro Contaldo, 72, (pictured) shared items of personal significance in the outdoor kitchen in his garden in north-east London

1. WICKER MAN 

These are my mushroom baskets. I’ve collected mushrooms since I was a boy in Italy. Once or twice a week I would walk with my mother into the hills and she would show me which ones were edible. 

I then used to go foraging for them with my twin daughters, Chloe and Olivia, and more recently with the restaurant critic Tom Parker Bowles, who used to leave them with his mum Camilla. She thinks porcini mushrooms are the best.

2. HAND OF FRIENDSHIP 

The sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi gave me this ceramic sculpture after we appeared together on the BBC’s Food And Drink programme. He admired my walking stick, which I’d carved myself. 

I gave him one of my sticks and he presented me with this signed hand. He was a lovely man. We became good friends and I cooked for him regularly at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant, where I was head chef.

I also cooked for Prince Charles there on his birthday, as well as Princess Diana and Pavarotti.

3. EATING OUT 

My partner Liz and I created this kitchen so we could entertain friends in our back garden, building the wood-fired oven from reclaimed bricks. When we have a get-together, I always use this terracotta sharing plate, made for me on the Amalfi Coast when I opened my London restaurant Passione in 1999.

Gennaro treasures knives from the late Antonio Carluccio’s collection 

4. FOODIE FAMILY 

I had four sisters and as the only boy I was treated like the king of the household. This is me with my mother [far left], aunt and younger sister at my childhood home by the sea in Minori on the Amalfi Coast. 

I inherited a love of food from my father and grandfather, and even though I left school at 14, I already knew I wanted to be a chef because I’d been helping out in a restaurant since I was ten. 

5. WHITTLE WHILE YOU WORK 

The late Antonio Carluccio and I shared a passion for whittling walking sticks. When I borrowed his knives he used to say, ‘I tell you to take one, but you take two, so when I die I’ll leave them all to you.’ 

These are just a few from his collection. Antonio was like family, we worked together for 35 years, in his restaurant and for the BBC’s Food And Drink and Two Greedy Italians. I miss him terribly.

6. JAMIE’S GIFT 

Jamie Oliver gave me this beautiful bag for my birthday. It’s for Umbrian truffle hunters and was made by a famous leather maker. Jamie [inset, with Gennaro] was just 17 when he came to work with Antonio and me. 

We hit it off because he was passionate and hard-working. I think of him as a son and he calls me his London father.

As told to Angela Wintle. Gennaro’s new book, Gennaro’s Limoni: Vibrant Italian Recipes Celebrating The Lemon (Pavilion, £20), is available to pre-order now.

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