Alla Carta asks Formafantasma for a favorite recipe

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin are the young duo behind Formafantasma. Aiming to explore the relationship between craftsmanship and modern design, while also keeping an eye on sustainability, it's this strong identity that makes them special. Even in their approach to food and cooking, intimacy, realness, and taste remain the essential keywords.

AC: Is there something in particular that keeps design and food related?

SF: Food and design have never been as close as today. A lot of new polymers are produced via the processing of cereals and roots such as corn, potatoes, and sugar beet. More in general, we believe that materials, texture, colors, and production processes will be more and more inspired by the kitchen. Objects will seduce us visually thanks to tasteful surfaces and organic details. Taste is the first sense we use as humans to investigate the world around us. When you are a baby and everything is unknown, to swallow things is a way to acquire knowledge. As much as new materials will appear in the world as a new and tasteful aesthetic will emerge.

AC: What do you like about food and cooking?

SF: Actually we really like to cook, but not for big dinners with a lot of guests. What we really enjoy about cooking is the daily ritual… You know, even if we are in the middle of a deadline for work, we always find some time to cook. For us cooking is about the intimacy of home.

AC: Where do you buy your food in Eindhoven?

SF: At the Saturday market in Woensel in Eindhoven, at a farm at the Genneper Park, and at the supermarket. Some other times, we buy the vegetables and the fruits in a Biological shop. We know they import the fruits from Sicily form the village where Andrea comes from.

AC: Tell us your secret recipe.

SF: We really love simple cooking and with just a few ingredients. This is our favourite pasta at the moment, and it is just prepared with Parmesan cheese or Pecorino, a poached egg, truffle oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme.

The secret is to boil the pasta directly in the pan as if you are preparing a risotto. At the end of the cooking you should add some parmesan cheese. The starch of the pasta will help the food to be more creamy without the need to use too much cheese. We love when you cut the egg and all the yolk spreads on the pasta!

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Interview by Fabiana Fierotti

Photographs by Francesco Zorzi

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    Alla Carta Magazine

    Alla Carta approaches food as an incentive to take a bite of diverse cultural phenomena. We are intrigued by the meal's convivial capacity, and have found food to be an essential element for sharing thoughts, opinions and creative ideas.