Kathmandu:

Dario Tesoroni, the husband of Nikki the very talented chef of Mamma Mia, the new Italian restaurant in town said, “Bighelloni is made from the scraps left over for making pasta.”

There is a poster outside that said there was a real Italian chef in Mamma Mia (in case you thought you were going to have a virtual chef) who added, “The Bighelloni will be filled with cheese, and with garlic and chilli.”

The Bighelloni came small, and golden and sausage shaped and you just got a hint of the garlic and chilli feeling or the touch of cheese. All together they were new and great as befits the fourth, or is it the fifth, Italian restaurant in town? Brilliantly salted, the cheese Bighelloni competed for first place alongside the garlic and chilli. The jury is still out.

Next came the Ravioli and the aromas were divine; the only thing better was the taste. The Parmesan cheese which went on top added to the flavours as did the Pormedore or tomato sauce. There were four fillings spinach, chicken, mushroom and cheese which demand immediate eating. A certain amount of taste is lost once they grow cold. There are seven herbs in the dough of the Ravioli ranging from mace to marjoram. As a quick aside, the tomato sauce or Pormedore has its own magical and fulsome taste befitting a vegetable that came down to earth from Mount Olympus where it was used to bribe a god in a race by being thrown in his path as temptation. And truly Mamma Mia adds herbs and spices to make the tomato sauce taste worthy of gods who are eating and not racing about. The taste is a bribe in itself.

Wine and flour are used to seal the juices of the sirloin and then the meat is cooked with ham

and cheese. The tastes are contrasting despite the spices used in the flour that should make the whole dish bind together instead of clashing deliciously so that you are the victor.

“This is a very special red wine imported from Italy and its preservatives are natural so you don’t get a hangover. Actually even the wine we use in the kitchen is expensive. We don’t believe in the saying that cheap wine doesn’t matter in the cooking — it can ruin the dish,” said Nikki of wines.

I don’t know what they did to the chicken, it was a deeply spiritual experience. It was Cacciatore cooked as it traditionally is with mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon and onions. But it was cooked “with the bones so that the cooking takes longer and the flavours mingle,” said Dario and Nikki added, “Each household in Italy has its own version, its own recipe.”

The beans mixed with thick basil tomato sauce were a treat and this is from someone who doesn’t like vegetables but found the beans irresistible and so polished the whole plate off. For those of you who are panicked about such things as Mamma Mia not having pizzas and pastas, there are infact 57 items on the menu and we ended with one with a chocolate cake on the top of a strawberry cake which was eggless but still a memorable delicacy.

In a beautifully designed menu you have surprises such as Panzerotti or a fried pizza pockets which contains amongst others the Margherita named after an Italian Queen, and Carbonara which is said to get its name from coal because the pepper makes it dark. You dig into them and have them spurt out at you. They taste wondrously different.

Call 2191729