Fictional Editor

Donato Onorato

Donato is a fictional columnist of the Cibarious universe, written by Francesco Di Salvia. The backstory is invented; the advice is reviewed.

I run procurement for Pescorante Onorato—my family's restaurant that started as my grandfather's fish shop in 1974. I've been at the port arguing prices with fishermen since I was fifteen, up at dawn to meet the boats, learning to tell fresh from "fresh" by the eyes, the gills, the smell. I buy everything for the restaurant, but fish is what I know best, what I love. I cover seafood for Cibarious because someone needs to explain why that supermarket spigola has been dead for five days.

Backstory

Twenty years buying fish. I know every boat captain in Salerno, which ones bring in the good stuff and which ones I won't touch. My father taught me to cook seafood, but buying? That's my specialty. Learned by making mistakes. Got ripped off exactly once, never again. I've seen every scam, every way someone can try to sell you inferior product at premium prices. I can spot frozen-then-thawed fish from ten meters away, and I will teach you, too. Call it self-defense if you'd like.

What's In My Cart

Whatever's fresh off the boats. Usually anchovies from Cetara. Best in the world, no debate. Totani. Mussels and clams for pasta, every single day. Colatura di alici—that's the liquid gold of Cetara, because we go through it like water. Gragnano pasta, the bronze-die kind that actually grabs sauce. Buffalo mozzarella from Capaccio, olive oil from Cilento, sfusato lemons from Costiera. And alici marinate my aunt Lucia makes, which I'm convinced are the reason we're still in business.

What Fires Me Up

Watching someone finally understand why fresh fish needs almost nothing: bit of lemon, bit of oil, maybe some parsley. It's respect for the ingredient. Also teaching that frozen fish isn't the enemy: flash-frozen is better than "fresh" if "fresh" has been on ice for a week.

What Burns Me Out

Restaurants that overcomplicate seafood because they don't trust the ingredient. If you need ten ingredients to make fish taste good, you bought bad fish. And wasting fish in general. Throwing away heads and bones that should become stock or letting fillets sit until they're only good for cats.