"I have cried three times in my life: when they booed my first opera, when I heard Paganini play, and when a turkey stuffed with truffles fell into the water during a boat trip." It is said that it was Gioacchino Rossini who uttered this phrase, which has entered history.

The celebrated composer, to whom some of Italy's most popular operas, from Il barbiere di Siviglia to L'italiana in Algeri, are owed, was in fact a passionate gourmet. His name has remained linked to some famous recipes, and Rossini succeeded in the not-easy task of bringing Italians and Frenchmen together.

Born in Pesaro on February 29, 1792, to a very poor family, from an early age he showed an aptitude for music. Initiated into musical apprenticeship at a very young age, Gioachino revealed a prodigious talent. At 14 he composed his first opera and within a few years his career took off, giving him ease and success.

There is no shortage of anecdotes about Rossini's passion for the dinner table, but one can only fully grasp the meaning of his relationship with food by considering the atmosphere in which he was immersed, made up of gatherings in cafes and social salons.

Indeed, intellectual confrontation often came to life in places where taste played an important role. Having left as a young boy Pesaro, a city where land and sea meet, and having traveled extensively, had given Gioachino an unparalleled gastronomic culture.

At Rossini's, an amiable and refined host, good food and good wine were a distinctive and unfailing note, which he took care of himself, having fine ingredients sent for his recipes, but also the homemade products that were the offspring of his youth in the provinces, from gorgonzola to mortadella to the excellent Acqualagna truffles. He was also involved in devising new recipes, such as the salad that bears his name and has thinly sliced truffle in the dressing. A great lover of macaroni, Rossini prepared them stuffed-with ham, mushrooms, Champagne and the ubiquitous truffles-and then baked them au gratin following the recipe that bears his name.

Pesaro, Italian Capital of Culture for 2024 and his hometown, dedicates the Rossini Opera festival to him every year in the summer, and celebrates him in all aspects. Don't miss a visit to the Rossini National Museum, where Rossini's world is told as an opera, a musical metaphor for his intense life. Also visit the birthplace of the Pesaro genius: Casa Rossini.

Before leaving town, a taste of one of the best-known local dishes, Pizza Rossini, is a must. This reinterpretation of a margherita, is an all Pesaro invention that has its unique twist in the two additional ingredients: sliced hard-boiled egg and mayonnaise. Originating in the 1960s as an aperitif, today it can be found everywhere, from bars to pizzerias, and is a local pride, just like that child who scampered through downtown imagining a world of thieving magpies and funny barbers.