Presenting Edoardo Fumagalli, winner of the Italian S.Pellegrino Young Chef

Born in 1989 in Renate, Brianza, 4,000 inhabitants, for the past year and a half he’s been the chef at La Locanda del Notaio in Pellio Intelvi, in a valley squeezed between Switzerland and Lake Como, where he confirmed the Michelin star shining over the restaurant for six years now, despite the change at the helm of the kitchen (see also: La nuova Locanda del Notaio). This is the profile of Edoardo Fumagalli, who’ll represent Italy in the super finals of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018, scheduled in Milan in June.

The jury of the Italian finals gave him the role of representing Italy. The exceptional panel is formed by Cristina Bowerman (Glass Hostaria, Rome), Caterina Ceraudo (Dattilo, Strongoli), Carlo Cracco (Cracco, Milan), Loretta Fanella (consultant pastry chef and chef at Ristorante Borgo San Jacopo, Florence), Anthony Genovese (Il Pagliaccio, Rome) and Ciccio Sultano (Duomo, Ragusa Ibla). Fumagalli’s dish, Carabiniere prawn, glazed sweetbreads, sea weed brittle with aromatic salad, won by a head over those made by the other nine contestants. See also: Edoardo Fumagalli wins the Italian finals of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef.

At La Locanda del Notaio the chef received the baton from another young Italian talent, namely Sara Preceruti – now at Porlezza, see also: Il nuovo inizio di Sara Preceruti. In the edition 2014 of the Guida di Identità Golose she won the best female chef award. Fumagalli arrived in Val d’Intelvi at the end of a journey that often took him abroad – at Le Taillevent in Paris, or at the prestigious Daniel in New York, with chef Daniel Boulud – and gave him the chance to work with the great Master of Italian cuisine, Gualtiero Marchesi, at Marchesino di Milano, when Daniel Canzian was the chef.

«Ten years ago, as I waited for my job with Marchesi to begin, I worked for a few months in a butcher shop [and what a butcher! Sergio Motta’s  Motta in Inzago]». An experience that came out very useful in the following years and even now, «the dish I presented at the S.Pellegrino Young Chef owes a lot to what I learnt during that period, like the use of sweetbreads». Then in France he perfected his knowledge.

Anthony Genovese, of Il Pagliaccio in Rome will be Fumagalli’s mentor in the journey leading to the super finals. He says at the end of the Italian competition: «We saw some mistakes, as well as some very interesting dishes, especially in terms of cooking procedures. Many used difficult types of meat. In the end three were the potential winners. Choosing one was complicated. The choice had to consider the international feature, because the contest in June will be among young and talented chefs from all around the world». And now? «We have a few months of work ahead of us. Edoardo’s dish is already at a great starting point, with a classic base that we want to improve in some details».

The meat – Genovese has already mentioned it – was the real protagonist of this Italian final. All the chefs presented dishes in which it had a main role, often with the element of water (as in Fumagalli’s prawns) acting as a counter point, «a very tricky choice, because combining earth and sea requires lots of skill as it’s very difficult to keep a balance», explained Genovese himself. Fumagalli managed doing so, better than others.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso