13-04-2018
Corrado Assenza with the American troupe of "Chef's Table", last June. Their visit resulted in a 45-minute film, available on Netflix as of today
«When you go inside an ice cream shop and see tubs with mountains of ice cream with fruit or chocolate on top, turn around: that’s not real gelato. Go to Corrado instead. This is what gelato is about». The episode of Chef’s Table on Corrado Assenza starts with a declaration of love by American writer Faith Willinger. It is online as of today, for Netflix subscribers. It’s an important moment because the Sicilian pastry chef is the second Italian to be featured in this series that today debuts with its third season, entirely dedicated to pastry chefs (together with Assenza there are episodes with Will Goldfarb, Jordi Roca and Christina Tosi). An incredible showcase if we think that Massimo Bottura’s episode, launching the first series, has been viewed 25 million times all around the world to this day. At last Assenza too has a global audience, the audience he deserves. Because, as his friend and colleague Massimiliano Alajmo explains, in his cameo, «Corrado has done so much for Sicily and Italy it’s incredible. He has no interest in spotlights. He’s never been a prophet at home. He just wants to promote the work of artisans and their ingredients. His knowledge is endless». We won’t spoil more details on the episode. But we asked Assenza to tell us about the behind the scenes.
Corado Assenza, Caffè Sicilia, Noto (Siracusa)
During the episode, a contribution made by his friend Massimiliano Alajmo, chef at Le Calandre in Rubano (Padua)
Assenza with director Brian McGinn on Etna
During the episode, some photos from Corrado’s youth
The cannoli shown during the filming? Scarfed down by the troupe
Pleased faces
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
Gabriele Zanatta’s opinion: on establishments, chefs and trends in Italy and the world
by
born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt