Dulcis in fundo

The curtain was raised on Dossier dessert to show the volcanic talent of Corrado Assenza: the self-taught chef created an explosion of lava and lapilli over the casemates of official pastry-making. His Sicily, before being a territory, is in fact a stratified and visceral feeling. This was communicated y his Campagna iblea d’inverno (Iblean winter countryside) in which the cold is represented by the integrity in comparison with tourist alterations, and by a boreal contemporaneity. Citrus fruits were presented highlighting each unique variety: from the archetypical bitter orange to the moro variety, to the femminello siracusano lemon, up to the lumanziano cultivar; but also matured rice, a pastry as sparkling as a Champagne, wild carrots and beets, kiwi jam to add acidity. This spontaneous and non-ritual dessert, unfolds a tribute to unique and subjective imperfection, something as true as life is. Then there’s the winter garden, a countryside living room in which fabulous things are collected. At Caffè Sicilia, an orange juice parfait is served with an almond sponge cake, pears from Etna, dark cherry gelatine, couscous and passacrassana pear, filling the teaspoon with the Baroque exuberance typical of Noto.

Intelligence is also a trend at the end of the meal, according to Thierry Bridron, academic at the Ecole Valrhona. This is so because a dessert should not stimulate fear, nor regrets, but it should represent a moment reserved for bonheur. Less sugar, less fats, more pleasure: this is his recipe, while avoiding any crossing of the border with dietetics. The same complex emulsion with custard cream and chocolate, is guaranteed by the three-fold rule: 35 degrees, saturations, frictions, a way of re-establishing the fundamentals too. After this mousse, served with a wafer, Struesel, milk mousse and mint gel it was the turn of a praliné emulsified with tofu, instead of cream – thus virtually sugar-free - matched with pineapple and Streusel. “Instead of creating a visual architecture, I wanted to build an architecture of flavours.”

”A 3D dessert”, said Julien Ochando when introducing his Hazelnut transparency. The Roca-style sugar ball contains a hazelnut mousse, a Bavarian cream with praliné, pieces of brownie and a milk chocolate mousse. When opened thanks to the nutcracker-teaspoon, it releases a multitude of textures with all their nutty power. Pastry-making, however, can also be a chef activity: to remind us of this there was bistronomist Giovanni Passerini, a pupil of Alain Passard who is about to leave his Rino and move to a new restaurant. Less technical and more chaotic and instinctive, Passerini loves desserts, which are a little neglected in informal restaurants, given the lack of resources and space. A tasting of Japanese vinegars inspired him the stale and caramelised brioche perdue, placed on dry prunes with a syrup made with Japanese vinegar and shiso and a milk chocolate sorbet. The following sanguinaccio belonged to a more pulp genre, with the pork blood cooked in a Thermomix blender together with butter, wine and Espelette chilli until it reaches the thickness of a ganache, served with liver with turnips roasted over a fire, to increase the earthy and bloody tones: a perfect-murder-dish.

The grand finale arrived with a favourite of the congress, namely Gianluca Fusto, before whom, on stage, came the tenth-anniversary cake signed by Valrhona. His Imaginarium dessert closes his geometrical phase in favour of a new oneiric one, a testimony of a developed pastry-making, built on the foundations of savoury food-design without forsaking the essence of desserts. The contrast between white and purple potatoes, mashed without salt, and the sweet potato served as a jam, is the excuse to present the Dulcey blonde chocolate, which has bestowed a fourth colour to this heavenly ingredient. To finish the dish, a cascade of peanuts, a quenelle of olive oil ice-cream and pineapple water aromatised with sage.