The rise through the ranks of a pastry chef

When I was a child, as with many colleagues, I loved to observe my mother at the stove and smell the aroma that the kitchen gave off. I then chose to attend the catering school in Castrovillari (Cosenza), 50 km away from home, a small sacrifice at the time. It’s the right start for the restaurant sector but the 5 years of training are certainly not enough to transform a kid into a chef, a sommelier, or a maître. Following the advice of my teachers, and driven by a great passion, I decided to continue along this road, to aim high. But the road to the top is always uphill: if it seems too easy, and still gets you to the top, it means you have missed something important along the way, something that sooner or later you’ll have to go back to take.

After finishing school, I began my journey with an internship with the master Igles Corelli, who was then in Ostellato (Ferrara). I learnt that my education in the kitchen had to start from nature. Corelli pushed us into the fields, searching for herbs, roots, scents and colours. After the internship, the moment arrived for me to acquire manual and organizational skills in the kitchen. All this was made possible at Al Cavallino Bianco, with chef Massimo Spigaroli. Here I came closer to pastry, for me, today, the source of a thousand emotions.

I attended the various courses organised at Castalimenti to learn the art of the great Italian master pastry-chefs, from whom you never cease to learn. Later, I was offered to be part of the staff of Alain Ducasse at Andana in Tuscany: his apprentice Christophe Martin first included me in the kitchen staff, then made me guide the pastry staff. It was a very important step because I learnt to team up with my colleagues, I understood the respect for kitchen hierarchies, order and cleanness. But most of all, I learnt to respect raw materials and the essentiality in dishes.

At the moment I have the luck and pleasure to sign the desserts at Antica Corte Pallavicina, again with Massimo Spigaroli. I try to keep up with the changing of seasons and of their colours, fruits and scents. Once the main ingredient is chosen, I try to play with contrasts, textures, shades. All this, however, is obviously not enough: you always need to pass the test with the chef and his possible critiques, including objections to the visual impact that the dish may have on the client, decided together with the dining room staff.

Pastry-making involves precision, creativity, sacrifice but also lots of satisfaction. A pastry-chef is, in a way, the “scientist” in the kitchen, because of the precision, elegance and firmness of the movements. Closing the meal implies great responsibilities due to the harmony with the dishes that have preceded. And if we indulge in “special effects”, we always need to remind ourselves that it’s from tradition that one needs to start. Because even the simplest millefoglie with Chantilly cream, if prepared with reason, precision and passion, is capable of giving lots of emotions to the client, and satisfaction to its maker.