The strength of sweetness

The role of pioneer in the eleventh edition of Dossier Dessert belongs ex officio to Corrado Assenza. "If Identità Milano", explained Gabriele Zanatta when presenting him, "is also a pastry making congress, we owe it to the day when Assenza dropped a teaspoon of honey in the cooking water for the pasta". It was 25th January 2005 and lots of water has been running under the bridges built by the only chef to participate in each of the editions of Identità Milano. Water and sugar, yet not the white sugar you find in sachets but "The sugars nature gives us naturally, those from fruits and vegetables".

The lesson’s narrative is developed around two dishes for once created far from the beloved Sicily and Val di Noto: hazelnuts from the Langhe, Robiola from Roccaverano...  "What counts is the good kilometre, not the zero kilometre. It is our thoughts that must travel the most". Passport-less delicious products that reproduce in an assenzial way (a neologism suggested by Francesca Barberini, which we should ask the Accademia della Crusca to assess) two classic dishes: a tasting of cheese and a dish of fruit.

Corrado’s vision widens to countries nearby which the obtuseness of politicians and wall experts make extremely distant: "Our cooking could learn a lot from the Middle East’s traditions. I’d like our dishes to portray the Italian landscapes, on a journey between East and West, passing through the South". One should dedicate an article to each of the issues the maestro raises with delicate wisdom: "We shouldn’t put an emulation of nature in our dishes, but nature itself". Or: "We all do what we can, but let’s try to eliminate industrial semi-finished products from our pantries”. Or again, "The worst crisis in the dining room is that in bars and cafés. Yet knowing how to welcome clients every day is a necessary task". Blessed words we should not just copy or listen.

The second speaker of the day is globetrotter Francesco Acquaviva, the 25-year-old pastry chef at restaurant Social by Heinz Beck in Dubai. The challenge in the United Emirates is that of presenting an Italian offer that can please the Arabs, very sweet, to begin with. Francesco presents a cake born from a provocation of the Bavarian chef himself (though he’s now fully Italian), a homage to the great Italian composer Ennio Morricone, awarded for his sound track to Quentin Tarantino’s latest film "The Hateful Eight". Eight ingredients, as many as the films by the director, which collide and create a dessert full of contrasts and exaggerations like the films by the genius of splatter. Final coup de theatre, Heinz Beck himself, in a live streaming from Tokyo says hallo to the congress and thanks Paolo Marchi and Francesca Barberini, moderator of the sweet half day ("You’re the best"). 

Third protagonist of Dossier dessert Michele Abbatemarco, the pastry chef of a legendary establishment: Cuisines Michel Troigros, in Tokyo, three Michelin stars. Imperfect shapes, bitter flavours, the chef likes going beyond the borders of strictly-speaking sweets. Omakase, (literally: I leave it to you), is the name of the cake based on a “freedom of implementation”, the result of techniques and textures drawn from Japanese artisans, ritual precision, bringing a handful of ingredients from Italy, including bergamot and coffee, Caramelia Valrhona chocolate.

Gianluca Fusto instead stole from Kennedy the sentence that gave the title to his lesson: “Conformism is the prison warden of freedom and the enemy of growth”. Pulling the breaks and reflecting, so as to look for one’s inner growth is the refrain on which Fusto – one of the favourite pupils of Aimo Moroni, one of the only two Italians to teach at the Ecole du grand chocolat Valrhona, in Tain l’Hermitage – insisted. Channelling aromas with fats reduced to a minimum, this is Fusto’s mood, which with the usual delicate funambulism (and an impressive technical expertise), dished out his Libre, that is to say Gelatine of chocolate, pears, walnuts and cream of milk, which has the task of uniting the elements, that is to say cold airy on top, solid and dense below, with the essential note of freshness given by the mint and the final touch given by the meringues. A tablespoon, an emblem and homage to Identità Golose, and some powdered gold to finish the artwork. 

Last but not least, Vito Mollica and Domenico di Clemente, chef and pastry chef under the same brand, that of the Four Seasons: “Sharing of thoughts: the pastry chef as the real protagonist”, is the title of their lesson. The sweet and savoury chefs enacted a dialogue with two voices, focusing on the concept of same dignity in different roles. Recuperating flavours that risk ending up in the attic is their mission, as with Mimosa 2016, tradition dressed in a contemporary way, a homage to women, on the International Women’s day.