Italian Contemporary Pastry-making: the seven speakers (both established and young talents) at this sweet section of Identità Milano 2021

 

 

Identità Milano 2021 will enjoy the usual sections of the Congress dedicated to pastry-making: on top of Dossier Dessert (in partnership with Valrhona) in the afternoon of Monday 27th September with Enrico and Roberto Cerea of Da Vittorio in Brusaporto (Bergamo) , Mauro Uliassi and Mattia Casabianca of Uliassi, in Senigallia (Ancona) and Ciccio Sultano with Fabrizio Fiorani of Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa, the debuting sweet section will be on Sunday 26th September with Pasticceria italiana contemporanea (in partnership with Petra® Molino Quaglia and Valrhona). Seven speakers will take the stage of Sala Blu 2 throughout the entire day, sharing their vision of the future of Italian pastry-making.

Established maestri and young talents will speak in turn, to fully represent the evolution of this art, starting from its strongest roots, through admirable and authentic interpretations. First, a great ouverture with a dear friend of the Congress, as well as a lighthouse of current culinary thought: the maestro pastry chef at Caffè Sicilia in Noto, Corrado Assenza, will offer the first “leg” of a rich programme that will begin at 10,30. We will meet Assenza again during that same day, inside the Auditorium, first at 11,40 with the tribute to Andrea Paternoster, the “king of honey” who recently passed away, with Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo, and Alfio Ghezzi; then, at 12,10, sharing his thoughts again with Massimiliano Alajmo.

But let's return to the programme in Sala Blu 2: at 10,50 the baton passes to Fabio Longhin of Pasticceria Chiara in Olgiate Olona (Varese) who inherited the family business previously managed by his father Gianni (Chiara is Fabio's mother).  Today, instead, the pastry shop bears his name (in the logo too) though often the creations of one or the other, present and future, coexist in the delicious window display.

Right after that, it will be the turn of young Nicola Olivieri of Olivieri 1882 in Arzignano (Vicenza), the contemporary bakery famous for its artisanal baked products, the multi-awarded panettone, pandoro and colomba. Here too, a long family history of tailor-made dough that started with Nicola's great-great-grandfather, Luigi Olivieri. «The nice thing – Nicola says – it's that every generation in our family has added something». Today Olivieri 1882 is a food hall with a post-industrial spirit, that follows a slogan: in the name of flour!

The first part of the works (followed by the lunchbreak) in Sala Blu 2 ends with the last event at 12,50 with Luca Lacalamita of LuLa – Pane e Dessert, a contemporary bakery and also the pastry-shop supplying the old ElBulli, Osteria Francescana and Enoteca Pinchiorri, in Trani. Lots of star, lots of technique and creativity that Luca's hands hold and show. His laboratory, his counter and the tasting room are born with a specific goal, that Luca thus sums up: «Our ambition is to become a neighbourhood bakery. A neighbourhood pastry-shop. A neighbourhood shop that is part of people's food habits». 

We start again with a woman, at 3,30 pm: Francesca Castignani, born in 1982 in Tarquinia (Viterbo). In 2010, with her husband Enrico, she opened Pasticciera Belle Hélène in her hometown after acquiring experience at La Pergola with Heinz Beck, and across in Europe, between London and Paris. In her creations, there's lots of family tradition, but also the tradition of Lazio; the technique instead is 100% French.

After that, at 4,30 pm, the word goes to Pino Ladisa of Pasticceria Pino Ladisa  in Bari Poggiofranco: a life spent at the service of chocolate, using Valrhona products to make spread, pralines, chocolates and marvellous sculptures. But he also works with pastry-making and festive cakes, as in the case of his Panettone ai 3 impasti.

Gran finale, at 5,30 p.m. with  Gianluca Fusto of Fusto Milano, his super hi-tech home, a lab of contemporary artisanal pastry-making, a place for production, training and research, all together. Only a few months' after opening, Gambero Rosso's Pasticcerie d’Italia guide awarded the shop with “three cakes”. Fusto says «I have a place of my own, where I can keep design, technology, research of materials and of ingredients together. Today I can have a totally different creative freedom».

 

HERE IS THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME OF IDENTITÀ MILANO 2021

To register at Identità Milano 2021, click here and follow the instructions.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso