MARCH 2019 l CIVILTÀ DELLATAVOLA ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA N. 313 INTERNATIONAL EDITION ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA ISTITUZIONE CULTURALE DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA FONDATA NEL 1953 DA ORIO VERGANI www.accademia1953.it CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA CIVILTÀ N. 313, MARCH 2019 Table of contents CIVILTÀ DELLATAVOLA ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA INTERNATIONAL EDITION MARCH 2019 / N. 313 Focus of the President EDITOR IN CHIEF PAOLO PETRONI 2 The dictatorship of the chefs COPY EDITOR (Paolo Petroni) SILVIA DE LORENZO LAYOUT SIMONA MONGIU THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BY L’ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA EMILIA COCCOLO, GRAZIA DORMIENTE, è stata fondata nel 1953 da Orio Vergani PAOLO PETRONI, ROBERTO ZOTTAR. e da Luigi Bertett, Dino Buzzati Traverso, Cesare Chiodi, Giannino Citterio, Ernesto Donà dalle Rose, Michele Guido Franci, Gianni Mazzocchi PHOTO CREDITS Bastoni, Arnoldo Mondadori, Attilio Nava, ADOBE STOCK. Arturo Orvieto, Severino Pagani, Aldo Passante, Gian Luigi Ponti, Giò Ponti, Dino Villani, vvv Edoardo Visconti di Modrone, con Massimo Alberini e Vincenzo Buonassisi. PUBLISHER ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA VIA NAPO TORRIANI 31 - 20124 MILANO Current Events l Lifestyle l TEL. 02 66987018 - FAX 02 66987008 [email protected] Society [email protected] [email protected] Italy ascends the podium WWW.ACCADEMIA1953.IT 3 again at the Coupe du Monde vvv de la Pâtisserie MONTHLY MAGAZINE (Emilia Coccolo) REG. N. 4049 - 29-5-1956 TRIBUNALE DI MILANO Cuisine l Products l Food Technology The PGI chocolate of Modica 4 (Grazia Dormiente) 6 Low-temperature cooking REGULATIONS REGARDING PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION On the cover: Graphic elaboration of Children’s (Roberto Zottar) The Italian Academy of Cuisine, in its capacity as Breakfast (Kinderfrühstück; 1879) by Albert Anker, data controller, hereby informs its members that Kunstmuseum, Basel. their personal data are handled with respect for the principles of integrity, lawfulness and tran- sparency as well as protection of privacy and members’ rights, to implement the management of the member-association relationship as deline- ated by the Association’s Statute and By-laws, and for any related purposes where applicable. The processing is carried out by authorised parties, in paper and computerised form, in compliance with the provisions of the aforementioned EU regulations and current national legislation. To view all the information provided under EU regu- lations, and in particular to learn what members’ rights are, please visit the Association’s website. Rivista associata all’Unione Stampa Periodica Italiana Focus of the President The dictatorship of the chefs by Paolo Petroni President of the Academy Chateaubriand: a classic made for two Mind-boggling inflexibility and imposed limits on the number of diners per dish. n the beginning was the Chateaubriand, representative dish of French and international cuisine, today, sadly, I vanished from restaurant menus. According to legend, it was invented by the personal cook of the viscount François- René de Chateaubriand around the mid-19th century. This is menus’, which, with the pretext of showcasing the chef’s a cut of the finest-quality meat, namely the centre cut of the abilities and class, impose a dozen dishes or more, from tenderest fillet of beef weighing approximately 500 grammes, starters to desserts, without the possibility of substituting or seared and classically served with boiled vegetables and removing anything, forcing the entire table, mind you, not Béarnaise sauce (also vanished: which cook is able to make merely two people, to order that menu, which in high-ran- it nowadays?). It would therefore be sacrilege to cut it into king restaurants can cost 170-200 Euros, with added wine halves or thirds to obtain one meagre portion: hence the pairings, by the glass, often costing just as much. requirement that it be ordered for two people, as required by menus of yore. A perfectly justified rule. Among the various forms of ‘chef pressure’, one may recall Particularly embarassing the obsolete ‘dish of the day’, often prepared using surplus are the much-celebrated ‘tasting menus’ ingredients that must be sold off quickly, but sometimes, meritoriously, employing products that are seasonal or avai- lable at a fair price at that moment. Some chefs, perhaps understanding this unease, are begin- ning to offer two or three tasting menus with increasing prices. What is amazing is the complete lack of flexibility and Among the various forms of ‘chef pressure’, the regulations regarding the number of diners. Yet today current habit of imposing ‘starred’ restaurant kitchens boast an impressive number of a two-person minimum on risotto cooks (all decked out in chef’s hats, once the sole prerogative of the chef de cuisine, who today wears it no longer) almost equalling the number of diners. The real problem, however, Very similar is the concept of ‘daily menu’, which, however, is that the custom of preparing fresh dishes on demand does not specify the number of diners who may order it. is being lost, yielding to the tendency of advance prepara- Truly irritating, instead, is the very widespread current habit tion because of the sophisticated machinery now available of imposing a two-person minimum on risotto. This happens in kitchens; and all too frequently, these many cooks form in a cross-section of restaurants from the middling to the something resembling an assembly line. Recently, a noted luxurious. This absurd imposition prevents a lone guest from Milanese restaurant, acclaimed for its Milanese cutlet, has enjoying a good risotto. It is technically incomprehensible, qualified it with ‘minimum two people’. How staggeringly caused merely by organisational issues in the kitchen and a original. Ordering it, one understands why: a monumental, lukewarm desire to meet guests’ needs. But by now, freshly delicious cutlet suitable not for two but four people. Woe made food has almost vanished from restaurant kitchens, to the ill-fated guest who arrives alone to enjoy this prized where everything is assembled in advance. Milanese delicacy - whom it would be meet and proper to Particularly embarassing are the much-celebrated ‘tasting accommodate in some way. Page 2 Current Events l Lifestyle l Society Italy ascends the podium again at the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie by Emilia Coccolo Honorary Academician for Pinerolo “Between Sky and Sea” Celebrating Glory soon followed: bronze in 2001, 2007 and 2013; silver in the youngsters who 2009 and 2011. In 2015, Emma- nuele Forcone, Francesco Boc- won bronze at Lyon. cia and Fabrizio Donatone won the second precious gold medal, with Gino Fabbri as president. As the rules require, Italy did not participate in the following edi- tion, and here we are with the nce more, Italian pastry chefs have bronze for 2019, won by the mounted their discipline’s most youngest-ever team: Lorenzo challenging podium: that of the Puca, aged 29, from Vasto (sugar), O th Pastry World Cup, held in Lyon on the 27 Andrea Restuccia, aged 26, from and 28th of January. Rome (ice), and Mattia Cortino- This year, the pastry world’s foremost vis, aged only 23, from Ranica, in event celebrates thirty years since its the province of Bergamo (cho- first edition, emerging in January 1989 colate); president Alessandro from the passionate vision of MOF (Meil- Dalmasso trained them in colla- leur Ouvrier de France: Best Craftsman of boration with Forcone, Boccia and Dona- chocolate sculpture; an entirely vegan France) Gabriel Paillasson and imme- tone under the supervision of master plated dessert; an ice sculpture; and an diately supported by Valrhona and the Massari. No trainer or club member was ice cream cake. The table presented by SIRHA food expo in Lyon. In these thirty paid. the Italian team after 10 hours of work years, 882 finalists from 48 countries have was entitled “Between Sky and Sea” and come forward; the latest edition featured stood out for its high artistic level but even 21 competing nations representing five Italy’s trophy case contains more so for the pleasant flavours and continents. two golds, two silvers attention to detail noted by the tasters. Italian participation in the competition and four bronzes Japan won silver, while the coveted gold was initially hesitant and unremarkable; went to Malaysia for the first time. A sur- then in 1997 came the gold won by Lui- prising result, with Asian teams trium- gi Biasetto, Christian Beduschi and Luca The previous edition’s winners bestowed phant and Italy as paladin of the West. Mannori, with pastry master Iginio Mas- their experience upon the new conte- Judging the 21 competing teams was a sari as trainer and president. To avoid a stants: the techniques and skills acquired jury of pastry masters with a representa- one-hit wonder, in April 2000 the Club through the competition, and especially tive for each nation, the president of each de la Coupe du Monde Selezione Italia the development of team spirit, wherein team, who tasted the creations that were (World Cup Club - Italian Selection) was individuals are subsumed into harmo- presented following a predetermined founded, presided over by Luigi Biasetto, nious and alacritous group collaboration, schedule and then assessed the tables’ to perform the official national selections, in accordance with international regula- artistic value. Another five-member jury oversee contestants’ training as well as tions. In addition to this year’s theme - monitored the techniques and hygiene promotion, organisation and administra- nature, flora and fauna - there were ad- of preparation. An international jury of tion of the event, and forge links with ditional requirements: contestants must five food journalists, includingLivia Chi- sponsors. The training headquarters and present a creation made of sugar, inclu- riotti of Pasticceria Internazionale (Pastry office was established at the pastry de- ding an element of blown sugar approxi- International), evaluated the plated vegan partment of the CAST cooking school in mately 25 to 35 cm high; a chocolate dessert, assigning the Press Prize (Prix de Brescia, directed by Vittorio Santoro.