Dossier Dessert, the sweet side of catering: it's a historic moment, ever since the second edition, at the congress of Identità Milano. A section that was born, as Paolo Marchi explains, «when we were at the Borsa in Piazza Affari and nobody among us thought of the growth the congress would experience». What we already thought at Identità Golose at the time was that, to quote the words of the creator and curator of the congress, it would be important to celebrate «what Italian cooks rarely have at heart because they are vocated to the highest enhancement of savoury flavours, starters and first courses, meat and fish, sides and bread, with no great interest for what follows the cheese selection (when there is one)».
The other constant of this space dedicated to sweets is the partnership with Valrhona, a unique brand of chocolaterie, which has always been focused on researching excellence. The partnership continues even in this 16th edition of Identità Milano, from the 25th to the 27th of September 2021 at MiCo in Milan, an edition that will have as its fil rouge the theme of Building a New Future: Work.
The complete programme of the congress can be found here: Dossier Dessert will be in the afternoon of Monday 27th September, in the Auditorium at MiCo, and will be structured in three lessons that will all involve a discussion. To further stress the goal of giving life to the sweet side of catering, there will be on stage three "pairs" formed by a great Italian chef and a great pastry chef at work in his restaurant.
We will start at 3 pm on Monday 27th with a great family: the
Cereas, the soul of the historic three-stars in Brusaporto (Bergamo)
Da Vittorio. With
Bobo and
Chicco Cerea, chef of the restaurant, there will also be
Simone Finazzi, who joined the family in 1995, when he married
Barbara Cerea, and runs with her
Pasticceria Cavour,
Locale Storico d’Italia, on top of taking care of their catering events and the pastry making at the restaurant
. His
liaison with the sweet world wasn't love at first sight: he doesn't have a dessert that identifies him completely, he loves them all, because «pastry making is like music, I choose based on how I feel», he explains. He will tell the rest on the stage of
Identità Milano.
Uliassi and Casabianca at Identità di Gelato 2021
The next lesson will illustrate the sweet story of another three-star restaurant in Italy, with
Mauro Uliassi from the Marche together with the pastry chef of
Ristorante Uliassi Mattia Casabianca, also from Senigallia. Born in 1993, a career that began as a child in the family pastry shop, he then continued his training at ALMA and later in some of the best kitchens in the world. «At 18 he left to acquire experience with some of the greatest chefs.
Ramsey, the
Rocas,
Torreblanca,
Roux: when he returned, we immediately got him in our team»,
Uliassi told us when he recently participated in
Identità di Gelato in Senigallia, participating again with the talented
Casabianca. A duet that will continue in Milan.
To finish, we will move to Sicily, and land at the court of
Ciccio Sultano, chef at
Ristorante Duomo in Ragusa. Another temple of Italian fine food, and Sicilian to be specific, where some time ago arrived one of the best pastry chefs in Italy and globally. For sure of Asia, since
Fabrizio Fiorani from Rome, was awarded in 2019 by the
50Best Asia as the best interpreter of the art of sweets when he was the pastry chef of the
Bulgari restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka. In his desserts there's a perfect balance of art and craftmanship, beauty, avantgarde, but also pleasantness on the palate: «The pastry chef must have a clear taste. Then, of course, he can give a different shape and atmosphere to his dessert. But inspiration and allure are important too», he told us when he participated in
Identità On The Road 2020. We're awaiting his next lesson.
HERE IS THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME OF IDENTITÀ MILANO 2021
TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
