He will not be on the podium with France, Denmark and Norway, but the Italian team with the candidate Alessandro Bergamo gives an excellent cooking test.
Italy from Bocuse d'Or wins tenth place. France first, Denmark second, Norway third. But with this edition, it is a bit as if our country had won for the first time: team spirit, method, sacrifice, professionalism, rigor and months of training allowed the team to face, perhaps for the first time in history, this competition of the right way. Candidate credit Alessandro Bergamo (former restaurant kitchen assistant Cracco Milan), but also members of the Italian Federation of Chefs that made up the Italian team: the chef Lawrence Alessio as a coach, Francesco Tanese (employee), Philippe Crisci (assistant coach) and assistants Christmas Moglia, Graziano Patane mi Andrea Monastero placeholder image. "We participate in the competition, he says Luciano Tona placeholder image, director of the Academy of Bocuse d'Or Italia - in an excellent, elegant and pleasant way, exactly as it should be, facing it with elegance. Beauty and professionalism capable of emphasizing the value of beauty and goodness, the taste of our country: this year's work of the Italian team has been superior to that of all other years, without equal in strength and beauty; the group created was strong and coherent, Italy today can deserve a big step ”.
Bocuse d'Or 2021
Twenty-one nations competing to compete for the world's most coveted podium in 5 hours and 30 minutes of testing, the one desired in 1987 by the king of world cuisine. Paul Bocuse. Two contest themes: the dish (braised beef tenderloin accompanied by two vegetarian accompaniments and a sauce) which for the first time in the history of the contest was unique and instituted by the organization for all candidates; the dish that in this edition had the new “to take away” starter: an authentic take away menu for fourteen people made up of a starter (cold), a main course (hot) and a dessert (cold) to be prepared with tomato and shrimp and served in a box made at will by the candidates with recyclable material of vegetable origin. “Creating a take-out menu capable of being harmonious and keeping the dishes hot and cold as requested was not easy, but we did it,” says Bergamo, who, together with Tanese, had to prepare fourteen three-pack delivery boxes. plates each. .
The platter consists of a Brasé à la Milanaise, accompanied by a spiral potato cone, a mushroom and pea cake and accompanied by a Ragù from the Italian biodynamic garden. The vegetable ragout prepared to accompany the braised meat Milanese is based on Sardinian cuisine and combines fregola with the typical autumn vegetables, where you can find the uniqueness of the aromas and flavors of Mediterranean cuisine. The result of research on biodynamic agriculture, the tray presented this year by the Italian team at the Bocuse d'Or is the story of a garden inspired by the orchard of the Piazza Duomo restaurant in Alba di Enrico Crippa, President of the Academy of Bocuse d'Or Italia. In biodynamic agriculture, the cultivation and feeding of the land follow a specific philosophy and ritual in total listening and synergy with seasonality, biodiversity and the phases of the moon: the history of the Biodynamic Garden unfolds in a divided botanical landscape in three areas: the pies, the potato horns and the wood that surrounds the meat. The schematic order of the cakes arranged as small terraced flower beds is broken by the forest of leaves under the meat, reminding us that in the biodynamic garden it is not possible to force the rhythms and times provided by nature. The central bell, on the other hand, represents the agricultural life to which to refer to harvest the products of the garden, following a calendar that includes specific days to harvest the fruits, vegetables, flowers and roots. The potato horns arranged on the sides of the tray symbolize the ox horns in which the preparation used to fertilize the soil is created. The rhythm, tension, circularity and balance between cultures are represented on the set in a synergistic story between food and decoration developed thanks to the collaboration between the Mentor Luciano Tona placeholder image, President Enrico Crippa, the candidate Alessandro Bergamo and the designer Astrid july.
The takeaway menu is dedicated to tomatoes, in accordance with the regulations: Fresh cherry tomato salad accompanied by Taggiasca olives and aromatic herbs; Arancina of cherry tomatoes and prawns; a Tartlet with cherry tomato ice cream, basil and extra virgin olive oil. "With these dishes we find Italy", he declared during the tasting. Regis marcon, president of the international organizing committee. "It is the Bocuse d'Or - added the French chef - and at a time when everything can go anywhere to take away, the technique, the presentation, but also the heart continues to count, and in these dishes we find a lot".
Heart and professionalism in just a few weeks Alessandro Bergamo will participate in another important global competition: in fact, he is a finalist for the Italy and Southeast Europe region of San Pellegrino Young Chef that will be held in Milan on October 29 and 30.
