Tag: Won

World Chocolate Masters 2022: here's who won the Italian final – Italian Cuisine

World Chocolate Masters 2022: here's who won the Italian final


The young pastry chef from Brescia won the first prize thanks to her skill and daring to create desserts with only vegetable ingredients.

Anna Gerasi is the winner of the Italian Final of the World Chocolate Masters, held today 2 February in Pollenzo, at the headquarters of Selmi Chocolate Machinery, top player in the production of chocolate processing machines, in Pollenzo. The final was organized by Chocolate Academy Milano by Barry Callebaut, leading international company in the production of chocolate and cocoa. An important victory for Anna, born and raised in the world of pastry, reached the top step of the podium of this competition thanks to experimentation, the ability to get involved with only vegetable ingredients, which have in fact opened a new trend of pastry tomorrow.

An international competition

Now Anna will represent Italy in the world final to be held in Paris at the end of October 2022. The World Chocolate Masters it is in fact the most important international competition dedicated to artisans, chefs and their creativity applied to chocolate in the world of pastry, chocolate and gastronomy. The candidates, who came from all over the world, started their preparation from March 2021 and will have to convince the jury thanks to their creative ideas, their vision and their talent. 21 countries participating in the contest, which will be held in Paris next October, and which will decree the best maître chocolatier in the world. In the race in Pollenzo with Anna Gerasi, the only female finalist, also Matia Ortiz, party chef of Il Marchesino in Milan, Diego Mascià, of the Cioccolateria Gelateria of Cristian Beduschi in Florence, Attilio Rebeccani, manager of the historic Marisa pastry shop in Padua, Antonino Maresca, consultant for restaurants and pastry shops, Stefano Bernardi, maître chocolatier and Head Pastry Chef at the Valle dell'Erica Resort in Santa Teresa di Gallura and Filippo Valsecchi, party chef at the family restaurant.

The sense of this competition

The World Chocolate Masters is actually a real observatory, thanks to which it is possible to understand the changes in taste, the expectations of consumers and consequently the trends of chefs and pastry chefs who intend to mark the pastry of tomorrow with their work. It is no coincidence that the theme of this year's edition is precisely Tomorrow, or all the suggestions and insights of tomorrow's pastry chefs. «The World Chocolate Masters is like Formula One in the world of chocolate and pastry – said Ramon Morato, Creative Director of Cacao Barry. The innovations revealed and displayed by chefs have always been a source of inspiration for chefs around the world. What will be seen in the competition will be exhibited in the best patisseries and chocolate shops of the next few years. In this edition we will encourage chefs to approach science, technology and design and rethink chocolate and pastry in these terms ".

The X factor of Anna Gerasi

Anna convinced the jury, made up of great professionals in the sector, thanks to the decision to set up all her work using only vegetable ingredients, making the realization of her works more difficult. Strength, determination and vision are his watchwords. She declares herself deeply attached to chocolate and uses it as the basis of all her creations. In particular, he recognizes his pralines as a workhorse: an explosion of chocolate in different shapes and tastes. The final in Paris would represent for her, as well as the realization of a dream, also a a source of great pride as she would be the first Italian woman to obtain such a result. On the benches of the jurors, Enric Rovina Montesinos, founder of Enric Rovina, a company producing high quality chocolate with a contemporary design; Davide Comaschi, winner of the 2013 competition in Paris; Loretta Fanella, best pastry shop in Italy 2007 and founder of Loretta Fanella Pastry Lab, a laboratory where you can learn all the secrets of the most innovative pastry; Vittorio Santoro, founder and president of CAST Alimenti, the school created to give professional dignity to the masters of taste; Maurizio Allodi, director of the Selmi Training Center chocolate training school and finally Luciano Varetto, master chocolatier and Selmi technician.

The tests to overcome

The seven competitors had to face 5 different tests related to different themes. The first was Design, and participants were asked to think like designers to create new formats for their chocolates, snacks and pastry ideas. The first test was a 3D artistic creation in chocolate, using the #TMRW inscription, made with Cacao Barry couverture chocolates and other cocoa derivatives. Six different techniques had to be used in the realization, such as molding, sculpture and other methods, also invented by the competitor. The second test consisted in the creation of a fresh single-portion, where three different textures were evident, consisting of one of the chocolates of the Cacao Barry range, a fruit that gave the idea of ​​freshness and a local ingredient produced by artisans of the place of origin. of the competitor. The third test required the creation of a chocolate snack, entirely vegan and based on pure chocolate. The predominant aspect had to be the design: it is the image, in fact, that determines the customer's purchase reaction. Bon Bon was instead the fourth test, in which the participant had to create a fresh praline, without emulsifiers, made with local products. The last test to pass consisted in creating a moodboard to illustrate one's idea and interpretation of the theme, motivating the choices through a story, that it was as engaging as possible.

Chocolate in Italian pastry

The use of chocolate has exploded late in Italy compared to the rest of Europe, but in a few years, thanks also to the cultural commitment expressed by Chocolate Academy and by its chefs, this ingredient has become indispensable in the best pastry shops but also in the most refined recipes of starred restaurants throughout Italy. The first Italian to win the World Chocolate Masters was in 2013 Davide Comaschi, trained at the school of Maestro Iginio Massari. After nine years, who knows it is not yet an Italian to get on the highest podium of this competition. We all cheer for Anna!

Incoming search terms:

here is who won this edition of the talent – Italian Cuisine

here is who won this edition of the talent


In the final of the talent, the Sicilian Valeria conquered the judges with spaghetti with sea urchins and coconut mousse and was awarded the title of eighth Italian MasterChef

Mistress of the kitchen and safe in her movements, she has always maintained calm, a smile, humility, never losing heart and facing every challenge with courage and learning to believe more and more in herself. And the same he did yesterday too. So Valeria Raciti, 31 years old from Aci Sant’Antonio (Catania), won the final of MasterChef 8 beating Gilberto Neirotti and Gloria Clama.

Valeria's tasting menu

To cheer for her from the balcony the husband and many competitors / friends who participated in the eighth edition of the talent. And Valeria didn't disappoint them. "Between me and me" is the title of tasting menu who presented to talk about herself and tell about the encounter between tradition and curiosity, complete with six courses (one more than the opponents) that won her the title: the entrée "C'era once upon a time", a review of a bruschetta, with Altamura bread and spherification of tomato; the appetizer cannolo of marinated anchovies, stuffed with beaten aubergines, parsley air, toasted almonds, salicornia and trout eggs; thel first "Meeting between tradition and innovation", spaghetti with sea urchins, coconut foam and seaweed (the dish most praised by the judges); the second "Opposites sometimes attract", veal cheek and raw prawn with Marsala bisque and root and sprout gardener, e "Pigeon Oolong Phoenix Tea", pigeon with Oolong Phoenix tea with beet potatoes and red beets; the "Happy end" dessert, ricotta ice cream on the ground with pistachio and raspberry coulis and citrus sponge.

Love for cooking and grandma

Before joining the Sky cooking show, Valeria was one administrative secretary. She tells of herself: «Love for the kitchen was born with me, I don't remember an actual point of beginning … As a child I often stayed at my grandmother and she was practically always in the kitchen, cooking for everyone, when my mother passed me to pick up from work I almost always had my mess with my dinner prepared by her. So, as a child, when it happened that I stayed at home alone, even to find something ready I would start preparing the most unlikely, certainly inedible recipes, but they certainly served as an exercise. My desire to experiment never ends! . His grandmother, therefore, passed away very little, throughout his race was his "Inspiring muse", so much so that, continues Valeria, "when I tasted something prepared by her I thought that there could not be a better version". For this reason, adds the winner of the eighth edition of MasterChef Italia, "I hope that one day someone will experience these same sensations by eating my dishes".

How the episode went

Alessandro, Gilberto, Gloria and Valeria are the four finalists of MasterChef. In Mystery Box of the last episode they are asked to prepare the first recipe of their first "hypothetical" cookbook. Vince Gilberto who wins an advantage in theInvention Test: discover the secrets of the preparations of the dishes of the super guest Heinz Beck, chef of the three-star Michelin restaurant La Pergola in Rome, and assign them to opponents. His strategy is not successful: Alessandro, the competitor that Gilberto wanted to facilitate, is eliminated, while Gloria and Valeria brilliantly pass the test (the latter making an impossible pomegranate juice ball).
The three remaining competitors now have two and a half hours to present theirs tasting menu: the first courses do not convince the judges, then it is an escalation of excellent dishes, from the second of Gilberto – "Glacier 51 on tomato water and seabed", with clams and salicornia on tomato water – at Gloria's dessert – "Mountain hay mousse", hay mousse with fir-scented granita, wild strawberry sauce and raspberries. But in the end it is Valeria who convinces more. One hundred thousand euros in gold coins, the first cookbook and so many gold confetti are all for her.

here's who won the title – Italian Cuisine

here's who won the title


In the final aired last night, Michele Cannistraro, former site manager nicknamed "Il Cannibale", convinced the judges with his menu. Here's what happened in the episode

In the end it was triumphing Michele Cannistraro. It is he, surnamed the "Cannibal", the winner of the first title of Masterchef All Stars, a special edition of the culinary talent show that saw the participation of 16 former competitors of the program.

How was the final

Last episode, aired Thursday 10 January on Sky One, they arrived in 5 competitors who have faced the first Mystery Box (in which they had to present a dish composed of 6 ingredients cooked with 6 different cooking methods), then theInvention Test (where each had to replicate a plate of one of the winners of previous Masterchef editions).

After the elimination of Maradona Youssef and Danny D'Annibale, the three finalists, Michele Cannistraro, Rubina Rovini is Simone Finetti, they had two and a half hours of time to submit to the judges Bruno Barbieri is Antonino Cannavacciuolo – joined by the special guest Giorgio Locatelli a menu invented and created totally by them.

And to definitively conquer the chefs it was Michele who, with clarity and support from his wife (while none of the former competitors on the balcony – with the exception of Maurizio Rosazza, Prin- diatava for him) has served: l'entrée "Places of my life", king crab in Catalan style with yellow tomatoes and Tropea onion; the "Precise!" starter, mullet with amaranth popcorn on coconut milk fondue, turmeric and artichoke chips; the first "Come a casa", cold linguine with red prawns, lemon, basil cress and emulsion of stracciatella di bufala; the second called with his own nickname, "The cannibal"smoked tomahawk meat with ossobuco sauce, salad roll and pinzimonio served with salmoriglio; finally, the dessert "Finiamo col mojito", milk mousse with lime, rhum and mint on coconut biscuit.

Who is Michele Cannistraro

Forty years old, originally from the province of Milan, before participating in the third edition of Masterchef Italia, Michele was construction site manager: after being ranked eighth, he changed his life, becoming an entrepreneur and taking care of one kitchen atelier in which cooking classes, counseling and team building are organized. Before joining the MasterChef All Stars Masterclass, he said: "I feel much better prepared at the stove than before: my kitchen was a housewife, while today it is professional. Now I really understood what crunchiness, acidity, verticality … even opening the fridge, if I first thought "and mo 'that I do", today I know how to move . When asked if he was inspired by some chef, Michele replied: "No, but I have Cannavacciuolo in my taste buds e Salt Bae as a business man .

And now, it's time for Materchef 8!

From the 17 January the new edition of MasterChef Italy, every Thursday at 9.15 pm on Sky Uno. In the jury there will be Bruno Barbieri, Joe Bastianich, Antonino Cannavacciuolo and the new judge Giorgio Locatelli.

Proudly powered by WordPress

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Click here to read more information about data collection for ads personalisation

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Read more about data collection for ads personalisation our in our Cookies Policy page

Close