Cracco's pizza has been talked about so much, perhaps too much. Less, however, than his sandwiches and the author of all his pastries that you find at Cracco in Galleria: he is Marco Pedron, pastry chef of the year.

Who is Marco Pedron

Marco Pedron is a Milanese doc, born in Milan to two parents who still love each other like the first day, Bonnie and Clyde call them him. Marco's world was first of all music: metal, punk, rock; only later did he realize that it was the pastry shop, when he began to no longer bear the smell of the boiled restaurant in the Less restaurant where he worked. So he decided that on the hands he would no longer want the taste of meat, broths and boiled meats, but the scent of chocolate, vanilla, sour cherry. And Marco is one who has always taken what he wanted from life. From this moment on, in fact, he felt that he could no longer do anything else and began his career as a pastry chef for life, first at the Principe di Savoia with Paola Budel and then with various experiences around. But if today Marco is what we know and has arrived where it has arrived, it is thanks to the years spent by Biasetto in Padua. Well yes, just that Luigi Biasetto who is unquestionably among the best pastry chefs in the world. He will be the one to teach him the importance of rigor and technique. And it will do so starting from the sandwiches, which will become for Marco a great, important and unforgettable life lesson.

More than 300 sandwiches in an hour

When Marco arrived from Luigi Biasetto he was convinced he had the world in his hand. He had a whole universe of certainties that soon would have crumbled for a new Marco, the one we know today. And this hard period of effort, growth, education and learning starts with the sandwiches. Marco, in fact, spends his first year at Biasetto preparing sandwiches of all kinds: "I don't know how many sandwiches I made, I even managed to make more than 300 in an hour, so today I'm a monster to make them". Only in this way, through practice and repetition, Marco has learned the technique, so much technique, what is fundamental then for any recipe. After more than a year he switched to the mignon and then became the assistant of Biasetto, his right hand man first in Padua and then in Brussels. But at the time he did not know that shortly thereafter he would have met Carlo Cracco around by chance, who would have proposed to collaborate together, first on other Expo projects and then on the opening of the Cracco in Galleria bistro, where today he is responsible for the whole pastry shop. In this regard, Marco warns us not to confuse it with gastronomy, since pastry, whether sweet or savory, is always more retail, it is more chemical than cooking. In fact, his sandwiches are of a sartorial perfection, like the last one he designed, perfect for this period: the Plaid sandwich with zola cream, Jerusalem artichoke, Cynar jelly, smoked cooked ham, almonds, mayonnaise and mustard. A tip: for other variations of sandwiches always with such strong tastes, Marco recommends a whole wheat bread, even better if with malted flour and seeds.

Plaid Sandwich Recipe for 5 people

Tramezzino Plaid was born one day in November. One of those days when Marco was, just for a change, at work, but he was thinking about how much he would have gladly been at home, with his Silvia and his little Achilles. Better still if all three together, under a plaid.

For the zola cream
170 g zola
150 g philadelphia
salt to taste
pepper to taste
to taste nutmeg

In a bowl combine zola and philadelphia and mix with a marisa. Be careful not to create a homogeneous cream, but to keep the zola pieces in philadelphia. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

For the Cynar jelly
120 g chinar jelly
5 g sugar
2 g agar agar

Bring the Cynar to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the sugar previously mixed with the agar agar. Bring to a boil again. Then spread on a plate and cool.

For the sautéed Jerusalem artichoke
300 g Jerusalem artichokes
1 vanilla bean
1 tonka bean
to taste hazelnut
butter to taste
qb Maldon salt

Cut the blanched topinambur and stir-fry with butter, hazelnut, vanilla bean and tonka bean. Continue to cook until it becomes crunchy. Remove from heat, cool and season with Maldon salt in abundance.

Final composition
Toast three slices of whole wheat bread with malted flour and seeds on the grill. Allow to cool. Then place a layer of zola cream, the Cynar gelatine pieces and the sautéed Jerusalem artichoke. Close with a slice of bread. Continue with a thin layer of mustard first and then mayonnaise, place two slices of ham, toasted almonds and two more slices of ham. Finish with a slice of bread sprinkled with a last light layer of mayonnaise to ensure that the ham remains firmly in place. Block the edges, cut and serve.