Tag: Farewell

Farewell to Bauli and Pernigotti, two deaths in Italian confectionery – Italian Cuisine

In Verona, at 79, the "king of Pandoro" died, and in Milan, at 98, the grandson of the founder of the famous chocolate company

Two griefs, a few hours apart, in the Italian confectionery business: Alberto Bauli died in Verona, 79 years old, «king of the pandoro, e Cavalier Stefano Pernigotti in Milan, 98, grandson of the founder of the chocolate company.

Alberto Bauli
Bauli, for more than 25 years, was the president of the confectionery group founded in 1922 by his father Ruggero, which is now based in Castel d’Azzano, in the province of Verona. With the engineer Alberto Bauli, the family business has become a leader in Italy and Europe in Christmas and Easter sweets, such as pandoro, panettone and colombe, but increasingly present also in continuous sweets sector (biscuits, snacks, brioches and crackers): in 2006 Bauli acquired the Doria biscuit factory, and in 2009 took over the products of the Motta and Alemagna brands from Nestlè (he often joked: "The president of the Swiss giant thought I had gone to see him to sell our company to him "). In recent years he had initiated an ambitious cross-border growth plan, where the group now generates 15% of its turnover. In the latest balance sheet, the turnover reached close to 500 million, with a positive income statement of 11 million.

Stefano Pernigotti
It was his grandfather who founded the Novi Ligure confectionery company, but it was Stefano Pernigotti who transformed it into one of the most important brands in the confectionery industry and chocolate, in an enlightened company that put the interests of the community and workers before the logic of profit. He was passionate about hunting and sports, especially football: to his two sons Paolo and Lorenzo, who died prematurely in a car accident in Uruguay, in 1980, he had entitled a youth football tournament which, for many years, was played in Novi Ligure. In 1995, Pernigotti ceded the ownership of the company to the Sicilian Averna. But he always remained fond of his family's industry and followed the passage to the Turkish Toksoz brothers and all the vicissitudes and problems of Pernigotti. He lived in Milan, but will be buried in Novi Ligure in the family tomb.

Farewell to Sirio Maccioni, symbol of Italian cuisine in America – Italian Cuisine

He passed away at the age of 88 in his home in Montecatini Terme. After a long apprenticeship, he achieved success with the Le Cirque restaurant in New York

He was a sought after chef and a successful entrepreneur, one of the most famous and appreciated Italian restaurateurs worldwide. Sirio Maccioni he died at 88 years of age, 15 days old, in his home in Montecatini Terme, in the province of Pistoia.

His own story

Famous for his restaurant Le Cirque, in New York, he traveled one long mess tin before reaching fame. It began at the Grand Hotel La Pace in Montecatini, before moving abroad and working at the Plaza Athenee in Paris, at the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg and on large cruise ships, where he learned the secrets of high-level international catering. Which he has applied since, in 1974, he opened the Le Cirque restaurant in New York, first at the Mayfair Hotel, then at the Palace Hotel – under the Le Cirque 2000 banner -, and finally at the Bloomberg Tower.

A place that had an extraordinary success: it was attended by many presidents of the United States, from Nixon to Reagan, from Carter to Clinton, and from international celebrities. Maccioni took care of the high level of cuisine and the origin of the raw materials, which was brought directly from Italy. From Tuscany, for example, Colonnata lard was sent. "In the United States people want a simple kitchen. Everyone asks me for pasta ", he had told in an interview in 2012." In recent years, however, I have understood that Tuscan dishes are the ones you like best. For example, boiled meat, which nobody does as my wife does. " Henry Kissinger is said to have loved his special cod ravioli, and Woody Allen la crème brulée.

But, in addition to Le Cirque, Maccioni opened other successful restaurants all over the world: in Las Vegas (Hotel Bellagio), India, Abu Dhabi, Dominican Republic, with the help of his wife Egidiana and their children Mario, Marco and Mauro. A long and intense life, which he told in his autobiography Sirio: the Story of My Life and Le Cirque, who wrote together with the food critic Peter Elliot.

Even if he lived abroad for eleven months a year, Maccioni never forgot his Montecatini. "When I became mayor, I asked him for a foreword to the touring guide of Montecatini Terme, which I personally brought to him and which he kept in plain sight in Le Cirque," recalls the ex-mayor of Montecatini Beppe Bellandi. "Among other things, he wrote these words:" I love New York, my second home, the land of my success, but when I serve a Tuscan dish to my customers and friends, I also bring all my love for Montecatini to the table Terme, enclosed in its simple and genuine flavors .

Farewell to Sister Germana, "the cook of God" – Italian Cuisine

She died at 81 in the Varese area. She has written dozens of successful cookbooks and has been a well-known face on TV since the 1980s

They called it "the cook of God": Sister Germana, author of dozens of successful cookbooks and a well-known face on TV since the 1980s, died at 81 in Varesotto, where she had lived for some time. Her name was Martina Consolaro, she was born in Crespadoro, in the province of Padua and, when she was very young, she had discovered her passion for cooking.

Home economics courses

He was 16 years old, when he entered the Sisters of the Christian Famulato in Turin as a postulant: it was an institute for the pastoral care of the "domestic workers". In 1958, when the nuns organized a home economics course for girlfriends, they asked her to take a cooking class. "I started to cry, I didn't even know where to start," Sister Germana had told "Famiglia Cristiana". “Then I realized that I could put my experience to good use: the city girls did not even know how to break an egg while I, the daughter of farmers, had learned to prepare food with what was available . His motto, ever since, was: "Where the wallet doesn't go, the brain comes."

The first book When angels cook

Then, with Dominicans Angelico Ferrua and Giordano Muraro, Sister Germana founded the Punto Familia in Turin, with courses for boyfriends, but also the assistance of psychologists and doctors for couples. It is there that the publisher Piemme arrives to ask for an article from Father Muraro, who was however absent. Sister Germana comes forward, who, in 1983, made her debut with her first book, When angels cook: three thousand recipes, two million copies sold, 32 reprints. Many other successful volumes of the series follow In the kitchen with Sister Germana, a column on "Famiglia Cristiana" starts and the invitations begin on television. The critic Edoardo Raspelli takes her to Rai, where he participates in What are you doing, eating?, with Enza Sampò, Your facts with Magalli and Giletti and also the Sanremo festival, in 1999.

In recent years, Sister Germana has lived in one retirement home in the Varese area, continuing to work forAgenda, out each year with De Agostini. His life is told in an autobiography, The life and recipes of Sister Germana (Editorial Program). And his latest book is Sister Germana's cookbook: 30 years of home cooking, released four years ago. His funeral, as required by the containment rules of Covid-19, will be in strictly private form, in Durlo of Crespadoro.