Tag: finalists

Panettone World Cup: here are the Italian finalists – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

While for the Chocolate Panettone category the 5 Italian finalists were classified as follows:
1st place – Armando Pascarella, Armando Pascarella Pastry Shop, San Felice a Cancello (CE)
2nd place – Alessandro Slama, Dar Slama, Ischia (NA)
3rd place – Andrea Marzo, La Dolce Sicilia, Rivoli (TO)
4th place – Michele Somma, Pasticceria La Delizia, Santa Maria la Carità (NA)
5th place – Pasquale Iannelli, Casa Mastroianni, Lamezia Terme (CZ).

The top three finalists for the Chocolate Panettone category.

With this important selection, the shortlist of candidates from all over the world who will compete in the world final is made up. After the selections in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and France, Brazil and the United States, the anticipation is growing for those in Peru, Japan and Australia which will take place between February and May.

The evaluation criteria

The work of the international jury in recent days has been intense and demanding thanks to the very high quality of the product. The evaluation took into consideration:

the external appearance (shape, volume and color)
the appearance when cut (alveolation, fruit distribution and softness)
sensory appreciation such as scent, flavor and aroma.

The Judges

Here are the judges who took turns in the two days of selections:

Traditional Panettone Jury: Tuesday 23 January

Mirko Zenatti, President Ambassadeur du pain Italia
Gianbattista Montanari, Maestro and consultant Corman Italy
Damiano Rizzo, Apei master pastry chef
Francesca Morandin, Consultant and Food Technologist Italy
Emanuele Valsecchi, Apei master pastry chef
Fabrizio Galla, best cake at the 2007 Pastry World Cup in Lyon
Matteo Cunsolo, President Richemont Club Italia
Daniel Künhe, Bakery Manager Richemont School Lucerne Switzerland

Chocolate Panettone Jury: Wednesday 24 January

Mirko Zenatti, President Ambassadeur du pain Italia
Gianbattista Montanari, Maestro and consultant Corman Italy
Gastone Pegoraro, Master Pastry Chef Director of Gustar Pistoia
Francesca Morandin, Consultant and Food Technologist Italy
Julien Alvarez, Executive pastry chef Laduree, Pastry World Champion
Juan Carlos Lopez, Director of the El Dulce Hecho Arte Peru pastry school
Daniel Künhe Bakery Manager Richemont School Lucerne Switzerland
Salvatore Tortora, 2021 World Champion of the Panettone World Cup.

What is the Panettone World Cup?

The Panettone World Cup is the international competition that involves pastry chefs from all continents in the creation of the original recipe for artisanal Milanese panettone. The recipe for artisanal Milanese panettone involves the use of wheat flour, sugar, butter, egg yolks, salt, orange paste, orange zest, lemon zest, honey, vanilla, malt-malt extract-malt flour, grapes sultana, candied orange cubes and candied citron cubes.

Born from the idea of maestro Giuseppe Piffaretti, for years the competition has been promoting the culture of Italian desserts around the world and organizing masterclasses and training courses in various countries, enjoying increasing success. Indeed, among the project’s missions is the valorization and knowledge of the leavened dessert par excellence as well as the deseasonalization of the product, as already happens in some countries such as Brazil and Peru where panettone is consumed all year round.

The competition regulations provide for the creation of panettone with the original artisan recipe by all competitors, including foreigners. The domed dessert is increasingly known and appreciated abroad where it is often customized with local raw materials, in fact there are many versions: from the one with dates, to the papaya up to the savory one. In 2024 the Competition reaches its fourth edition, after the finals of 2009, 2021, 2022 and thanks to constant commitment, the knowledge of panettone and its processing has managed to cross the boundaries of origin and seasonality to establish itself on the world confectionery scene.

The Best Italian Recipe 2023: the finalists of this edition – Italian Cuisine

The first season of the project ended with a gala dinner in Milan The Best Italian Recipe which gives voice to our readers through innovative recipes or which belong to the family tradition. Ten readers were protagonists with as many dishes that won us over. Keep trying, you could be next.

It was a beautiful journey that we in the editorial team took with you readers, which for The Best Italian Recipe you sent us recipes from all over Italy and you told us about your lives and how your great passion for cooking was born.

Dishes that have been part of the family tradition for generations, comforting flavors for those who have moved away from home, combinations, sometimes daring, often born by chance and become the strong point of dinners with friends.

After our gastronomic tradition was nominated with this title Italian cuisine between sustainability and biocultural diversity he intangible heritage of UNESCO humanity, we wanted to give even more strength to this historical moment: in May we launched the challenge to home cooks, professional chefs, simple enthusiasts, to write together the future of Italian goodness, and in six months we’ve received almost 500 recipes from Italy and abroadby Italians and foreigners who mixed their ingredients with ours, by men (many) and women, by the very young and the otherwise young, all together united in a chorus that once again demonstrated to us the great power that kitchen has, not only to nourish, but above all to
to aggregate, in some cases to console, most of the time to make happy.

Ten values for a happy kitchen

We discovered that you love to try your hand at first courses, pasta, ravioli and especially risotto; there was no shortage of vegetable-based recipes, ideas for appetizers and appetizing aperitifs, all in line with the ten criteria we asked you to follow.

Sustainability (local and seasonal ingredients).
Anti-waste (containment of doses, possible use of processing waste and reuse of leftovers).
Simplicity of execution (avoid unnecessary steps and excessively long cooking times, measure the use of appliances and tools).
Respect as an exaltation of the raw material.
Creativity and innovation.
Inclusivity as contamination of cultures.
Identity as recognizability of the Italian character of the dish.
Cooking for everyone (vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free…).
Awareness as the impact of food on our health and lifestyle.
Aesthetics of the dish.

We just had to choose ten dishes among those you sent us, but the recipes that won us over were many, many more. And we really enjoyed this journey undertaken with you, so much so that we believe it is important to continue to give you a voice through the pages of The Italian kitchen and on our site.

So, get ready. Soon we will start with the second season of The Best Italian Recipe. Continue to participate in large numbers, even if you have already written to us this year. Because the best Italian recipe could be yours.

The best chef in the world could be Italian. Our 12 finalists at The Best Chef Awards – Italian Cuisine

Among the 100 finalists of Best Chef Awards a beautiful team of Italian talents. Who are they and what's new this year

Also this year it is time to look for the best chef in the world. And just look at the list of the top 100 finalists to understand that it won't be easy. To give us good hope, the second position of Italy in terms of number of presences: second only to France and followed by neighboring Spain. Waiting for the big award ceremony to be held on University of Barcelona, we just have to cheer and why not finally participate in the vote.

Our finalists

The Italian chefs named among the best 100 in the world are: Massimiliano Alajmo, Andrea Aprea, Enrico Bartolini, Massimo Bottura, Enrico Crippa, Antonio Guida, Norbert Niederkofler, Davide Oldani, Floriano Pellegrino, Christian Puglisi, Niko Romito and Mauro Uliassi.

The new entries to watch

The first five finalists of last year are confirmed: Joan Roca (Spain), Rene Redzepi (Denmark), David Muñoz (Spain), Björn Frantzén (Sweden) and Jonnie Boer (Netherlands), but also the names of those who entered the 2019 stand out. Victor Arguinzoniz, Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro and Mateu Casañas from Spain; from the United States: David Chang and Kyle Connaughton; from France: Adeline Grattard e Guy Savoy; from Japan: Zaiyu Hasegawa, Hiroyasu Kawate e Seiji Yamamoto from the United Kingdom: Paul Cunningham; from Russia: Anatoly Kazakow; from Peru: Pia Leon and Mitsuharu "Micha" Tsumura; from Mexico: Edgar Núñez and Daniela Soto-Innes.

Why and how to vote

This year, a jury of industry experts will nominate the Best Chef, but for the 2019 edition a new special prize has been established: the Best Chef Fol-LOVERS Award. From August 1 the community that follows the awarding is called to intervene and nominate his favorite. To participate, just connect to the site The Best Chef Awards and express your preference. This is the right occasion to have our say on the most famous chefs in the world!