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As the world looked to the 3rd edition of the annual food congress Identità New York, an event promoted by Identità Golose Italian culinary organization and sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, didn’t disappoint.
Twelve chefs gave demonstrations and helped create five-course dinners for eager and hungry visitors at the Eataly restaurant: culinary techniques, emerging trends, new flavors and a number of demonstartions took place - giving the people of New York a chance to sample some high-end food prepared by some of the best chefs in the culinary world.
For those that missed out there’s a great picture gallery at the top of the page and below you’ll find some tasty bites from some of the top chef’s at this year’s congress.
“Both me and Davide Scabin are influenced by our grandmothers’ cuisine, as well as they were influenced by our great-grandmothers. We’re both chef with our heart, we behave like jazz performers”
New York chef Mario Batali, talking about his cooking partner at Identità New York 2012
“While cooking we have to go back to unpredictability, to the pleasure of not knowing the final result. Let’s stop with unnatural gastronomic performances: today I want to behave like who opens the fridge to cook a pasta, without any idea of what they’re going to find inside of it, or of the final result. This is the authentic Italian fast food: a pasta dish you could make in 12 minutes, that could be a disaster or a masterpiece”
Davide Scabin commenting ‘Salad and Pasta’, the dish he created for the Identità NY 2012
“Why did I make a risotto instead of a traditional Italian cheese and pepper pasta? Because this rice, Vialone nano, is an icon of the river Po where I come from: all the rest of the plate is an abstract landscape of Emilia Romagna region”
Massimo Bottura commenting ‘Risotto Cacio e Pepe’, the signature dish he prepared for the congress. The Italian three-Michelin starred chef paired with his mentor and three-starred Michelin chef too Alain Ducasse
“Italy, France and Japan are the cuisines of the future: we don’t have to confuse the trends with the cuisines”
Massimo Bottura
“I’m from the Mid-West and I had no choice: between Cantonese cuisine and pizza I always chose a slice of pizza. I’ve liked Italian cuisine for all my life”
Michael White from Marea restaurant, New York, that shared the stoves with Italian chef Carlo Cracco
“Cooking is sharing, you’re asked to open your mind and never shut yourself off”
Chef Anita Lo talking about her cookbook and cooking philosophy Cooking Without Borders. The chef at Annisa restaurant paired with Francesco Apreda, Italian chef at the Michelin-starred Imago restaurant at the Hotel Hassler in Rome
“I’m glad that an iconic dish of my area, Naples, made the tour of the world”
Francesco Apreda commenting his partner’s signature dish ‘Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes with Yuba, Shiso and Ponzu’, defined as an Asian version of the traditional Italian Caprese dish (salad in the style of Capri), made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese
“New York is full of energy and like Milan, where Identità Golose began, it has the ability to look forward to the future”
Paolo Marchi, founder of Identità Golose
The group of 12 chefs were joined by New Yorker Cesare Casella of Salumeria Rosi and the two Michelin-starred chef Antonio Guida of Il Pellicano; to close, chef George Mendes of Aldea together with Pino Lavarra, Executive chef of the two Michelin-starred Rossellini’s in Palazzo Sasso (Avino) in Ravello, Italy.
Throughout the weekend, the chefs also prepared two five-course dinners hosted at Eataly’s Birreria on Friday and Saturday. Chef Mario Batali kicked off Friday’s dinner, which included dishes from Scabin, Cracco, and Bottura, as well as guest chefs Mark Ladner, Executive Chef of Del Posto, New York’s only four-star Italian restaurant, and Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma. The second dinner featured courses from Casella, Apreda, Guida, and Lavarra as well as Felidia’s executive chef Fortunato Nicotra.
A special thanks to Identità Golose
