Fusion is the way to go forward
18 chefs from around the world competing with their own signature dishes with pasta as the central draw. One winner at the end. What were the chances of a nonitalian walking away with the top prize? Considering there was only one Italian chef, Lucia De Prai, competing in the contest, the odds were high – but still to have a Mexican chef who had flown all the way from the US, win the ultimate round was testimony to the fact that food is a universal binder that brings together people of different cultures and races. Carolina Diaz’s reinvented Spaghetti al Pomodoro, was basic, simple and struck the perfect balance between acidity and sweetness, as the judges found. “I did Italian my way,” the winner said at the end. With live cooking demos and talks from experts as well as a jury comprising Michelin-starred chefs Lorenzo Cogi, Viviana Varese, Luigi Taglienti and Holger Stromberg as well as food photographer Brittany Wright (if you haven’t seen her amazing food shots you need to check them out now!), the contest was clearly not lacking the star factor. The icing on the cake had to be Michelin star chef Davide Oldani’s live cooking demo that featured, among other things, a sampling of cooking sounds and gestures as part of the music collective Food Ensemble. Food that looks good, tastes great and sounds fantastic too - what more could you ask for?