They never had a doubt, from the beginning: they were there, in Beijing Express, on the Dragon’s Route, just to win. So without much ado they did it. Damiano and Massimiliano Carrara, the Pastry Chefs arrive first in Sri Lanka, at the Sigiriya fortress in front of Costantino della Gherardesca, on the red carpet, at the end of an exhausting test. The fatigue can be clearly seen on their faces, while on their legs you can undoubtedly feel the weight of the 1200 steps of the Lion Rock done mostly in a hurry (by Damiano), so as not to waste time. Behind the girls was Italy Argentina, and Antonella Fiordelisi now says in retrospect that she faced the final with the after-effects of food poisoning.
Let’s go back to the winners. He, the judge of BakeOff Italia, the more famous pastry chef of the two brothers, bursts into tears first, before even knowing the result or whether or not they beat Antonella Fiordelisi and Estefania Bernal. He immediately said: “These are tears of happiness, I’m happy.” The day after the final was broadcast, the finalists are at the Sky headquarters in Milan, they are all together, a joke tells of the tension of the competition, between the Pastry Chefs and the Friends (“they were not only to be beaten, but also to be defeated “, we hear). But Barbara Petrillo (coupled with Maddalena Corvaglia in Le Amiche) puts things right. “I have read and heard many in recent months during the broadcast of the programme, and I would like to say a few words about these two boys. They are boys with great values, good and generous. They have developed a game strategy and have done well, they have won.”
But above all it is Damiano Carrara’s emotion that amazes. “We were 23 years old when we faced the first challenge together, with my brother, in America. As in this case, there were difficult moments, but we never gave up. Our strength is in our family. A splendid family. My parents are my super heroes (and saying it he can no longer hold back the tears, ed). With my brother we always did everything together. You have only seen a small part on TV of what we experienced together. Entering people’s homes and knowing the essence of their lives was a wonderful experience. We cooked in every house we went to. The fact that we already knew their cultures perhaps helped us. It was easy to get in tune thanks to the cuisine.” “The best moment – adds Damiano – when we arrived before the others at the end of a stage was the possibility of getting to know the place better, having the opportunity to make extraordinary human contacts. Or even just the possibility of wandering around the market alone and discovering fried donuts in an unthinkable place, very far from Italy. I think this was also useful in building the game: by arriving earlier we were able to organize ourselves better for the next day too.”
On the most discussed moment of the season, when the Pastry Chefs eliminated Caressa, Fabio and Eleonora from the game, Damiano Carrara didn’t hold back. “When you take part in a game you sometimes have to make difficult decisions. We would never have eliminated someone and I think it’s the same for everyone. I had one idea in my head, my brother had another. And in the end we nominated them. I’m sorry that Fabio got angry. Then we immediately drank a beer together. In a month of filming (5 thousand kilometers in total, from the northern regions of Vietnam, to Laos and Sri Lanka) the Sky Original program produced by Banijay Italia made approximately 13 thousand hours of recordings to be taken to editing. In the crew there were 120 people and a doctor. The final prize will be donated to support an NGO which, with its volunteers, operates in the countries visited during the journey. In the meantime, Damiano Carrara has seen his wish expressed in Sri Lanka come true: that of building a family: he and Chiara are expecting a little girl who will be born in the summer. Wedding in sight for his brother Massimiliano, who will get married in Italy, in Tuscany, on 6 July.
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