On Tuesday 14 May, from 11am to 1pm, the third edition of the gastronomic competition “The Florentine zuccotto – The Renaissance on the table” took place at the Gelateria Magnolfi in Florence (viale M. Fanti 7/r), open to pastry shops and ice cream parlors Metropolitan area. The event obtained the patronage of the Municipality of Florence.
The winner with 60 points was PASTICCERIA BAR GELLI (Prato, via Firenze, loc. La Querce), also winner of the first technical jury prize, which trailed LE CHICCHERE PASTICCERIA ARTIGIANALE (viale Gramsci, Sesto Fiorentino) by 5 points. Third place was the ERTA DEL BAU GELATERIA in Florence (via Paoletti).
The competition was organized by Festival delle Pasticcerie (Maurizio Melani, journalist and university professor) and by Casa della Nella (catering of local traditions by chef Massimo Cortini): historic organizations that since 2005, in the company of journalist Beppe Pirrone, have created the first pastry contests in Florence linked to local pastry traditions. In particular “The best Florentine-style squash” (13 editions, this year also with the participation of the Meyer Foundation) and “The best squash with grapes” (7 editions). Then came “The classic cantuccio”, “Pan di ramerino”, “The rice pudding”. We remind you that the Pastry Festival is a collection of around 150 companies including pastry shops, bakeries and ice cream parlors in Florence, Prato and the province which includes all the historic and best-known names.
PARTICIPANTS
Below is the complete list divided by municipality of origin: Antico Caffè Torino, Gelateria Capriccio, Gelateria Erta del Bau, Pasticceria Bellucci, Pasticceria I Dolci di Patrizio Cosi, Pasticceria Mamma Mia, Pasticceria Focacceria Pappa & Ciccia (Florence), Pasticceria Vannino ( Calenzano), Pasticceria Le Croissant Enri (new opening!!) and Le Chicchere artisan pastry shop (Sesto Fiorentino), Pasticceria Beltrami (San Casciano), Pasticceria Gelateria Pimpina (Cerbaia), Pasticceria Le tentazioni (Empoli), Pasticceria Delizia (Poggio a Caiano ), Gori Pastry Shop and Gelli Pastry Shop (Prato).
A jury of experts in the food sector decided the podium among 15 participants. The technical jury was made up of pastry chefs Raffaele Musacco, Alessio Guastini, Massimo Cortini and the master ice cream maker Alessandro Malotti, president of the Ancient Florentine ice cream makers association. The popular jury was made up of Alberto Angeli, owner of the historic Tuscan ancient grain flour company Molino Angeli, Cristina Blasi, founder of the Cordon Bleu cooking school, and Roberto Rizzo, consultant for the internationalization of Tuscan food sector companies.
Main sponsor of this event Carra Distribuzione spa, main supplier of raw materials for all Tuscan bakeries and pastry shops, Alleanza Assicurazioni, historic Italian company from the end of the 19th century, and Molino Angeli, Tuscan excellence, who rewarded the first 3 classified. A special thanks to the staff of Gelateria Magnolfi for their professionalism and hospitality.
The attached photos are by the official photographer of the event Tiziana Cini.
Dome of soft sponge cake completely soaked in Alchermes and filled with a delicious ricotta and candied fruit cream. This is the first Zuccotto recipe which over the years – or rather centuries – has been adapted to meet modern tastes: Alchermes, for example, is often replaced with other liqueurs (Strega, Benevento, etc.) and the filling sometimes includes ice cream, sometimes chocolate ganache, and still others the addition of chocolate chips to the ricotta. But when and by whom was Zuccotto born? According to tradition there is a date, an author and a very specific dedication. In fact, it seems that this ice cream cake was created in the midst of the Renaissance, in the 16th century, by Bernardo Buontalenti, the magnificent all-round architect, in honor of the Queen of France Catherine de’ Medici. For this reason the first name was “Caterina’s Helmet”, also because the zuccotti were made using a small helmet used by the infantry of the Florentine army as a mould. Pastry chef or architect: who was Bernardo Buontalenti really? Today, when the boundaries of professions are all strictly delimited, it is difficult to think of an all-round artist. But once upon a time – and what a time!! – you could be a sculptor, painter, architect, scientist and maybe even a chef and not be judged with suspicion but with great admiration. Leonardo da Vinci is a shining example of this. Thus, after designing Forte Belvedere, the façade of Santa Trinita, the large grotto of the Boboli Gardens and completing the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti, Buontalenti also dedicated himself in parallel to cooking but always with creativity and passion for design: he owes the invention of ice cream and also of a first rudimentary ice cream maker made up of blades, rotated thanks to a crank, and a cylinder in which the ice was placed. Long live Florence, long live the Renaissance, long live Zuccotto!
