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The new AIG President
General Assembly of the Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie (AIG) was held on the 6th of February in the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris. During this biannual event, the AIG’s new President, Jean Vitaux, was elected. Born in 1951 in Saint Quentin (France), Vitaux is a physician specialised in gastroenterology and the author of over 100 scientific publications. A member of the prestigious Club des Cent since 1988, he is President of the Académie des Gastronomes and a founding member of the Amis des Bistrots. The outgoing President, Jacques Mallard, was nominated Honorary President of the AIG.
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New appointments at the
“Franco Marenghi” Study Centre
Sergio Corbino, a member of the President’s Council and Honorary Delegate for the Sorrento Peninsula (Penisola Sorrentina), is the new President of the FMSC. The author of many books on cuisine, Corbino has also been, inter alia, a co-founder of the University of Mediterranean cuisine in Sorrento, whose presidency he held 2015. Today he represents the Governing Board within the Technical and Scientific Committee.
Giuseppe Benelli, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy and the Philosophy of Language at the University of Genova, was appointed Vice-President. He is the Academic Council member for the Lunigiana Delegation.
The Franco Marenghi Study Centre has two new members: Gaetano Basile and Danilo Gasparini.
Gaetano Antonino Basile, Honorary Academician for Palermo, has collaborated with prestigious national and international newspapers during his lengthy career as a journalist. He has authored numerous articles and monographs on the cuisine of Palermo and Sicily. His awards include his recognition in 2011 as “best advocate of Italian cuisine” by the Foreign Press Association in Italy and the Rosario La Duca “A Life for Palermo” prize from the Palermo Inner Wheel Club.
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Gran Prix de Cuisine for Enrico Crippa
The Académie Internationale de la Gastronomie (AIG) assigned its 2017 Grand Prizes during its General Assembly. As proposed by AIG Vice-President Paolo Petroni, the Assembly unanimously awarded the Grand Prix de l’Art de la Cuisine (Grand Prize for the Art of Cooking) to Enrico Crippa, chef of the Piazza Duomo restaurant in Alba (Cuneo). Already recognised as a Magnifico of the Academy and having earned 3 Michelin stars and 5 chef’s hats from the Espresso restaurant guide, Crippa honours Italy’s excellent cuisine with whimsical and fascinating dishes, balanced and pronounced flavours and impeccable service.
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Leadership change for the Aosta Delegation
Andrea Nicola is the new Delegate for Aosta. He replaces Luigi Alessandro, who was the Delegate from 2006 and is now an Academic Council member. Nicola runs a chemist’s shop in Aosta as well as a firm producing plant-based cosmetics. He is a member of the Order of Malta and Vice-President of the Courmayeur Golf Club.
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New Delegate in Sassari Silki
The new Delegate for Sassari Silki is Antonio Fraghì, Academician since 1998 and founding member of the local Delegation established in 2015. Fraghì, a qualified engineer, has a thirty-year freelance career in the field of civil and environmental engineering.
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A prestigious award for our Academy
The fifth edition of the “Friends of Langa’s Great Reds” award ceremony was held in the welcoming atmosphere of the conference room in the Hotel Michelangelo in Milan. During the event the Academy received a plaque from the Go Wine Association headquartered in Alba, headed by the lawyer Massimo Corrado. The prestigious award, established in 2013, aimed to highlight the Italian Academy of Cuisine’s important work, particularly its efficacy and many years of commitment in raising awareness about food and wine culture. Representing President Paolo Petroni was Gianni Fossati, President’s Council member and Academic Advisory Council member for Lombardy, who pointed out the crucial supporting role of wine in this mission, promoting a growing public discernment concerning the contents of one’s glass.
Massimo Corrado with Gianni Fossati |
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14th Report (2016) on PDO,
PGI and TSG food and wine production
The ISMEA (Institution for Agro–Food Market Services) held its 14th “Qualivita Report” presentation at the Hotel Quirinale in Rome, coordinated by Mauro Rosati, a member of our Franco Marenghi Study Centre and director of the Qualivita Foundation for safeguarding PDO, PGI and TSG food quality. The Academy was represented by Secretary General Roberto Ariani. By the close of 2016, Rosati reported, Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) designations safeguarded 2,959 products worldwide, including 1,380 in the food sector and 1,579 in the wine sector. Italy held first place with 291 designations for food and 523 for wine. Andrea Olivero, Vice-Minister for Agricultural Policy, concluded the project with a reminder of the important link between product and territory. The Ministry will take pains to protect our certified products, which originate in areas where environmental sustainability is considered a priority.
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The Academy’s first university internship
The Italian Academy of Cuisine has signed an internship, training and education convention with the University of Milan. Tiziano Aldeghi, a student from Lecco pursuing a degree in Restaurant Studies and Technology (Faculty of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences), will undergo an educational internship in the Academy’s headquarters as part of his degree thesis project on “The Academy’s Cultural and Legal Significance”. The initiative, enthusiastically received by President Paolo Petroni, was conceived following a suggestion by the student’s supervisor, Professor Andrea Vitale, a member of the Franco Marenghi Study Centre. Milano Navigli Delegate Giovanni Battista Spezia will be the academic tutor for this project.
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Pasta alla Norma
Pasta “Norma Style” is a first-course dish from Catania which has gained considerable fame because it is both delicious and (apparently) easy to prepare. In fact the dish consists of ordinary tomato spaghetti which are plated and then garnished with slices of fried aubergine and basil leaves and generously sprinkled with grated salted ricotta. In the area of Catania the idiom “a real Norma” has gained currency to express magnificence comparable to that of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera. This pasta, however, seems to have been so christened by the poet Nino Martoglio in 1920.
These are the restaurants which our Delegation in Catania recommends for their Pasta alla Norma:
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La Siciliana
Viale M. Polo, 52/A
Tel. 095 376400
Closed on Sunday evenings
and Mondays.
Annual closure:
second and third week of August.
Giardino di Bacco
Via Piave, 3
San Giovanni La Punta (Catania)
Tel. 095 7512727
Opens only for dinner on weekdays
and only for lunch during
weekends and holidays.
No annual closure.
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Pagano
Via Federico da Roberto, 37
Tel. 095 537045
Closed: Saturday lunch
and Sunday evening.
Annual closure: second
and third week of August.
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