The chefs who will compete in the Italian Cous Cous Championship have been selected. This competition among national chefs will take place in San Vito Lo Capo during the Cous Cous Fest, the international festival of cultural integration, whose 27th edition will be held from September 20 to 29, 2024.
The Championship, now in its eighth edition, is promoted by Conad, the main sponsor of the festival. The Contest has selected, from applications received from all over Italy through the festival’s website, 4 professional chefs and 4 emerging chefs, students from Italian hotel management schools.
Competing for the title of Conad Italian Cous Cous Champion on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 will be: Nando Buzzo from Carloforte (South Sardinia), Claudio Di Dio from Gallarate (Varese), Alessio Campochiaro from Carrara (MS), and Andrea Pellegrino from Campobello di Mazara (TP).
“Cous Cous Fest enhances the local cultural and culinary heritage and offers professional development opportunities to talented young chefs from all over Italy,” commented Mauro Lusetti, President of Conad. “To best fulfill our role, we must contribute to creating conditions for development – economic, social, and cultural – in the communities where we operate. Cous Cous Fest gives Conad this opportunity and, with conviction and for a long time, we are happy to support this beautiful event.”
“The Cous Cous Fest is much more than a simple gastronomic event; it is a symbol of inclusion, innovation, and valorization of local traditions that are projected onto a national and international stage. For us at Conad, supporting this event means investing in a vision that unites people and cultures through a passion for food,” declares Danilo Toppetti, CEO of PAC 2000A Conad.
“Here, tradition and creativity meet, giving life to unique experiences that enrich the national and international gastronomic landscape. With our commitment, we want to emphasize the importance of such initiatives for strengthening the economic and social fabric of the territory, contributing to the development of a shared cultural identity,” confirms Francesco Cicognola, General Manager of PAC 2000A Conad.
Nando Buzzo from Carloforte, on the island of San Pietro in Sardinia, was the most voted chef on the web with 1487 votes and will present a recipe titled “Homage to the Mediterranean”. Buzzo is responsible for the kitchens of Antonello and Luigi Pomata in Carloforte, at the “Ristorante da Nicolo” and chef at the “Pomata Bistrot”. “Participation in the festival will be an opportunity for me to challenge myself,” explains Buzzo. “The charm of Mediterranean cuisine was transmitted to me by my family, while continuous interaction with colleagues has allowed me to grow professionally in a journey made up of different stages and experiences united by great dedication to work, fervent curiosity, and a passion for the traditions of my island.”
Claudio Di Dio comes from Gallarate, in the province of Varese, and will compete with the recipe “100% plant-based ortho-centric cous cous” which is inspired by his idea of cuisine that has its roots in vegan cooking but with an eye on taste and the fact that dishes “communicate”. Di Dio has combined his passions, cooking and communication, by founding an agency, “Under the radar” which develops vertical projects in plant-based food and opening the BistròBiò restaurant in the heart of Milan. “My ortho-centric cuisine,” he said, “is a healthy approach to nutrition, which aims to create nutrient-rich dishes that are also delicious and tasty. I use only high-quality products, such as fresh vegetables, whole grains, and plant proteins like tofu and tempeh.”
The recipe that Alessio Campochiaro, from Carrara (MS), chef de partie at Osteria del Mare in Forte dei Marmi (LU), will present in the competition is called “Cous cous alla Bouillabaisse”. “The idea for the dish was born during my hotel management school days,” he explains, “when I was asked to create a dish that contained specialties from two different nations, and I chose Morocco and France by making cous cous alla bouillabaisse. The version I present at the festival has a touch of Italianness; the final seasoning is in fact the “gremolada”, an oil flavored with parsley, garlic, and orange zest that recalls the fruit itself contained in the bouillabaisse. This dish represents my cuisine: I love creating contrasts of flavors and colors while keeping the flavor of the raw material as natural as possible to enhance it, thus trying to present a dish with a harmonious taste and perfect pairing.”
The only Sicilian among the selected is Andrea Pellegrino from Campobello di Mazara (TP), who will challenge his competitors with the recipe “Cous cous rhapsody” prepared with sweet ingredients, including Sicilian pistachios and Apulian almonds. Pellegrino is in fact a pastry chef and directs the pastry department of the Oasi bar in Castelvetrano. “I have traveled in Italy and abroad to update myself as much as possible,” Pellegrino recounts, “I have attended refresher courses and collaborate with some of the great masters of world pastry such as Luca Montersino, Katia Malizia, Isidoro Giglio, Davide Malizia, and Robert Haynes to learn different processing and laboratory techniques.”
Young students competing for the Championship dedicated to new generations
This year, there will also be space for emerging chefs who will participate in the “Next generation student contest Conad”, the competition dedicated to new generations of chefs aimed at students from Italian hotel management schools. Here are this year’s contestants, selected from dozens of applications received from all over Italy: Elisabetta Zaccariello from the Severo Savioli hotel management school in Riccione (RN), the most voted on the web with 631 votes, who will present the recipe “Road to S.V.L.C”, the seventeen-year-old Piedmontese Alessia Iurato from the “E. Maggia” higher education institute in Stresa (VB) competing with a cous cous cannolo filled with golden hunchback tench, eggplant flambéed with vermouth and sorrel sauce. Sara Iovino’s recipe from the Orio Vergani hotel management school in Ferrara (FE) is called “Lucrezia Borgia’s secret”, while Flavia Montebello, a seventeen-year-old from the Safi ELIS enogastronomic institute in Rome, will prepare the recipe “Cous Cous Veg”.