By Fipgc International Federation of Pastry, Ice Cream and Chocolate

Lestani: "We all want to start again and meet in person"

The president of Fipgc talks about the many events that the federation is preparing for Host21, starting with the Tiramisu and Pastry World Championship. Students, champions and professionals together to take stock of the future of dessert.

A long series of events that will unfold over the five days of HostMilano: this is the promise of the “historic” partner Fipgc, International Federation of Pastry, Ice Cream and Chocolate. Championships, exhibitions, challenges and show-cooking finally live after a year and a half of webinars and online events, as president Roberto Lestani tells us.

"Although pastry chefs and ice cream makers have suffered less than the restaurateurs, being less tied to hospitality, they can’t wait to start again. The cancellation of events, marriages and ceremonies caused serious damage to the sector”.

An absolute debut is the Tiramisu World Championship scheduled for 23 and 24 October. 24 competitors will take part in the championship, including foreign ones - from Japan, Mexico, Switzerland and Australia - who will compete in the creation of a classic tiramisu, with traditional recipe and ingredients, and an innovative tiramisu, which presents novelties in form, taste, textures and structures. “Perhaps not everyone knows that Tiramisu is one of the best known Italian desserts in the world, popularized by Italian restaurants. The role of the championship is precisely to amplify the knowledge of the correct recipe and to show the infinite innovative potential of this dessert”, explains Lestani.

The FIPGC International Pastry Award, which will be held on 25 and 26 October, will see professionals from five continents compete in four categories: Artistic Sugar, Chocolate, Pastillage and Wedding Cake.

For safety reasons, unlike past editions (the finals have been held in HostMilano since 2013) the teams will be made up of a single person. The aesthetic, artistic and tasting aspects will be evaluated. Depending on the categories in the competition, competitors will be required to make various desserts such as an ice cream, a sculpture, a cake or a modern single portion and a travel dessert (i.e. with a shelf life of at least one week).

The Contest School will be staged from 22 to 26 October, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Hotel Institutes. Student demonstrations will be held for five days.

The Best Pastry Chefs in the World (October 26) will be a parade of 300 pastry chefs belonging to the Fipgc teams of excellence, with the presence of 18 world champions who will share their experience and discuss the evolution of contemporary pastry.

The traditional Art Gallery where members will exhibit their pastry-related works will be set up from 24 to 26 October.

“This is an unusual year, at Host2021 we expect a general restart. It is important to meet again, look into each other's eyes, touch the products presented by the companies and see the new technologies and innovations in action. Finding ourselves will be another thing entirely, it is what we missed".

What trends do you see in pastry? "In recent years, new structures, tastes and shapes have been sought in pastry and ice cream production, but much work has also been done on the innovation of classic recipes. Taking them to extremes is right, but classic ice cream flavors, hazelnut, pistachio and chocolate, cannot be missing and must be enhanced. Many modern cakes have been seen in pastry but the beignet, the cream horn, the vanilla slice and the Saint Honoré cake must be included in the offer. It is a message that I send to the new generations who are fascinated by trends: in the end what makes money is tradition, to which the correct positioning must be reserved".