Research, innovation, Italian excellence and coffee. These, basically, were the main ingredients on show at CHEF & COFFEE LAB by HostMilano e Ambasciatori del Gusto, held at the World of Coffee event in Milan. And because coffee beans are not something most people normally associate with cookery, there was great interest in the ideas being presented.

Live cooking demonstrations revealed the sheer potential of an ingredient that is unique in terms of the complex range of aromas and the different forms it can take (liquid, solid, dried, ground, powdered).

The president of Ambasciatori del Gusto Alessandro Gilmozzi got the ball (or rather the bean) rolling, with his presentation of Rehydrated Square Spaghetti, Smoked Butter, Lake Sardines and Coffee, a dish characterised by the process of rehydrating in water and coffee. With this innovative technique the ingredient can be cooked in one minute without any unevenness in consistency or loss of starch that typically happens when cooking by immersion. In this Tiramisù di Pasta, the technique used is cold infusion in alcohol and coffee, a process that guarantees a sensorial experience emotionally quite different from that of traditional tiramisù: here, sponge fingers are replaced with pasta.

“Over the years I have discovered just how big the world of coffee is, and its rich, complex aromas are definitely worth exploring. Coffee can be used in the kitchen in various ways, in highly intriguing combinations,” says chef Terry Giacomello. “I don’t think much has been done so far, so more possibilities could be explored to produce some interesting results.” The chef made two dishes: Risotto with Safflower Flowers, Salted Cheese and Powdered Coffee “a very simple dish that highlights the presence of coffee, whose mandarin, hazelnut and coffee aromas are released when added to the risotto.” And Paccheri Pasta with Fondue, Capers and Oil in Coffee. Here, the coffee is prepared through ultrasound, an innovative technique that emulsifies, homogenises and extracts all the aromas to the full.

Meanwhile, Corrado Scaglione demonstrated that coffee also goes very well with pizza. His Nice Trip, is a version of the famous Roman ‘pizza alla pala’ with malted wheat flower and anchovies from the Strait of Sicily preserved in salt, on a bed of Robiola di Roccaverano cheese, garnished with semi-candied lemons and powdered coffee.

Last but not least, Alessandro Del Trotti came up with another novel recipe: Dolce Armonia al Caffè, which, he says, “is the result of the desire to create a pleasant, harmonious encounter between creamy Coffee Namelaka and vanilla-flavoured Catalan cream, which contrast with the bitterness of coffee and cocoa aspic, crunchy cocoa crumble and caramel wafers that call to mind the caramelised sugar of Catalan cream.”

All in all, then, HostMilano – which will receive visitors at Fieramilano from 13 to 17 October 2023 – has demonstrated that there definitely are many different ways of cooking with coffee.