We celebrated our first birthday the way we like it, promoting and rewarding the excellence of our territory and, last but not least, helping those who do their best for the suffering and the last of society.
“Roots: Experiential Tour of Salento in 5 courses” has received the interest of the media and has met the palate of our diners.
5 courses that tell a beautiful story of love with the territory, with our mother land.
An exemble of flavors, the result of study and research. The roots are our constant reminder of what we love: loves, affections, family ties, friendships, Otranto, Maglie, Lecce, Gallipoli, Nardò, Santa Maria di Leuca.
These are our very long and strong roots.
Ivan Tronci the globetrotting chef, his very young brigade and background on the menu concept
“Roots” is the result of 6 months of hard work. A research work that started in June and ended on December 29 with the preparation of the menu.
We have a great desire: to tell you about our journey through the lands of Salento through the flavors of our territory, roots, sea, land, hinterland, childhood memories.
We remember, with a smile, the phone call with the chef, while he was preparing one of his amazing dishes in Hamburg (“The Street-food of the Salento farmer“).
“Ivan, we have to tell about the territory, with our simple flavors, and we have to talk about the roots that inextricably bind us to our land, Salento. ”
On the other end of the phone there was silence, then a thunderous, tasteful laugh, and go brainstorming: “let’s prepare five courses, one better than the other. Let’s also throw in an optical illusion, a Benedetto Cavalieri sweet baked pasta, the dessert of memories”-this was the knockout moment. Ivan had hit the nail on the head, with out-of-the-box stuff, the dish we like, out of the box. Grandma’s stanato.
And it all went from there. The choice of the professionals in the brigade that deserves special praise and the story-telling, our inseparable suitcase, the protagonist of the event’s visual; a shot taken on a cold and rainy winter afternoon, in the countryside of Scorrano, together with one of our dearest friends, one of our roots: Giovanni Enriquez, dentist and nationally awarded photographer.
Ivan Tronci’s brigade for Foodismo: bright young stars of the Salento culinary firmament.
I’m sure you’ll hear more about these bright young professionals: our longest roots.
In order of age, from oldest to youngest and not in order of importance, we mention them with great affection and joy, because they have been our most important roots, during this first year of our life.
- Flavio Rutigliano, Gardemanger, a true rediscovery in the kitchen. A young chef, otrantino and collaborator of Ivan Tronci in several professional adventures, he had already cooked for us during our first official event;
- Lorenzo Rizzelli, Entrêmetier, from Otranto and talented resident chef at Girodiboa in Frassanito, a renowned seaside resort near Otranto;
- Antonio Blandolino, Soucier, from Scorrano (a charming town near Maglie, famous for its illuminations), a young promise of Italian cuisine;
- Donato Tremolizzo, Gardemanger, from Serrano, talented chef and Lorenzo Rizzelli’s right-hand man;
- Francesca Tronci, Pâtissière, sister of globetrotting chef Ivan Tronci and skilled creator of sensational desserts;
- Pamela Longa, Pâtissière, from Bergamo in Trescore Balneario, who has been adopted with open arms by Salento and Otranto for several years, Foodista and a great professional in the art of confectionery.
The menu: the land of Salento told through its flavors
The 5-course menu tells the story of Salento and the simple flavors of this fantastic sun-kissed land.
From the welcome finger-food to dessert, the entire Salento region is beautifully told by the skilled hands of Chef Ivan Tronci and the endless skills of his brigade.
Explosive Turnip
Fingerfood with the flavor of turnip tops: a delicate breading for this explosive croquette that encloses inside, all the peasant knowledge of Salento turnips.
Just the right amount of crunch on the outside, inside a fluid cream of km 0 turnips and Seglinda potatoes from Galatina.
A real treat, accompanied by the delicate crispness of Duca Carlo Guarini’s “Piccole Bolle”.
Otranto vs. Gallipoli: coast to coast
The flavor of the two seas, encapsulated in this artistic appetizer.
We did a numerical calculation on the distance between Punta Palacìa and the Gallipoli castle: what came out was the golden number, finely represented by a spiral (made with Galatina seglinde potatoes and purple potatoes, flavored with friscous and avocado) that virtually connects the pink shrimp from the Otranto Channel and the purple shrimp from Gallipoli.
The pink shrimp marinated with a ginger and lime vinaigrette and Friscous grits, while the purple shrimp was finely marinated with a dressing of aloe vera, pomegranate and puffed amaranth.
Accompanying this delight was Taersià Duca Carlo Guarini, the first negroamaro vinified in white.
Roots
We are in Trepuzzi, and we are telling you about the Salento hinterland with our roots, with Zafferano del Salento, scorzonera (or black peel in dialect), Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip.
This is the representative dish of the Salento hinterland made of red earth, dry stone walls and mastodontic centuries-old olive trees.
A saffron risotto from Salento whipped with sour butter, grana padano cheese and a symphony of roots lying on top of it: scorzonera, parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke.
The fragrant Negroamaro “Campo di Mare” from the Duca Carlo Guarini organic farm accompanies the taste.
Pecora Nera: Salento’s moscia marries Maglie’s pecorino cheese.
The white fleece of the facce niura sheep , the flavor of the yoke of this typically Salentine sheep rebel, marries a declination of seasoned Maglie pecorino.
The secret ingredient is Salento and the Salentine nature of the countryside, countryside and free-range pastures.
An alternating black and white color scheme recalls the colors of the sheep.
A savory saddle marinated in bitter cocoa and coffee, served with its jus (meat sauce) and combined with a crunchy and creamy Magliese seasoned pecorino.
Negroamaro red “Nativo” created a unicum with the flavors released by the dish.
Stanato: the grandmother, her wrinkled hands in the kitchen, the memory of Sunday baked pasta
Behind a table set in Salento, there hides a great grandmother, too simple to call her a woman.
This dish is a sweet tribute to the stanato of Sunday lunch, it is like a loving kiss to grandmothers and indelible memories that taste of family roots. This is the most sincere homage we could pay to our roots.
Made with Benedetto Cavalieri Mezze Penne cooked in a delicate syrup of berries and strawberries, the chef has finely recreated the optical illusion of a stanato (the baking dish of pasta) by placing a cube of cereal nougat at the bottom of the dish, the white chocolate creamy, basil and pistachio pesto, a small strawberry fruit salad scented with mint, and a white chocolate mousse to cover the very delicious coconut crumble and the two explosive pearls of bitters.
The Piccole Bolle Duca Carlo Guarini to accompany this dessert of memories.
Foodismo’s award to excellence: the rebirth and redemption of our land passes through the businesses that believe in the Salento brand
With much humility we have awarded the excellences that make our Salento great, a brand to be pampered and not debased, a land to be preserved and not defaced.
The list of awardees is thick. Read in one breath the names of the companies and the motivations.
Salvatore Santese and Michele Bruno: creators of the Mercatino del Gusto
Salvatore Santese and Michele Bruno are the creators of the most important food and wine event in Italy: the Mercatino del G usto in Maglie.
Needless to tell you what this beautiful event entails in terms of work and organizational effort.
We awarded Michele Bruno, creator and demiurge of the Mercatino del Gusto, which has been promoting the entire Apulian food and wine system for 5 days, from August 1 to 5, for 20 years.
Over 90 exhibitors, visited by more than 150.000 people from all over the world, more than 100 people working for 5 days between reception and service and then all the related events for the promotion of the food and wine peculiarities of our land.
A global showcase for Puglia and Salento, enclosed in the beautiful setting of the historic center of Maglie.
Our award at the Mercatino is a gesture of affection because,with no small effort, the creative-organizing staff spends itself for the promotion and food and wine culture of our territory.
Tenuta Castellana: extra virgin olive oil and organic and social farming
Bruno Nuzzaci, owner of Tenuta Castellana, is an enlightened entrepreneur. As a fashion professional, he decided to take over his lands between Matino, Parabita and Gallipoli and produce an extraordinary and incredibly good Evo oil.
Despite the difficulties related to xylella (he was one of the first people to report this abnormal desiccation of his beautiful, centuries-old olive trees), he has been able to reinvent himself and adapt to change, respecting nature and producing an excellent Evo oil.
Our gesture of affection towards this farm is linked to his way of farming. Foodismo’s award for Tenuta Castellana is dedicated to respect for the land, through non-harmful procedures of cultivation and harvesting of olives and, dulcis in fundo, love and acceptance towards those who suffer.The social agriculture project with the special kids of the Amici di Nico Onlus Association, has made a breakthrough in our hearts.
Duca Carlo Guarini: the Negroamaro of Salento in all its nuances
We had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know the young Carlo Guarini, at his organic farm located in Scorrano (the hometown of the Bros), just a stone’s throw from Maglie.
Carlo Guarini, despite being very young, is a visionary and enlightened entrepreneur.
We were enraptured by the way he narrated the family business and its thousand years of history.
Unbelievable to tell you that there was a great emotional connection right from the start: his way of narrating the territory, the grapes, the wine, the memories and places of his childhood inflamed our hearts with love for the land of Salento.
He picked up the award for process innovation because he produces negroamaro vinified in bubbles and in white, in a totally organic way: respect for nature is guaranteed by the production of certified organic wines.
Salento saffron: this noble plant is at home in our land
Emanuele Spedicato is a real surprise to us. Needless to say, we immediately fell in love with his story.
A group of visionary young farmers united by a great desire: to replant saffron here in Salento. We tell you about replanting because, since the time of the Phoenicians, the noble plant of crocus sativus grew wild in this land.
We were lucky because we created, with the support and approval of Emanuele Spedicato, the joyous event of saffron harvesting, a real magic that happens only once a year.
We rewarded the work of Emanuele Spedicato because he firmly believed in Salento and the land he cultivated with passion and dedication, in an entirely organic way. We applaud him because he replanted saffron here in Salento.
If you want to learn more about saffron, you can click on these two articles of ours: “Salento, land of saffron” and “Salento saffron: the harvesting experience”.
Saverio Alemanno’s beekeeping company: the only pure pomegranate honey in Italy is produced here in Salento
Our roots are finely intertwined with the story of this friendly beekeeper.
Saverio Alemanno, an expert beekeeper and former board member of ARAP (Associazione Regionale Apicoltori Pugliesi), has produced an incredibly unique and good pure pomegranate honey (80 percent).
His story struck a chord in our hearts and intrigued our minds because it is so difficult to meet someone who, in addition to producing several varieties of extraordinary honey, breeds and sells bees by the kilogram!
We tested his pureed pomegranate honey and were enchanted by the industriousness of his worker bees, the result of careful 100% natural selection work.Our award goes to his little honey boutique because our friend Saverio’s work respects the nature and environment of Salento.
Benedetto Cavalieri: first quality pasta, signed with first and last name
Benedetto Cavalieri “First-quality pasta, signed with name and surname” is the motto of the company founded in 1918 by Benedetto Cavalieri to offer unparalleled pasta, made with “fine selected” durum wheat from the sunny hills of Puglia. In Maglie, in the province of Lecce, this pasta maker uses a “delicate” processing method: prolonged kneading, slow gramolatura, pressing and drawing, and low-temperature drying. Ruote Pazze and Spaghettoni, the company’s flagship formats, go perfectly with any sauce. For our event, we used Mezze Penne Rigate. A real spectacle.
Our tribute is dedicated to the roots of this very prestigious company that, from 1918 to the present day, resisting generational changes, has invested and continues to invest in quality raw materials and has found in Andrea Cavalieri, its valuable young helmsman.
Uccadape, wildflower honey from the social cooperative “Mettere le Ali” Onlus
Uccadape is the honey of “Mettere le Ali Onlus,” the fruit of “social beekeeping. ”
This non-profit organization is a wonderful reality for the area because, with its commitment and work, it gives young people and minors who live in a situation of great hardship, a chance for redemption through educational and training projects.
Uccadape is one of them. We were impressed by the visit at the apartments in Minervino.
The founder and legal representative, Alessandro Rizzelli, told about the hardship situations he is forced to face.
Our award is for Uccadape, an extraordinary millefiori honey born, produced and marketed with a social purpose.
Taking me out to dinner tonight: Federica Stella Blasi and her Facebook format
In May 2017 we met Federica Stella Blasi and our meeting, during a business breakfast, was simply spectacular: we hit it off right away, as if we had known her all our lives.
We left that day with a promise: we would take her out to dinner, and we did.
On our first birthday, we had the pleasure of awarding her for her innovative format on Facebook and invited her to have dinner with our Foodisti friends.
Our nice award is related to Federica’s narrative skills and food and wine expertise: she talks about food and wine and uniquely tells about food and territory…from Salento to Lapland.
Tony Ingrosso, ambassador of Salento in Milan and creator of Energie a Sud
Tony Ingrosso is the ambassador of Salento in Milan because he has managed to accomplish a great feat: bringing recipes, pasticciotti, rustici and coffee from Salento to the heart of the city of Milan, something unthinkable until a few years ago.
Tony is the first promoter of Salento, in an exemplary and effective way, and we will be infinitely grateful for what he has done and continues to do for our land.
However, we Foodisti have decided to award him, not for the Salentini, Santu Paulu and Puglia in Brera, but for his innovative initiative, officially born in August 2017: “Energie a Sud” (we have already told you about this beautiful undertaking, with one of our videos).
A collection of Energies from different fields (art, design, culture, entrepreneurship, creativity) who love Salento and who ardently wish to promote, protect and preserve the image of our land.
Our tribute is linked to the strong and solid roots that Tony has with the Salento peninsula: his hope, like ours for that matter, is to create a better and welcoming habitat, here in Salento, for all the Salento professionals who are forced to “expatriate” for a better future.
Studio Samo: our heart also beats in Bologna
This is a magical moment for us because, if we celebrated our first birthday, it is thanks to the Bologna support of this group of Seo and web marketing professionals: Jacopo Matteuzzi, Flavio Mazzanti and Simone Grossi.
Without their advice, Foodismo today would have taken a different path, we don’t know if better. This we cannot say. Certainly, a path that would have distorted our being easy-going and open to direct relationship with our Foodistas.
In this cauldron, we also include our friends and fraternal colleagues Andrea Compagnucci and Sara Francia, whom we met in that of Bologna, thanks to the collaboration with Studio Samo. Straight from Le Marche, they came here to Salento to celebrate together with us.
The value of friendship: our most important root
During this first year of our life, we have had the opportunity to meet people who have left an indelible mark on our hearts. We like to call them our roots.
With emotion and great joy, our special thanks go (and believe us, this is by no means an order of importance because, the people mentioned here, deserve a special place in our hearts) to Prof. Francesco Lenoci, assiduous promoter of our land and all that is worthy and worthy of mention, Gaetano Castellini, the architect of Expo in Milan and the first lover and suitor of Salento, Tiziana Protopapa (“Leccenews24”) and Daniela Pastore (“La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno”) who, with their pens, wrote beautiful love letters to Foodismo and the Salento and, last but not least, Domenico Zezza, internationally renowned violinist who, with his Stradivarius, gently accompanied the story about the menu and wine between courses.
The roots of the heart: Don Gianni Mattia with “Cuore e Mani Aperte verso chi soffrire Onlus” and Don Antonio Coluccia with “Don giustino Onlus.”
Last but not least, our most important awards and support, go to Don Antonio Coluccia (Don Giustino Onlus) and Franco Russo and Don Gianni Mattia (Cuore e Mani Aperte verso chi soffrire Onlus).
In our humble opinion, every opportunity must be the right one to do good.
This is our imprinting: wanting the good of the area and extending a hand to those who suffer.
Thanks to the offerings of those in the hall, our suitcase was filled with messages of love for Don Gianni and Don Antonio and, our Salento piggy bank, was filled with hope for those who suffer, for the last of society and the marginalized, for the homeless and the poor.
Thanks to you, € 1920 was raised, divided equally between the two associations: we are sure that we have entrusted your love into the hands of people with hearts of gold.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
