Qualitaly_113

OCT. NOV. 2019 X dessert at the end of the meal, try to always provide cakes with alternative flours. For example, coconut, quinoa, hazelnuts and almonds with a lower glycemic index, rich in valuable nutrients for growth, mixed with rice flour that gives excellent sweetness in terms of softness. Also, in this case, we will have eliminated gluten and this is no bad thing, both for the increase in celiac disease, and for all those children that more and more often complain of intestinal disorders. The fillings can be made with jams without added sugar, with hazelnut cream and organic bitter cocoa, with organic peanut butter, or using coconut syrup or agave with a lower glycemic index. Or with fruit and yogurt in the dough. I’m aware that the costs of the products that you offer will certainly increase, but for the health of their children I think that a parent is willing to spend a little extra, especially if, in the family, the child’s situation is getting out of hand, being mocked daily and marginalized by his classmates. Today, more than ever with social media, children with weight problems are more expo AT PAGE 26 COVER STORY Well sourced local cuisine Three gardens from which almost all the ingredients of the NatureBio restaurant at the Hotel Elite are taken. Here is the organic cuisine of chef Cristian Corona By Maria Elena Dipace How many can say they’ve turned a passion into a job? Of course, we’re talking about a very small number of lucky people. This is the case of Cristian Corona, chef at the NatureBio restaurant in Levico Terme who, although he did not choose specific training in the hospitality sector, he tried to pursue a dream he had since he was a child, succeeding in making it come true in the best possible way. Let’s read his story... When did you first say, “I want to be a cook”? I started seasonal work as a dish washer at a very young age in the kitchens of my village, Primiero, in Trentino Alto Adige. From there, thanks to the trust given to me by chef Maurizio Longo (Hotel Brunet in Tonadico di Primiero), I started to take my first steps as a commis chef. That’s how my passion was born. Your studies were not recognized ones. You learned how to cook ‘in the field’. Tell us about this journey and explain to us who your models and guides were.. . I have already mentioned chef Maurizio Longo, who was a fundamental figure in my choice of work; but other chefs such as Diego Fratton (Grand Hotel Bellavista di Levico Terme), Franco Luise (Hilton Molino Stucky, Venice), Mauro Taufer (Hotel Des Bains, Lido di Venezia), Enrico Scolari (Hotel Excelsior, Lido di Venezia), Valmiro Pasini (Badrutt’s Palace St. Moritz,), Danilo Bortolin (Grand Hotel Majestic in Verbania) and Marco Sacco (Il Piccolo Lago di Mergozzo Restaurant) were also important. Where did you take your first steps and what were the stages that built your career? As I said, I started at the Hotel Brunet in Tonadico. After a few years, driven by the curiosity to see new places and methods of work, I practiced in other regions of Italy, and abroad, and then returned to Trentino with a richer wealth of experience. Thus, I got my first assignment as an entremetier chef at the Grand Hotel Bellavista in Levico Terme, where I stayed for a few years. Later, I took the opportunity to work at the Lido di Venezia, first at the Hotel Des Bains and then at the Hotel Excelsior, where I was appointed second chef. After years in Venice, I decided to look for a style of cuisine that was more “mine”, working as a chef in other establishments, and then returned to Trentino at the NatureBio Hotel Elite. What did you bring to the kitchen from your homeland? Apart from the stubbornness typical of the Primierotti, in my dishes I have always brought out the flavours of the mountains and the woods, such as wild herbs and mountain cheeses. My cuisine is a solid one made up of a few recognisable and balanced ingredients. Today you are at the Bio Hotel in Levico Terme. You had to adapt your style to a fairly rigorous philosophy... It was almost easy to move to a biological philosophy because I have always had a good relationship with nature and the environment. Show us the menu... In the menu of the NatureBio Hotel Elite you will find dishes of regional and local cuisine, 100% organic, locally sourced and... well sourced! MAGAZINE