Qualitaly_114

DEC. JAN. 2020 VII Born in 1997, it is experiencing the handover between its father Danilo, founder, and his son Fabio, in the company for seven years after studying engineering and business administration in Vienna. We talked about it with him: “I was lucky enough to create a new business: first we only dealt with wine, then we switched to food, fresh, dry and frozen. With totally new transport and staff.” A clear change, therefore, which was the opportunity to expand the company to new shores. With everyone contributing according to their specifics: “My father gave me the basis, the relationships with customers, the capital to expand into a new area for both, and followed the sales. I was in charge of digitization and organization. In our field, the fastest person wins, the one who has the product that the market requires at the time, because he caught the new trends. Logistics is also fundamental, inbound and outbound: we have our own transport and we manage deliveries directly to the customer, which allows us an increasingly necessary flexibility. ______________________________ AT PAGE 16 COVER STORY The great challenge A real kitchen in search of the traditions of Parma in the old tavern a little way away from via Emilia. This is the story of Cristina Cerbi By Maria Elena Dipace A choice of love for Cristina Cerbi, chef of Osteria di Fornio near Fidenza: the love for her husband Luca Caraffini, who had been running the restaurant “Il Giardinetto” for two generations, a welcoming typical restaurant that you find along via Emilia. It was 1991 and Cristina had already chosen her path: her studies and then her work as an accountant. She became part of the family and let herself be conquered by the great mastery of her father- in-law’s job as a cook. She began to put herself to the test in the kitchen, initially devoting herself to the rediscovery of ancient, now forgotten, traditional recipes, such as the half-sleeves of puff pastry stuffed with broth, and to the research and selection of ingredients from the Parma area; from cured meats to Parmesan cheese to vegetables, so she abandoned her job and joined the “team” as a pastry chef and, still today, the dessert dished are very popular to finish in style. 2006 was the year of the great challenge, that of opening a place of their own together with her husband. The choice fell on an old tavern a little way away from Via Emilia, in the direction of Piacenza, in Fornio. Here Cristina and Luca offer a real researched cuisine in the Parmesan traditions, but paying attention to lighten the seasonings, with selected and quality ingredients and an interesting and well-stocked cellar. A century old restaurant in the small village of Fornio. Just inside the entrance, the open kitchen. Beyond the window, here is Chef Cristina and her staff: recipes that have been forgotten, the flavours of the Emilian tradition, an eye that is always attentive to the seasons and what the territory has to offer and, beneath the restaurant, the still-stony cellar where the cold cuts are aged and the wines are preserved. “The search for true flavours guides our everyday work,” explains Cristina. our mission is the research of ingredients rigorously from the region; we have selected producers and suppliers that can guarantee us the excellence of the product. The fresh pasta and cakes are exclusively of our production, prepared at the moment to ensure freshness and quality. The choice to keep the recipes and ingredients of the Parmesan tradition is a constant for us, but we propose them enriched with our imagination, always and in any case in strict respect of the authenticity and seasonality of the products used.