72 / 76
FEB. MAR. 2017
XII
with almost 280 companies and our
students even get experience abroad.
In the last three years, students do
not perform less than 600 hours
of alternating school/work. If we
did not have this continuous and
privileged relationship with the
territory, we would never achieve our
mission. During the year the students
participate in numerous events
organised by institutions and we
accompany them even in placements
post-diploma. This approach works:
numerous companies, even of a
high calibre, come to us to select
the staff to place in the dining area,
the kitchen and in hotels. Our rate
of employability is high: 78% of our
students find a job within a year
following diploma and the 18%
follow with benefit the university.
The Agnelli Foundation, through
Eduscopio, puts us in the first place
among the hotelier institutes for rate
of employability of students that
achieve the diploma passing the state
examination at the “Carlo Porta”
Institute in Milan”.
______________________________
AT PAGE 30
The democratic chef
40 years, an exceptional curriculum,
a great sensitivity and the
‘transparency’ that he puts at the
center of his work
By Maria Elena Dipace
Errare humanum est, as the Romans
said. Giuliano Baldessari agrees,
owner and chef of “Aqua Crua”
in Barbarano Vicentino, in the
Berici Hills. Ironic but at the same
time with his feet on the ground,
Baldessari tells us of his ‘young’
career that boasts prestigious
collaborations, Michelin star in
tow, and great humility to point to
reveal his little secret: “For me the
mistakes are important. My recipe
for Ravioli with cream of pumpkin
and lemon geranium was born in fact
by mistake, from trying to make a
yoghurt with porcini”.
Yours is a beautiful story to tell: a
boy who had a dream...
More than a dream, we could say
that everything was born from
disappointment. I had signed a
contract to go to work in Switzerland,
but the day before departure they
called me and everything was
cancelled. I then promised myself
that I would never feel like that again.
What was your training?
After secondary school I did a year of
mechanics at Enaip, but I didn’t like
it. I went to Da Mario to do a season,
at Marter station. Here I discovered
a passion for cooking and I wrote to
the hotelier school of Levico. With
both determination and good luck, I
was noticed by Giorgio Nardelli who
was at the time coach of the national
chefs. He put me to the test and sent
me to Germany for three years and
then took me to work with him in
Bolzano.
How much did your experience
abroad count?
The experiences in itself doesn’t
count. I believe rather that it is
necessary to work on its feel. The
true lifeblood for a chef is always to
keep the desire to do a good job and
aim for the highest expression of its
dishes. What is important is how you
see things and how you interpret
them.
Your style in the kitchen is the
sum of three experiences: one with
Massimiliano Alajmo, with Aimo
Moroni and with Marc Veyrat.
What have you learned from each
of them?
As a person they have all given me so
much. From the point of view of the
kitchen from Marc Veyrat I learned
not to be afraid to dare and Aimo
Moroni a passion for ingredients
and for continuous research. From
Massimiliano Alajmo the concept of
the gamble, of a cuisine that goes
beyond thanks to ideas.
You said in an interview that for
you sitting at the table not only
serves to eat but also to reflect.
And to marvel. Can you explain
this concept to us?
When I sit at table what I expect is to
feel emotion. What interests me is the
game of contrasts, the research that
has been made, to understand where
the work of the chef arrived.
Today to be counted among the
‘top chefs’ cooks are called to push
the limit of their creativity, to take
a chance in every choice and race
against time. Is it like this?
For me the difficulty is to escape the
mundane. Being innovative at all
costs is not synonymous with a great
cuisine. There are also wonderful
chefs who make classic cuisine.
We are talking about Aqua Crua, a
restaurant that you love to define
as transparent...
Aqua Crua is a restaurant that I
created in my image and likeness, so
I can say that it resembles me a lot.
Me, both good and bad, I am a very
transparent person, who always says
what he thinks. So Aqua Crua is like
that: transparent and authentic.
In your kitchen you use only
unrefined salt and wholegrain
flour. Why this choice?
I use unrefined ingredients for the
well-being of the body. As well as
using only the best ingredients. My
idea is that we should eat only what
our great-grandmother would still
be able to recognise. Unfortunately,
the trend of recent years has been to
move consumption towards refined
food.
What type of menu does Aqua Crua
propose?
I currently propose two menus:
Fractals
and
Initiation
. The first is
the one where I suggest my classics,
the second is where I’m a little more
daring and I push innovation.
The adjectives most used to
describe you are artist, magician
and illusionist. Which is the closest
to reality?
MAGAZINE