Tuesday, October 3 we created this "challenge" with our friends and customers from abroad to have fun preparing some recipes of Italian cuisine. In the premises of Qucinando in Pordenone we tested ourselves in the kitchen with fresh handmade pasta with rabbit meat sauce and a classic of our tradition: tiramisù.

Alessandro, our export manager, introduces the cooking lab giving the first instructions on details and methods of development, therefore the groups are formed. So, put on the apron and... Ready, go!

After that the word goes to our trusted chef Anna Maria Pellegrino who has accompanied us throughout the evening by making known the recipes and giving precious advices. Italian cuisine, for those who did not grow up with their grandmother who made homemade pasta at least once a week, is not simple, it requires patience and practice and sometimes we take for granted the recipes considering them part of our habits.

Combining a few glasses of wine with the serious and concentrated expressions of the competitors, the challenge continues and as soon as everyone has completed the first recipe, hands up and word to the judges. Just them, two of the three judges were selected among our friends-clients and have evaluated together with Anna Maria the dishes served.

Let's move on to tiramisu, a dessert known for its simplicity, for its goodness and for the debate on its origin that accompany it by some time. We weren’t there to debate, but to cook, so space to the savoiardi and the sac a poche and off with the preparation of the dessert.

Without the red carpet but with the Oscars the award ceremony has arrived, three prizes of honor for the three winners:

In third place is classified Idiazabal team, composed of Betty, Martin and Stefano, that receives on prize a Spressa al vino Torcolato DOC.

In second place is placed: Caciocavallo team with Petros, Franco and Geoff, that takes home a Sopressa Meggio.

Finally, the winner of the Valsana cooking lab 2017 is ... Gorgonzola team, led by Andrea, Francesco and Stefano! With a Sopressa Magnum Lovison as a trophy.

After a few ritual photos with the winners we close the evening with a nice toast and compliments to the competitors who have ventured well in these traditional Italian recipes ... an evening with friends, with a knife between their teeth and an apron like armor.

Matteo De Santi