The kitchens of Palazzo Farnese opened their doors yesterday for a festive meeting and cultural exchange, organised by the French Embassy in partnership with GialloZafferano, Italy’s number one food media brand, which promotes Italian cuisine throughout the world.

Participants from all over Italy arrived early in the morning at Palazzo Farnese in no particular order, as well as some chefs and members of the jury directly from France. The idea for the event came from Martin Briens, French Ambassador to Italy, a food and wine connoisseur and keen chef – who recently tried his hand at preparing the cacio e pepe recipe together with Nonna Silvi, the ‘Grandmother of Italy’ – and Andrea Santagata, CEO of Mondadori Media, publisher of GialloZafferano.

As part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the French Embassy in Rome, several teams of aspiring chefs, culinary masters under 35, and talents from the food world competed to offer a contemporary and multicultural reinterpretation of Sunday lunch.

The key concepts for the day hosted by the French Embassy were three: the transmission of knowledge, by training new generations of chefs and fostering dialogue and collaboration between schools and professionals from different nations; sharing, as the creation of synergies between young French and Italian chefs through cooking; and sustainability, seen as the promotion of the use of zero-kilometre products and limited budgets for each menu.

The program for the day at Palazzo Farnese

Gustofolie is a project – organised by the Institut Français Italia in collaboration with the Alliances Françaises d’Italia – aimed at students of Italian hotel schools, created with the aim of promoting Franco-Italian relations in the professional hotel training sector. The competition invited participants to reflect on topics such as Francophonie, eco-responsibility and creativity in the kitchen. During the first part of the day, the two finalist teams (each made up of three students, two Italians and one French from a partner school, Genoa-Dijon and Viareggio-Grenoble, under the guidance of a teacher) challenged each other on the theme of “Sunday Lunch” – always a symbol of togetherness and tradition – which was reinterpreted with a modern twist, maintaining a maximum spending limit of 25 euros. This limitation presented a stimulating challenge, encouraging reflection on the social importance of shared moments at the table and their sustainability, not only environmental but also economic.

The members of the jury and the chefs involved in this unforgettable cultural exchange initiative arrived yesterday morning at Palazzo Farnese from all over Italy and directly from France.

Alongside Ambassador Martin Briens, the jury included Luana Belmondo, the “favourite Italian cook of the French”, embassy chef Cyril Esneault, Ludovica – Lulù – Gargari, resident chef of GialloZafferano and part of the Zenzero Talent Agency roster, and Carla Parolari, headmistress of the IPSEOA Vincenzo Gioberti vocational high school in Rome. The prize is the creation of the winning recipe at the GialloZafferano production studios in Milan, with publication of the video online.

The Gustofolie final was an occasion for joyful cultural and culinary competition aimed at highlighting French and Italian cuisines and products, promoting new links in the field of food and wine and professional training.

In the afternoon session, the baton was passed to the young (under 35) chefs. The theme of their menus was also Sunday lunch, reinterpreted with a contemporary approach (with a maximum charge this time of 35 euros) to celebrate the meeting of French and Italian cuisine. The friendly challenge took place between the following pairs:

• Carla Ferrari, executive chef at Pizza Cosy, and Sabrina Macrì, executive chef at BistRo Aimo e Nadia. They cooked:
  • Appetizer – Emilian-style stuffed onion: whole onion steamed and glazed with chicken jus, stuffed like a tortellino, parmesan cream and mixed salad
  • First course – Pasta with potatoes d’a-mmare: mixed creamy pasta with potatoes, provola cheese and seafood ragù (mussels, clams and calamari), parsley cream, bisque and lemon zest
  • Dessert: Pastiera mon sciú: religieuse with two fillings, lemon curd and Neapolitan pastiera

• Alessandro Belmondo, chef at the Bistrot Gourmand Caillebotte, and Aurora Cavallo – Cooker Girl, chef, content creator at Zenzero Talent Agency and Ambassador of GialloZafferano Their menu was:
  • Appetizer – Warm, soft homemade focaccia to dip in a selection of pissaladière-inspired toppings: thyme-confit onions, anchovy and black olive cream, and sweet chili-confit cherry tomatoes. With the addition of sweet and sour red onion
  • First course – Large ravioli filled with shredded veal, fondant carrots and mushrooms, inspired by the classic blanquette. The ravioli is topped with a bright jus creamed with hazelnut butter. Accompanied by a small ramekin of lukewarm mousse with lemon cream and fresh herbs. Finish: lemon zest, chopped herbs, a touch of fleur de sel, toasted hazelnut
  • Dessert: Choux pastry with cocoa craquelin filled with whipped cream with Piedmont PGI hazelnut praline. Sour heart with lemon confit or wild blueberry for freshness.

• Umberto Rocca, chef de partie at Joia, and Apolline Soëte, chef at Le Clarisse de Apolline, who prepared:
  • Appetizer (recipe by Apolline Soëte) Oysters in jelly with their own water, vermouth, wild fennel and pink pepper. Tomato tartare with two consistencies, Ligurian herb oil.
  • First course (recipe by Umberto Rocca) Anima mundi, Vegetable risotto with young carrots, tasty mushrooms, cashew and saffron crescenza, salsa verde and fresh blueberries.
  • Dessert (Umberto Rocca and Apolline Soëte) Cuddles under a white blanket: a meeting between Normandy and Lombardy with soft milk bread mousse and stimulating surprises

The jury will once again be chaired by ambassador Martin Briens, Andrea Santagata, CEO of Mondadori Media Digital and MarTech area, Massimo Borgnis, Editor-in-Chief of CHI, here exceptionally in the role of host of the Food Network television series “Le Locande del cuore”, Sebastian Fitarau, resident chef at GialloZafferano and part of the Zenzero Talent Agency roster. A winning team was chosen for each course. The three couples will also cook for a gala dinner at the Embassy in the autumn, as the closing event of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the French Embassy in Rome.

The sponsor of this festive day was Julie Andrieu, a TV presenter and food critic, who announced the winners in the splendid setting of the Embassy’s Murano Gallery, with a buffet prepared and served by a Roman hotel school.

Celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the French Embassy in Rome

The celebrations for the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Embassy and the Ecole française de Rome at Palazzo Farnese opened on 3 December 2024 with a dinner “in the style of 1875”. The event on 21 May opens a new season full of culinary sharing between Italy and France with events that in 2026 will again involve young students and chefs to explore the themes of knowledge transmission, cultural sharing and sustainable creativity.

Statements

Martin Briens, French Ambassador to Italy, commented: “Since I have been living in Italy, I realise more and more, even when I travel in the various regions, that Italians and French share this passion for food. We are two peoples who place particular importance on food in our daily lives, but also importance on the sense of sharing that a meal with family or friends provides. I want young Italians and French people to always feel welcome in our countries. This is why hotel school students and young chefs met and cooked, and I hope they will meet again to cook together, which is the best way to have unforgettable experiences together.”

Andrea Santagata, CEO of Mondadori Media Digital and MarTech area: “We are deeply honoured to join the French Embassy and Ambassador Martin Briens in this project that celebrates the meeting of two extraordinary cultures through cuisine. GialloZafferano is increasingly a reference point for Italian cuisine worldwide, with over thirty million followers outside Italy. Participating in this initiative means supporting dialogue between young chefs, professionals and creators, providing space for new ideas and stimulating discussions. The greatest pleasure is to see how French and Italian culinary traditions meet, revealing not only deep affinities, but also an extraordinary ability to tell stories through flavors. Because, after all, cooking is a universal language that unites and enriches.”