Sustainability issues and a more ethical approach are the basis of vegan cuisine, and plant based desserts are more and more popular in both Italian restaurants and pastry shops. This trend was the main inspiration of the Vegâteau contest, which was organized in April in Bergamo in collaboration with LAV (Lega Antivivisezione), the local professional associations, the sponsorship of Bergamo Brescia 2023 – Capitale italiana della Cultura, and the support of Funny Veg Academy.
The pastry chef Carlotta Filippini of Dolce Angolo in Rezzato, near Brescia, won the first prize with her dessert Infanzia, which was inspired by her grandparents and the evocative scents of lemon, chocolate and coffee with which she grew up. “I participated as a personal challenge and because of the growing request of vegetable confectionery products that I’m facing – she said –. It was stimulating to work with uncommon raw materials, such as coconut oil and rice cream”. Filippini was followed by Cristina Marcioni of Pasticceria Frigerio in Mornico al Serio, near Bergamo, and Luca Sbaraini of Pasticceria San Marco in Ospitaletto, Brescia.
Andrea Bonati, the president of Consorzio Artigiani Pasticceri Bergamaschi, expressed his appreciation for an event meant to “start a serious discussion on important issues regarding health, animal welfare and climate”, while Emanuele Giorgione of FunnyVeg Academy underlined the cultural meaning of Vegâteau in relation to Bergamo Brescia 2023 – Capitale italiana della Cultura. Moreover, Donato Ceci, Vegâteau’s LAV campaigner, pointed out that “the candidates presented true masterpieces of taste, technique and aesthetic value. The positive aspect is the awareness that hovered: the suffering and lack of rights of animals in farms and slaughterhouses are no longer under lock and key, on the contrary, they are on their way to becoming public knowledge. The following choices are a consequence”.