The challenge for the chefs, after the sea trial, continued in the impressive kitchens of the Grand Brioni Hotel for the technically tastiest competition. Once they reached the ground, they were finally able to discover the selection of top-notch local products, personally curated by jury president David Skoko, and in a few hours prepare the dishes to be presented to the jury.
The gala evening engaged the jury of the public in the hall composed of international journalists, influencers, VIPs and representatives of Croatian tourism promotion institutions in the evaluation of the 6 courses designed by the chefs in addition to the quality jury.
The chefs for three hours, with the important support of the entire Grand Brioni staff, prepared each course like a real crew. At each round, the “helm” passed from hand to hand; all the chefs made themselves available to prepare each fellow-skipper’s dish with precision, accuracy and professionalism for the jury’s evaluation.
The gourmet competition was won by young Chef Lorenzo Cogo, who received a double first prize, convincing both the jury of quality and the audience, with a seafood salad with muslin, mussels, scallops, melon, carrots, and a crab bisque. A dish that is inspired by the land, by Croatia, thanks in part to the magnificent selection of ingredients. “I wanted to bring the essence of fish to the table,” commented the chef of Dama, “also because Chef David Skoko put in front of us really an incredible fish selection, and with this wonderful catch I tried to render what is the essence of Croatia, with a hint of summer with the addition of melon.
Arduous to choose from the rich menu of contenders, from the “almost like a schnitzel,” Panko breaded ombrine with butter and lime mussel emulsion accompanied by savoy cabbage and artichoke salad proposed by the Filipino chef John Mark Nanit of Vetri (Murano – Venice), to roasted skate with smoked potato cream,spring onion and lemon, buckwheat popcorn from Alexander Breda of Gellius Restaurant (Oderzo, TV), to Cold Spaghetti, with pink shrimp and cuttlefish from Renzo Dal Farra for Locanda San Lorenzo (Puos d’Alpago, Belluno), from Palombo brodetto, golden marinated zucchini on soft polenta of Stefano Fermanelli for La Subida (Gorizia), the lemon sweet potato shad and dogfish from Mauro Elli of Il Cantuccio (a restaurant on Lake Como), the latter winner of the Prosecco Doc Award For the best pairing with prosecco served with each course.
“I liked Cogo’s winning dish in the kitchen infinitely,” said the president of the Jury, Chef David Skoko, one of the best Croatian chefs (chef of konoba Batelina, one of the most famous Istrian restaurants), TV star on 24Kitchen channel and winner of last year’s edition, “it is a beautiful, fresh, well-balanced dish. The melon gave that sweetness that softened the bitter, strong flavor of the muslin. There was also a delicious little sauce, the crab bisque, that rounded out the taste making it closer to perfection. A dish in which you can taste all the flavors of the raw materials used.”