My first time in Milan was for a special event: The Barilla Pasta World Championship. I saw so many delicious dishes and I am still dreaming about pasta every day since I’m back.
I was so happy when Barilla asked me to join the World Championship to find the new World’s Best Barilla chef. I didn’t exactly know what was waiting for me, that’s why I was even more exited when I arrived.
The first day I had some spare time to explore Milan. What an amazing city it is! Of course visiting The Cathedral was the first thing I did.
I love to discover new places and if it’s connected with food, even better.
The Pasta World Championship hosted by Barilla was placed in a big space which was beautifully styled. All the fresh ingredients made you want to cook yourself. There were 3 stations built with kitchens differently equipped for every competitor from all around the world. Two countries were cooking at the same station while the time was set for one hour. After that a jury of four people had to test the two different dishes and vote for one country. While they were tasting the next competition started and we were able to watch them cook step by step.
It was really interesting to see the different ways of cooking pasta. I learned a lot by observing and also by listening to the jury‘s critics. It was all very impressive. They were focused on details which I would have never paid attention to while eating. Especially to see how the hands of the chefs were working was the best part for me. I love to see the way someone puts passion into things which are not only accessible for professionals but also people like me who love to cook. What I really love about food and cooking generally are all the spices you can use and especially in this case it made me want to taste every creation. The different possibilities of mixing spices and ingredients is one of the reasons why I like to smell dishes. Every chef brought something special from their own country. By working in one big room it didn’t only fill the air with amazing scents but also you could feel and smell the connection between so many different cultures by that. I had the chance to taste the German pasta dish: it was too good!
The winner of the Pasta World Championship 2018 was Carolina Diaz from the USA - I really loved the way she cooked, so it was very well deserved!