Superstar chef Ferran Adria' Acosta said Monday his younger Italian counterparts are now leading the way in the rarefied field of 'haute cuisine'.
They are doing so, he said, by combining Italian tradition with innovation - unlike himself, who sailed to the top of his world with airy creations like foamed espresso, foamed mushroom and foamed beet. "A new generation of Italian chefs is appearing on the international scene and becoming a reference point for the whole world of haute cuisine," said Catalan whizz Adria', 45, head chef at the world-famous El Bulli restaurant on Spain's Costa Brava and inventor of so-called 'molecular gastronomy'.
Adria' did not name names but knowledgable foodies reckoned he was referring to the likes of Carlo Cracco, 31, whose 'neoclassical' cuisine is one of Milan's trendiest draws, and Massimo Alajmo from Padua, a three-star Michelin chef at 28.
"The history of Man shows us there's always room for innovation but you can't forget the past," Adria' told an appreciative audience at a Milan Bourse gala presentation.
"Italian haute cusine should be proud of its younger stars because they're able to mix tradition with modernity.
"That melange produces concrete dishes that are absolutely cutting-edge," said the man whose latest creations include olive-oil gobules that taste like caviar, solid coffee 'espesso' and Passion-Me, a mixture of Italian coffee and passion fruit.
