A Young Sicilian Chef: Giuseppe Albicocco
Our recent interviews have seen Sicilian chefs and their activities based in foreign contexts, brave Sicilians who brought Sicilian cuisine to London, like Guido (Sicilian Brothers), the protagonist of one of our previous interviews. Today in the pages of SicilianFoodCulture, we have the pleasure to present a young Sicilian Chef, who has decided to stay in the wonderful Palermo: Giuseppe Albicocco.
SFC: Hello Giuseppe and welcome to SicilianFoodCulture.com!
Giuseppe: Hello and thank you for your space!
SFC: All people from Palermo will easily recognize your surname, which in the city is synonymous with the highest quality Pastries. So let’s start immediately with the repertoire question: who is Giuseppe Albicocco and where does his passion for Sicilian gastronomy/pastry root?
G: Hello everyone, I start by thanking SicilianFoodCulture for all the compliments I received. I’m Giuseppe Albicocco, a 23-year-old boy with the good fortune of being born into a family that was already in the business for ages. Everything started when, on December 31st, 1983, my grandfather Vincenzo Albicocco opened his humble bakery in Palermo, made of only handicraft products, starting from the raw material. My passion was born right there and at my tender age I started playing, and then I ended up getting passionate and trying to improve myself day after day. My work is my passion and I hope to always bring honour to my family name.
SFC: Part of your production focuses on Sicilian Rosticceria: Your kitchen is more “Traditionalist” or do you prefer a “Creative” cuisine, experimenting with new tastes and combinations?
G: My kitchen always has a traditionalist basis, I believe that without it there could not be anything else… Even if I do not deny that trying new combinations and tastes is my greatest passion – Even if I just try out different types of dough!
SFC: What is your favourite creation?
G: My favourite traditional Sicilian dessert is fried “Iris”, while within the traditional street food is the arancina! If we speak instead of creative desserts, it is the “Fagotto” with Ricotta and Nutella with pistachio, while the modern salted creation created by me is called “Sensazione” (Sensation) and its ingredients are: Salmon, Buffalo Mozzarella, Philadelphia and Pistachios.
SFC: Becoming a chef is a long road and full of sacrifices. Do you have any advice to give to all our young readers who would like to embark on this career?
G: First of all I confirm what you said: becoming a chef is really a very difficult path, it is full of sacrifices, especially for when it comes to the balance life-work: parties, birthdays, entertainment pass unfortunately in the background, but if done with love and passion, the result from a lot of gratification for the realization of one’s own goals. The advice that I can give our young friends is to fight for their goals, only in this way they can feel fulfilled and satisfied with themselves.
SFC: SicilianFoodCulture readers always try to surpass themselves with their creations, following the recipes on our website – what is the secret to obtaining a home-made Rosticceria that is as soft and tasty as we can find in Sicily?
G: A tip I give for my personal experience: before creating your dough make a pre-dough, that is kneaded a quarter of your dough with the yeast of all the dough and put it in the fridge for 12 hours, then knead the remaining three quarters of your dough naturally without yeast (because you used the yeast all in the pre-dough). After having dropped the dough let it rest for another 20 minutes and then begin to shape: you will see that the softness will be a real pleasure. For any clarification, I have a page dedicated to my work “Giuseppe Albicocco Food Art Pastry Chef Street Food”
SFC: Giuseppe, thank you very much for your time!
G: I thank you all again for your attention and best wishes for your future!