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COCOFUNGO: TOURING AROUND EUROPEAN CUISINES
Between September 25 and October 26, the mushrooms will speak Italian, French, German and English at the COCOFUNGO gastronomic event in the Marca Trevigiana, Province of Treviso.
The COCOFUNGO ASSOCIATION was founded in 1976, born from an idea of Beppe Maffioli (a great man, ambassador of the Treviso gastronomy) with the help of his good friend Fernando Raris, well-known journalist and lover of good gastronomy. The name Cocofungo is a friendly pun involving the Italian name for the Amanita Caesarea – the highly-prized Caesar’s Mushroom also known in Italy as “coco” – as well as a contraction of the word “cuoco” (“cook” or “chef”).
The whole event places the MUSHROOM on a pedestal. This autumnal delicacy, low in calories but highly tasty appears to be a very versatile and grateful gastronomic (and economic) icon of the Treviso Pre-Alps countryside cuisine. A small group of Treviso restaurants has been supporting this event for a long time: Alla Torre, Barbesin, Celeste, Gigetto, Miron and Terme. Since 2008, a German restaurant joined the event and gave it an international touch: Osteria Der Katzlmacher from Munich, a warm ambassador of Italian cuisine in Germany.
For this 36th edition, a new step has been taken to give this fantastic gastronomic event a real pan-European allure. The renowned European restaurant organization J.R.E. (Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe), a group of high quality European restaurants run by very talented young chefs (<40 y.o.), will join the party! On each of the planned evenings, a foreign chef belonging to the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe association will bring his or her country’s culinary culture to the member restaurants, thus permitting diners to take a real journey through the cuisines of Europe.
The six restaurants will therefore feature dinners created by two chefs, in which different cultures and traditions will blend together to offer a really poly-sensory experience, as well as a chance – for an evening at least – to take a virtual trip through the pleasures of the palate. Each dinner will, in fact, be the result of the preparation of a menu devised by the “in-house” chef together with the guest chef from another European country. Guests will therefore be able to taste great classic, traditional dishes as well as unusual combinations and recipes offered by the chefs from several nations who belong to the JRE association. The mushroom becomes a true ambassador for culture and traditions.
Europe in mushrooms, illustrated by © Michele Scarpulla for Cocofungo 2012
Soon you will be able to get more information on-line about this event; the website is still under construction. You can find an Italian presentation HERE and the Italian website (not – yet ? – available in English) HERE
Press-contact (and English documentation): Gheusis web or e-m@il
