If there is a program that from edition to edition has never been affected by the passing of time, that is Bake Off Italia – Sweets in the oventhe talent show based on sweets and pastries ready to celebrate its first ten years of life through a fresh and appetizing formula, a sort of trait d’union between the past and the future. In the new edition, produced once again by Banijay Italia and arriving on Discovery + and Real Time in Septemberand, we will find the presenter again Benedetta Parodiat the helm of the program since 2013, the historical judge Ernst Knamthe sex symbol of the sponge cake Damiano Carrara and a new entry, Tommaso Foglia, who will take the place of Clelia D’Onofrio who, in this tour, will only take care of the historical excursus behind the sweets proposed by the amateur pastry chefs under the awning immersed in the park of Villa Borromeo d’Adda in Arcore. “This tenth year will be a return to the origins, to simple and homemade cakes”, says Benedetta Parodi, who admits she does not feel the weight of these ten years in the least because Bake Off Italy it has on its side a peculiarity that many similar programs do not have: a rare humanity and empathy, far from any form of competition and rivalry.
“The difference between Bake Off and the other talents is that we give the kids the opportunity to help each other, to team up. Maybe we are tastier because we make sweets, but the truth is that very beautiful dynamics are created “, adds Benedetta, sharing the same point of view as Damiano Carrara, who owes his television baptism in Italy to Bake Off Italy. “There are many vicissitudes, the competitors become friends: I see many beautiful things under the awning compared to other formats”, explains Carrara, happy that this year the tent finally has air conditioning – “Even if when the ovens are turned on, everyone together it is always hard ». “Each person has his or her own story, personality and experience of her. Every year is different, not to mention that I like that it is a program for the whole family, never violent, and that it is also an opportunity to learn something “, the veteran Ernst Knam intervenes, the king of chocolate who, despite the fame that precedes him, is perhaps the best judge of all, even if now, with the entry of Tommaso Foglia into the team, we will see new balances and new dynamics internal. «From the first day I felt at home. They immediately put me at ease and slowly, moving forward, a good relationship was born “, says Tommaso Foglia, Neapolitan pastry chef, consultant, trainer and teacher who admits that he stole the most precious advice from Parodi to approach the camera correctly: “Being myself.”
When asked which judge he will be, Foglia puts his hands on: «I am demanding when I have to be, but also very understanding and flexible. I have a developed paternal spirit, but when there is a demand, I don’t hold back. Those who participate, after all, do so to improve and grow ». Of himself, Foglia says he was born in flour thanks to the family bakery, but also that he went ahead following the desire to build his own path: “I like to make mistakes with my head and, fortunately, it went well”, he says. the pastry chef, who put his hands in the dough for the first time at the age of 12, when his mother helped him prepare the first pastiera of his life and, after that, of his career. Although now, with Clelia on the sideline, she is in the minority, having to share the scene with three men, Benedetta Parodi does not worry: “They are my three children, every now and then I have to call them to order: I have to tell them not to laugh , not to eat too much. The truth is that they are three crazy pastry chefs, their strength is knowing how to have fun and play “, says Parodi who, more than just a host, Bake Off Italy has always been the fairy godmother of competitors. “I’m always on their side. Mine is an active role: help, advice, but I also try to meet them from a human point of view, when they get discouraged or think they can’t do it ».
There is so much talk about what the judges of a program like Bake Off Italy they teach amateur competitors, but very little of what they absorb from them, which is why we asked them the question. «Every day we learn. Sometimes you find yourself in front of sweets that you have never made or heard because you live in a different world from theirs, and you get curious. It’s a program that makes us grow too, you can’t ask for better “, Carrara comments, while Knam reveals that he has asked a competitor for a dessert recipe several times. «Let’s say that I take a cue and then I turn it into my own thing. It’s been 10 years, I have taught a lot, and it fills me with pride to know that many of them, after this experience, have opened their pastry shop “, confesses Ernst. However, time passes, and we need to find an expedient not to get bored and keep up with the pace. But in what way? “We continue to study and improve to bring our knowledge into the program. The world is faster and faster, if you are not in step you fall behind, but if there is passion and the desire to do it becomes a stimulus. Without stimulation, no one goes on. If you get up in the morning and do the same things it is because we are made of habits, but I think it is nice to try to break the routine, because this is what allows you to grow without realizing it “, comments Damiano. The last question could only concern sweets, since for the judges of Bake Off Italy not being able to prepare or pack a cake in the summer is simply a myth to dispel. “The cakes are good all year round: I think of a nice tart with custard and fresh fruit », says Benedetta, while Foglia and Carrara respectively recommend a fresh cherry cake with yogurt and the classic English vanilla plumcake. Seeing is believing.
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Source: Vanity Fair
