Corrado Assenza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corrado Assenza | |
|---|---|
 Assenza sitting outside of his cafe, Caffè Sicilia | |
| Education | University of Bologna |
| Culinary career | |
| Cooking style | |
Current restaurant
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Television show | |
| Website | https://www.caffeitalia.se/ |
Corrado Assenza is a Sicilian chef. He operates the Caffè Sicilia, presently considered the "sancta sanctorum" (secret holy place) of the ancient confectionery art of Sicily. Assenza was featured in the second episode of Netflix's 4-part series Chef’s Table: Pastry in 2018.[1][2]
Born in Noto in the early 1960s, Assenza left Sicily after high school to enroll at the Faculty of Agriculture (now the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine) of the University of Bologna. There he met Giorgio Celli, who led him to study entomology and pushed him to specialize in beekeeping. Assenza later received a call from home, however, and, in 1985, before graduating, returned to his hometown to take over the management of his family's pastry shop, Caffè Sicilia.[1]
Caffè Sicilia
Caffè Sicilia, located on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main street of Noto, has been the pastry shop of Assenza's family since 1892. Assenza, now the fourth generation in this family, runs the pastry shop with his son Francesco. Since leaving Bologna and returning to his family's pastry shop in Sicily, Assenza has been researching in the shop’s laboratory new processes by which he can bring the intrinsic flavours of both Sicily’s cuisine and some of the world’s to his clients. Each of his products features an expression of contemporary material food culture.[3][4][5]