Chef from Paraná wins international award for work in Italian cuisine

Chef Délio Canabrava is the first Brazilian to be awarded the Chef Patron award by the Federazione Italiana Couchi (FIC), an Italian government body. The honor is given to chefs who, working in their restaurants, produce good cooks of Italian cuisine. The award ceremony took place at the annual FIC Brasile Convention, held in Atibaia, in the interior of São Paulo, on the 13th and 14th of November.

“It was a very big surprise, because it was an honor that came from Rome”, explains Delio, excited. The chef and co-owner of Bar Canabenta and Cantina do Délio was nominated by the president of FIC Brasile, Bruno Stippe. By becoming the first Brazilian name to receive the honor, it also becomes a Brazilian reference in the rich and tasty gastronomy of Terra da Bota.

“There are almost 800 participants, a lot of qualified people”, he highlights, remembering the total number of members of the Brazilian FIC. Even though some of these members are not professionals, there is an army of competent chefs dedicated to Italian cuisine, especially in São Paulo. Delio also received the title of Master Chef from FIC, for his 25 years of dedication to Italian cuisine and nine years as an associate.

“I’ve been in the business for 25 years, so I’m used to the good chefs I train going to other restaurants,” he explains. “There’s a saying in human resources that says that worse than training an employee and having them leave is not training them and having them stay. They represent us wherever they are. And this is work that paid off”, he celebrates.

Among the responsibilities of FIC Brasile, founded in 2006, are holding events, courses and training with the aim of maintaining the quality of Italian gastronomy in the country and reinforcing the richness of the culinary school that continues to influence local culture and customs.

Brazil is the only country that has external representation, with its own statute and specific operating dynamics, given the size that the organization has reached in the country, while still reporting to the headquarters in Rome. It offers training courses, has its own conventions and was the first country, besides Italy, in which gastronomy representatives received the Medal of Member of the Cocorum College, a title that recognizes the performance of an associated Master Chef who has proven to have contributed to the appreciation of the Italian culinary. The award is the result of the nomination of the president of FIC Brasile.

In countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, England, the United States and Canada, the institution has a representative, but all guidelines come from Italy.

The convention

The FIC Brasile 2023 Convention brought together almost 400 associated chefs in Atibaia. Lectures, workshops and the possibility of networking among participants guided the program. Celso Freire, FIC’s honorary chef appointed in 2021 when the meeting took place in Mairiporã (SP), held a show class, “Modern Italy”, about current-day cuisine in the European country. He and Délio are the only representatives from Paraná to receive honors from FIC Brasile, which today has more than 800 members. In global terms, the federation has more than 20 thousand.

Chef Rocco Pozzulo, president of FIC Italy, and the directors of the Italian headquarters, chefs Roberto Lodovichi, Carlo Bresciani, Salvatore Bruno and Giuseppe Casale were in Atibaia and closely followed the work carried out by the national branch. The convention also awarded Master Chef commendations, which recognizes exponents of Italian cuisine working in Brazil, and the Cocorum Certification, the most important award in Italian gastronomy. Palmirinha, associate emeritus, TV presenter who died in May this year, was honored during the program.

The convention numbers are impressive. In total, there were two tons of food and more than 3 thousand dishes served. More than 60 associate cooks involved in the preparation, divided into three brigades, led by chefs Guto Medeiros (responsible for lunch), Nico Ferdico (who led the gala dinner on the 13th) and Mário Tacconi, ahead of the pizza night, at closure of the program. All unused supplies were donated to the Lar dos Idosos São Vicente de Paulo, in the neighboring city of Bragança Paulista. At each edition, the federation chooses a philanthropic entity to help with what was not used during the activities.

For more information on how to become a member, visit the FIC Brasile website, or email [email protected].