There is great anticipation in Carloforte for the concert on the seafront, by “The Kolors”, one of the highlights of the “Girotonno” program, edition number 22. The event is scheduled for Saturday evening. The “Girotonno” will come to life tomorrow with the World Tuna Competition, the beating heart of the event, organized by the Municipality of Carloforte in collaboration with the Feedback agency, which celebrates the red tuna race with a party that will liven up Carloforte until Sunday 2 June.

"Girotonno is much more than a celebration," underlines the mayor of Carloforte, Stefano Rombi. "It is a moment of identity, in which Carloforte tells its story to the world through tuna, a symbol of a thousand-year-old culture that has its roots in tuna fisheries, fishing, traditions and our history. This year we will have the honor of hosting chefs from eight countries who will compete with passion and creativity, giving life to a real show of flavors and culinary contaminations. Every dish tells a story, every technique an ancient knowledge, every flavor a journey. And on this journey, Carloforte is proud to be the meeting point."

The “contestants” – This year, chefs from the Philippines, France, Japan, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Peru and Portugal will compete in the kitchen by proposing recipes based on Mediterranean red tuna. For the Philippines, the chef couple, also in real life, Nicola Mincione and Ann Christine Taglinao, at the helm of Minta, the restaurant that offers Italian-Filipino cuisine in Milan, will be in the kitchen. For France, the competitors will be Éric Tomasso and Elio Genualdo, respectively a culinary consultant and executive chef for Sodexo, a multinational leader in catering services and facility management. Japan will be fielding Takashi Kido, Shaoyang Zhou and Timothy Punzalan, who work at the Kenshō restaurant in Turin. The fourth nation competing is Italy, which competes with Abele Fois, born in Cagliari in 1982, chef at the Birroteca Fermentazioni Spontanee in Iglesias, and Luigi Senes, son of the famous Sardinian restaurateur Vito who, after starting his career in the family restaurant in Sennori (Sassari), the eponymous “Da Vito”, has been leading the kitchen of the restaurant for several years. Morocco competes with Mustapha Hajbi, who has collaborated with important chefs of the Italian gastronomic scene including the starred Pietro Leemann, at the Joia restaurant in Milan. With him in the team is Zahira Fenouri, chef at the Locanda Allevè in Pragelato, where she brings her history, her roots and a gastronomic vision made of authenticity, contamination and passion to the kitchen. Competing for the Peruvian team are Raul Natividad Grados, who works in Rome at the Pacifico restaurant, and Yuri Alor Ocon, with a solid professional background in the restaurant sector.

Portugal will be competing with Tiago Silva, who has worked in prestigious establishments such as the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz in Lisbon, both at the Varanda and the Cura (one Michelin star). With him in the team is Marco Andrè Sousa Da Silva, sous-chef at the five-star Hyatt Regency Lisbon. Abel Criado Peliz and María Busta Rosales, originally from Asturias, will compete for Spain. Both work in the team at Casa Eutimio, a renowned restaurant included in the Michelin Guide in Lastres. The dishes in the competition will be judged by a popular jury, made up of visitors to the event, and a technical jury, made up of experts and journalists and led by Roberto Giacobbo, journalist, host and face of the program “Freedom - Oltre il confine”.

Students in the field – Alongside the competing chefs and serving in the dining room there will be the boys and girls of the Domenico Alberto Azuni Higher Education Institute of Cagliari, accompanied by teachers Benedetta Loddo, Claudia Russo and Fabrizio Uda and the students of the Galileo Ferraris State Professional Institute for Industry and Crafts of Iglesias, accompanied by teachers Luigi Belvedere, Pasquale Franzese, Rosella Deidda, Giacomo Bachis and vice principal Elisabetta Medde.

I Cooking show – Great chefs, signature recipes and unmistakable flavours: the Girotonno live cooking shows bring starred cuisine and local excellence to the stage. Every day, Italian and international chefs take turns to tell and prepare exclusive dishes based on tuna and local products. A unique opportunity to discover secrets, techniques and stories of cooking, with a final tasting served at the table. Among the protagonists are Cristiano Tomei, one Michelin star, of the restaurant L'Imbuto in Lucca, Diana Beltran (La Cucaracha, Rome), with her colourful and lively Mexican cuisine, Stefano De Gregorio, chef and owner of the restaurant Deg in Busto Arsizio, supported by Pino Silano, Marco Ambrosino (Sustanza, Naples), with his Mediterranean influences, the master baker Fulvio Marino, Clelia Bandini (Lucitta restaurant, Tortolì), the female voice of contemporary Sardinian cuisine, Luigi Pomata, the Carloforte master of tuna cuisine.

Events – The World Tuna Competition events are paid events. The ticket costs 25 euros for the qualifiers and 35 euros for the final. The ticket to participate in the cooking shows costs 15 euros. Tickets can be purchased online on Eventbrite until sold out, but also at the Tourist Office of the Municipality of Carloforte in Piazza Carlo Emanuele III on Thursday 29 May from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm; Friday 30, Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. It is possible to show up before the opening to get the ̀ : Thursday from 1:00 pm; Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 am.

Tastings on the dock – Many recipes based on red tuna at the Tuna Food Village, the liveliest area of the entire event. Here the scent of the sea mixes with that of the stove, offering a gastronomic experience that celebrates the Carlofortina tradition with the undisputed protagonist: the tuna di corsa. During the days of the event, the Tuna Food Village welcomes visitors and enthusiasts for lunch and dinner, offering tasting menus for all tastes: pasticcio alla carlofortina, couscous salad and tuna stew. Simple flavors, but rich in history, that tell the identity of an island linked for centuries to fishing and tuna processing. Various tickets are available: 20 euros for a complete menu consisting of three courses (pasticcio, couscous and tuna stew), accompanied by a small bottle of water and a sandwich; 12 euros for a course of your choice, always with water and sandwich included; 10 euros (to be used between 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm) for a course of your choice and a glass of wine or a 30 cl craft beer. Finally, for those who simply want to enjoy a good glass, a 5 euro ticket is available, which includes wine or craft beer. Tickets can be purchased directly on the dock during the event. An opportunity to be won over by the flavors of the Mediterranean, in a festive and genuine atmosphere.

Enhanced ferries and buses – Also this year, on the occasion of the Girotonno, the Delcomar ferry trips, both from Calasetta and Portovesme, will be enhanced and discounted to facilitate as much as possible the participation of the public in all the events planned by the festival. Starting from the first trip on May 30th and until the end of the event, on June 2nd, non-resident visitors will be able to take advantage of a special discount: 5 euros on the price of the passenger ticket and 10 euros on the price of the car, choosing the return formula on both routes. The landing fee, mandatory for all non-residents, is 2.50 euros on May 30th and 31st and 4 euros on June 1st and 2nd.

Furthermore, to make it easier to move around the island, the Arst local public transport service is also expected to be strengthened. All updated timetables, both for ferries and buses, can be found on the website www.girotonno.it

(Unionline)

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