Academia Barilla Steals the Show at the 25th Aspen Food and Wine Classic

As we anticipated in a previous post, Academia Barilla was a presenting sponsor at this year’s Food & Wine Classic, the Aspen show organized by Food & Wine Magazine that gathered the top of the food industry worldwide on June 15–17 in the beautiful Colorado mountains.

Academia Barilla showcased its line of premium authentic Italian food products, celebrated Italian food and culture with the famous cookbook author and Chef Giuliano Bugialli, educated the public with private seminars, promoted passionate experiences of luxury culinary vacations in Italy, and hosted an exclusive Parma dinner at Restaurant D19 in Aspen (we’ll publish soon the yummy menu Mr. Bugialli designed for this VIP dinner).

We definitely stole the show at this year’s 25th Anniversary Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, at least this is what everybody was saying at the show.

With towering walls of Parmigiano Reggiano wheels and hanging Prosciutto di Parma hams, Academia Barilla’s booth at the Aspen show was a sight that couldn’t be missed as it transformed into an authentic Parma-style Salumeria. Enthusiasts Italian food lovers crowded the stainless steel counters as they waited in line as they would at a typical deli counter for their ultimate Italian experience.

Food & Wine attendees began their experience with a sampling of estate bottled extra virgin olive oils of various intensities, various ages of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, a few slices of our sweet and mild Salame di Parma, and herbaceous Salame al Finocchio with whole wild Tuscan Fennel seeds.

As attendees made their way down the Salumeria counters, they were given samples of mouthwatering Prosciutto di Parma, hand-sliced with an imported slicer from Parma, and Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Gran Cru and Pecorino Dolce, artisan cheeses displayed in real hollow cheese wheels.

Adding to the excitement of the ultimate Italian experience was the presence of Giuliano Bugialli, the famous Italian gourmet food cookbook author and PBS TV celebrity Chef, who also held educational cooking seminars and book signing sessions at the Academia Barilla booth. Here Giuliano Bugialli is pictured with Stephanie Sette, from the Academia Barilla Marketing team in the United States.

As the crowd made their way down the counters, booth visitors would comment on how they could really notice the difference of Academia Barilla’s artisan products and how they valued the fact that we were sampling natural products made with hundred-years old artisan production methods, as pointed out also from Giuliano Bugialli during one of his Aspen seminars.

I would like to add here a note left by Jody Brooker, a veteran participant at the Aspen Festival, while signing the Academia Barilla’s guestbook on display at our stand in Aspen: “We fell in love with your Prosciutto di Parma at the Food and Wine Festival in Aspen… It is by far the best we have ever tasted. Thank you soooo much!”. Thanks Jody, we truly appreciate your passion for Italian food and Prosciutto!

To stir up the crowd even more was a visit from Food Network celebrity Chef Giada De Laurentiis who was amazed at the custom-made booth of a true Italian Salumeria. In the photo above Giada is pictured between Academia Barilla President Gianluigi Zenti and Kim Sayid, who leads the Academia Barilla team in the United States.

Academia Barilla’s estate bottled extra virgin olive oils and sweet balsamic vinegars of Modena were also part of the standard cooking kit at every single cooking station of the Festival, where attendees witnessed top Chefs’ cooking demonstrations from celebrity Chefs such as Bobby Flay, Giada de Laurentiis and molto Italiano Mario Batali, among others, who all used Academia Barilla products for their gourmet demo cooking.

We’ll see you next year in Aspen as we gear up to stun the crowd even more for the 26th Food and Wine Festival! Stay tuned for other Academia Barilla events in your area!