Paul Triglau, an expert baker and lecturer at TAFE SA, is the recipient of the Dr Susan Nelle Churchill Fellowship, a grant co-financed by the Winston Churchill Trust. It will allow him to go to Italy and learn the secrets of the Italian art of baking to then return to Australia and set up his own course.
Paul grew up in South Australia, where his father, a baker, migrated from Italy. Following in his footsteps he himself became first a baker and later a lecturer.
And thanks to the scholarship of about 25 thousand dollars, he will be able to go to Italy for eight weeks.
His journey will begin in Milan, where he will take part in a workshop by Giorgio Giorilli, a patisserie expert, learning how to make the traditional Italian panettone. Later he will continue to Piemonte and be tought by local masters of gelato how to become a master himself. Additionally, Paul is going to go to the Campania region to bring his knowledge of local patisserie to perfection.
And in the island of Ischia, towards the end of his trip, Paul will get the chance to learn the secrets of Alessandro Slami, a regional expert of delicacies who recently received the panettone world title.
But what is the aim of the trip? And how did Paul manage to receive his scholarship?
Panettone Source: WikiCommons
The overall goal is to establish a course of Italian patisserie and bakery at TAFE SA, where Paul is currently teaching.
In all of Australia there is currently no pathway to learn the preparation of traditional Italian specialties like tiramisù and gelato.
Paul, having spoken to Australia's best gelato makers, says they claim that in order to truly acquire the skill of artisan gelato making, it is fundamental to go to Italy.
With his future course, Paul wants to offer an alternative here in Australia.
So far, Paul and TAFE SA have already successfully organised a three-day course named "Made in Italy", which has received significantly positive feedback.
Now, however, Paul would like to offer three one-week courses (one for gelato, one for bread and yeast products and one for patisserie) that can be combined in a three weeks course, giving participants a comprehensive view into the world of Italian products.
But why exactly Italian patisserie?
According to Paul, the food industry is continuously trying to discover new trends, which Paul believes might well be Italian patisserie.
Italian tradition could take the place of the more elaborate french bakery that has been all the rage for the past couple of years.
"The beautiful thing about the Italian kitchen and bakery is its simplicity. It is more 'humble' with less flavours but yet incredibly delicious", he told SBS Italian.
And is Paul's belief that there is already a huge demand from the private sector that is not yet catered for. His TAFE course works towards closing that gap.
All of this is made possible by the Winston Churchill Trust.
But what is this organisation?
"It has been established in 1955 after the death of Winston Churchill through a fundraising [...] that was able to accumulate more than 2.2 million GBP at the time", explains the Churchill Trust CEO Adam Davey.
The collected money has been invested and its returns are now being used to pay for the scholarships.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, 1939. Source: AAP
"A scholarship is an investment in an individual or an idea. It offers the possibility to travel outside of Australia to promote an innovative idea", said Adam Davey.
"It can also merely allow to meet new people, interview someone or take part in courses and professional experiences in virtually any subject matter, but it has to have potential to bring Australia forward", continues Davey.
The Winston Churchill Trust grants more than 100 scholarships per year, and to be awarded a scholarship you do not have to be an academic or need a certain title.
It is important to be an Australian citizen of at least 18 years of age to be taken into consideration.
