Ornitodrinko

A first-year kitchen project that took Gold in one of the hardest categories the awards run, first time out.

Ornitodrinko is Roberto Colnaghi's own kitchen project in Brembate, built around fermentation rather than heat-chasing. Chilies grown from seed in Lombardy soil, fermented over weeks, bottled by hand in small batches.

It is early days: a growing range of sauces still in development, no shop or website yet, and Instagram as the only public channel. Which makes a Gold, first time out, in the BBQ Chili Sauce category all the more striking.

The sauce: Smoked Ananas BBQ is smoked pineapple and fermented chili: sweet and smoky up front, with the acidity long fermentation gives it. A tropical-meets-grill take that pushes BBQ well beyond the ketchup-and-sugar version.

Peppers: Chili grown and fermented from Roberto's own seed. The variety is not publicly disclosed.

Pairs with: Made for grilled meats, burgers and BBQ.

“We grow, ferment and bottle everything ourselves, starting from the seed, so seeing this process recognized at a European level is incredible. Ornitodrinko has always been about patience, experimentation and real craft across a growing range of sauces, and this result means a lot to us.”

Find Roberto: Instagram @ornitodrinko