That’s according to Luca Perego, considered one of the most influential social and television talents within the world of the dessert. Fact is, he has a rather special bond with the valle dei Giusti.
 

Anyone who uses the web regularly will be aware of the LuCake phenomenon. The adopted “persona” of Luca Perego, a young chap of a mere 25, blue-eyed and with a winning smile, hails from the Brianza/Lecco region, and can boast an extraordinary following amongst cooking enthusiasts, and especially lovers of desserts. To merely describe him as a foodblogger is to understate. His website - www.lucake.it - where he introduces recipes and articles on a weekly basis, has an almost Messiah-like following, to the point that he has become a genuine media star along with fellow chefs who adorn both tv and the internet itelf. So where does Valchiavenna feature, I hear you wondering? Well, from a very early age he was to frequent the enchanting village of Vho, in San Giacomo Filippo territory, where his extensive family had bought and renovated a baita or vast rustic dwelling. His working life begins after high school. “After completing my studies I immediately threw myself into the world of work,” he explains “and for some years I worked as a chef in the sweets/dessert brigade of a catering company which specialised in ceremonies.

We could manage 180-200 weddings every season. I learnt so much, particularly on work organisation as well as beginning to understand my real passion - for pastries”. Luca is a young man always in search of new stimuli. So even though Instagram in Italy remained in its infancy, he decided to reproduce his first recipes on social media. “I was one of the very first chefs who took advantage of this still little-known social network” he advises. “I took enormous care with photography as well as the personal descriptions”. And Luca recognised immediately the importance of starting his own blog. “I never stopped my work on social networks, even though at first I could only dedicate evenings to it, after I’d finished my shifts”. His particularly clean style, current and straight-talking language, combined with an enormous ability and an engaging presence is much appreciated, specially in female circles, and has rewarded him hugely for earlier sacrifice. “The first requests from specialist magazines started to arrive, and then the demonstrations of show cooking and television followed”. His audience remains solidly young. And his celebrity was to grow over time so that soon large companies related to the world of kitchen utensils began to take an interest. Today he is the ambassador for a range of key brands. “The advance in quality was gradual. But a year ago I decided to concentrate on the business itself. I bought my own workshop which has become the base for my productions for the social world and for my blog”. Today LuCake is a recognised and much appreciated brand, with an Instagram following of almost 210,000.

“I love Vho and Valchiavenna” he confides, as he remembers the holidays spent with parents Mario and Roberta, along with his five siblings, “I spent countless summers here with my family. I’m so attached to the valley and even now, as an adult, I come as often as possible to enjoy some beautiful times”.
 

Luca also confesses that he regularly uses traditional, localm ingredients for his desserts. “Blueberries and buckwheat remain my favourites, but I also adore the cake Fioretto and of

course Prosto’s biscuits!”