Malta
A gala evening was held at the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta on 21 November to inaugurate first Week of Italian Cuisine in the World in the presence of the President Emeritus of Malta, Hon. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici.
Following the opening address by Italian Ambassador, Giovanni Umberto De Vito, the Director of the Institute of Culture, Salvatore Schirmo, and the Delegate of the Italian Food Academy for Malta, Massimiliana Tomaselli, a series of events began that will promote the excellence of Italian food and wine in Malta over the coming a week.
The inaugural event was attended by Giuseppe Masserdotti, the Brescia Delegate of the Italian Food Academy, who presented a a book of 3000 traditional Italian recipes developed by the Italian Food Academy and entitled “Tradition at the table”. Following this, the exhibition entitled “The splendour of Venice: Canaletto, Bellotto, Guardi and the landscape painters of the nineteenth century”, the most important international exhibition of Venetian eighteenth and nineteenth century landscape painting ever organised in Italy, was brought to life in a presentation by its curator, Davide Dotti, who guided the many guests through the masterpieces drawn from Italian and foreign public and private collections to celebrate Venice: a timeless legend in the collective imagination. The evening ended with a gala dinner on the theme of “Venice and its culinary art”, organised and hosted at the “Bella Venezia” lounge in Ta Xbiex by the Maltese Delegation of the Italian Food Academy.
Portugal
The first “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” was also launched in Portugal at the start of a week dedicated to “quality”, “identity” and “excellence”: the three key words that define the high standard of Italian production around the world.
The Italian Cultural Institute in Lisbon is offering an extensive programme of events for this occasion, intended to paint a picture of Italian gastronomy through cooking workshops, shows, conferences, film showings and book presentations. Following the official opening of the event (with the projection of films including Ettore Scola’s “The Dinner” and the inauguration of an exhibition entitled “100-120-150 Pellegrino Artusi and Italian unity in the Kitchen” and the “Red and Green Gnocchi” workshop led by Sicilian Michele Bono, Chef at the “Il Gattopardo” restaurant), the week will continue with events in Coimbra, where chef Augusto Gemelli will be holding a workshop entitled “The tradition of Italian flavours” at the local hotel management school. In Lisbon, Gemelli, originally from Milan, has won major culinary awards since 1996 and has recently launched a new project associated with Mozzarella di Bufala D.O.P. in his MOZZA & Co. shops. Furthermore, at the University of Coimbra, Massimo Montanari will be conducting an open lesson entitled “Taste. Historical considerations about an ambiguous concept” as part of the cycle of conferences scheduled for the international ‘DIAITA, Scripta & Realia do Património Alimentar da Lusofonia’ project. A workshop with Carla Giorgi entitled “The art of fresh hand-made pasta” will also be held at the Lisbon Hotel School .
Czech Republic
The first “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” is being launched in Prague as part of a project to support and enhance the Italian agro-food sector under the Food Act introduced by the Italian government.
The first Week of Italian Cuisine in the World got into swing immediately in the Czech Republic with a reception organised by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute inaugurating a series of over 1300 events coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s overseas network.
Upon the invitation of Ambassador Aldo Amati, the inaugural event in Prague was attended by around one hundred guests, including the Speaker of the Czech Parliament, Jan Hamacek, and many other figures from the world of politics, institutions and business. The programme of events, stemming from the Food Act presented by the Italian government at the Milan Expo 2015, which is intended to become an annual event focused on Italian culinary tradition overseas, will include presentations by three Chefs from Euro-Toques – Unione Europea dei Cuochi: its international president, Italian Enrico Derflingher, board member of Euro-Toques, Ciro D’Amico, and Michelin star winner, Chef Gianni Tarabini.
Other guests of honour at the dinner will include three Italian chefs living in Prague and very well-known in the Czech Republic: Matteo Decarli, Riccardo Lucque and Emanuele Ridi. In the historic setting of the Baroque Chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute, dishes will be served that highlight the tradition, craftsmanship and innovation of Italian cooking, through which the chefs will become true ambassadors of taste, of Italy and of its best local produce and tourist attractions.
Examples include creations by Enrico Derflingher, who will be serving his Queen Victoria Risotto, developed and cooked for the British royal household, and by Gianni Tarabini with his Cheek of Beef in Sfursat with cream of Jerusalem Artichokes and Savoury Meringue, made with products from the high-quality short supply chain of the Valtellina.
