Umbria was at the heart of the Week of Italian Cuisine in Kazakhstan, with a number of initiatives organised by the Italian Embassy in Astana. A gala dinner, prepared by Assisi chef Enea Barbanera, was served in one of the most prestigious Italian restaurants in the City, the Salone del Gusto. It included a tasting of typical products and wines from Umbria. A delegation led by Regional Councillor for Agriculture and the Territory, Fernanda Cecchini, was in attendance, along with numerous qualified local representatives from the agricultural business sector. The products presented and menu created for the occasion were available in the restaurant for the whole week.
Councillor Cecchini was able to combine her participation in the initiative with some official meetings. One was with ‘Kazagro’, the government agency that provides financial support to the agricultural sector, and another was with Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Berik Beisengaliyev. The meetings offered a wonderful opportunity to give more visibility to regional high quality farm produce and to identify new prospects for marketing and improving relations between the two countries. Special emphasis was placed on best practices in the area of agricultural policies, nurseries, animal husbandry, cereal supply lines and the crucial hotel and restaurant industry training sector.
Cecchini said, “We accepted with great interest the invitation from our Ambassador to Astana, Pasquale D’Avino, to take part in the third edition of Cuisine Week. This is an important opportunity for Umbria, enabling us to give further visibility to our agricultural products, high-quality farm produce and wines”.
