The Italian Embassy in Berlin organised two opening events based on the theme “Food Education: the Culture of Taste” on 11 and 12 November 2019 to mark the fourth Italy’s Cuisine Week in the World, in association with Casa Artusi and the Emilia-Romagna Region.
The event “A Taste of Italy – Emilia Romagna’s Food Valley meets Berlin” was held in the Ballroom at the Italian Embassy on 11 November 2019 and included a series of workshops, conferences and tastings; the main focus was on promoting the Mediterranean diet as a model of proper nutrition and championing the authenticity of Italian products, while combating the ‘Italian sounding’ phenomenon.
According to the Italian Ambassador to Germany, Luigi Mattiolo, the Mediterranean diet, recognised by UNESCO as a cultural heritage since 2010, is a “typical example of a sustainable diet, both for people and the planet […], it is above-all, a convivium, a way to spend time together rather than a mere list of ingredients to eat”.
The event was also attended by the President of the Food Industry Federation, Ivano Vacondio, who had been strongly critical of the recent proposal at European level to introduce a ‘Nutri-Score’, which involves affixing green, yellow or red labels to the packaging on food products to indicate their levels of healthiness. Mr Vacondio said that “It doesn’t make any sense to individually discriminate against foodstuffs by attaching traffic light colours to them. Food products should be considered healthy in accordance with whether or not they are consumed in the right quantities and form part of a balanced diet”.
The event closed with an exhibition on writer and gourmet Pellegrino Artusi, a great “narrator” of Italian cuisine, whose bicentenary is coming up in 2020.
The two days then ended with a series of cooking masterclasses on 12 November given by Casa Artusi at the covered market Markthalleneun.
Both events were attended by the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini and the Regional Councillor for Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing, Stefania Caselli.
