In Belgium, the Italian Embassy in Brussels has started the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World with a full calendar of initiatives involving all the actors of the Italian System (ICE, Italian trade Agency, Italian Cultural Institute, Italian-Belgian Chamber of Commerce, ENIT, National Tourism Agency, and CNA, Italian Confederation of Craft Trades and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises) and that, in compliance with the local Covid regulation, will take place all over the country.
The VI edition of the Week, this year dedicated to the theme of tradition and food sustainability, was inaugurated yesterday, in the presence of the Secretary of State of the Belgian Federal Government, the Flemish Eva De Bleeker, at the prestigious ‘Bozar’ in Brussels, an iconic Belgian multidisciplinary cultural space in art deco style designed by Victor Horta. The ‘Italian evening’ opened with a concert by the string quartet of the Italo-Belgian youth orchestra (created with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels) and was followed by a dinner created by Michelin-starred chef Accursio Craparo, in collaboration with the Association of Italian Chefs in Belgium, inspired by traditional Sicilian cuisine and the search for innovation.
Further initiatives in Belgium during the week include a focus by the Belgian French-speaking newspaper La Libre Belgique on the main themes and objectives of the Italian Cuisine Week, with particular attention to the labelling system, the promotion of the Mediterranean diet as a model of balanced and healthy eating and measures to combat the phenomenon of Italian sounding. On 25 November, there will be the traditional “Borsa Vini”, an event dedicated to promoting Italian wines, organised by ICE Brussels and a final gala evening at the Boverie Museum in Liège, in collaboration with the Consulate General in Charleroi.
To spread the values of sustainability and the care given to local quality products in the Italian culinary culture, the Italian Embassy in Brussels – through an unprecedented initiative in the imminence of the State Visit of the Belgian Royal Family to Italy – will also deliver special “Italian lunch boxes” to the seven Vice Prime Ministers of the Belgian Federal Government with an explanatory card on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
