For the 2021 Week of Italian Cuisine in the world, there were more than fifty events in Tanzania that fearured the Michelin starred chef Valentino Palmisano and the food influencer Silvia Lazzerini. These two guests of honour provided their contribution to gala dinners, cooking lessons, and other promotional events of Italian cuisine that took place in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar and were attended by Lela Mussa, the Zanzibar Minister of Tourism; Mary Masanja, the Tanzanian Vice Minister of Tourism; and Fatma Mohammed Rajab, the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs.
The Ambassador of Italy, Marco Lombardi, emphasised that Italian cuisine has extraordinary characteristics that make it not only a unique excellence in the world, but also a means of communication. In Tanzania, he added, Italian cuisine is very popular and is an opportunity to encourage the exchange of knowledge that can only bring mutual benefits to Italy and Tanzania. More than 70 Italian restaurants in Tanzania took part in the Week of Italian Cuisine.
