5th Italian Cuisine Week in the world
23-29 November 2020
The Embassy of Italy in London has put together a rich programme of digital events featuring Michelin starred chefs to celebrate the Week of the Italian Cuisine in the World (23-29 November). The initiative, coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, is now in its fifth year and will also mark the 200thanniversary of the birth of Pellegrino Artusi, one of the fathers of Italian gastronomic culture.
Chefs Enrico and Roberto Cerea, Giorgio Locatelli, Cristina Bowerman, Francesco Mazzei and Danilo Cortellini will host live cooking shows and post videos on Instagram, presenting recipes inspired by regional traditions and seasonal produce. They will be joined by British food influencers. Every evening at 6:30 pm, food lovers will be invited to follow the chefs online and replicate their dishes from the comfort of their home.
One of the live shows will present the collaboration between the Embassy of Italy and FoodCycle, a non-profit organisation that distributes meals around the country. During Italian Cuisine Week, the Embassy will distribute approximately 400 meals at various points around London. The meals, which will include dishes from nine Italian regions, will be prepared by chef Danilo Cortellini and will be delivered in compostable packaging, provided by Novamont. Cortellini will replicate one of the recipes from this initiative on an Instagram live show on Saturday 28 November, accompanied by a British influencer who is involved in initiatives aimed at reducing food waste.
Ambassador Raffaele Trombetta said: “At this difficult time, we want to continue promoting the best of Italian food and wine in the UK. We want to bring Italian ingredients, recipes and regional traditions into British homes and offer the opportunity to interact with some of the most brilliant protagonists of contemporary Italian cuisine. Eating Italian is good not only for the soul, but also for your health and for the environment. I was particularly keen to dedicate our efforts to the FoodCycle initiative, in view of its strong social value. We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to their work, supporting communities around London.”
Environmental sustainability will be one of the main themes this year, particularly in view of the British-Italian co-presidency of the COP26, the UN climate conference, in 2021. Wide coverage will be given in leading media outlets about organic farming, green technologies in agri-food, and Italian innovation in sustainable production and packaging.
Italian Cuisine Week will also offer an opportunity to promote the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, a perfect marriage of taste and nutrition and an effective tool for boosting the immune system when dealing with stressful situations. This will the topic of a webinar organised by the Accademia della Cucina Italiana together with the embassy’s scientific office and the Italian Cultural institute in London. Sicily will be the focus of a range of initiatives organised in Edinburgh; the Italian tourist board, in collaboration with national Geographic Traveller, will host a live cooking show with chef Aldo Zilli, and the Italian Trade Agency will give a masterclass and webinar with chef Francesco Mazzei.
Finally, a range of restaurants, artisanal producers and distributors will offer special dishes or discounts on their Deliveroo profiles, on their websites or at their take-away locations, to encourage customers to try out quality Italian food. Further information will be available on the Embassy’s Instagram profile.
Programme
23 November:
6:30pm: Instagram Live cooking show with Michelin-starred chef Cristina Bowerman and food influencer Hayley Dean
Live on: https://www.instagram.com/cristinabowermanchef/?hl=en
24 November:
6:00pm: Webinar: The importance of diet for the immune system in stressful situations: experts’ opinion. Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88189511932?pwd=eGdiOXE2VGR2MlF6bUZJbzdEVGlDUT09
7:00pm: Experience a taste of Italy with Aldo Zilli. Register for free at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-great-italian-food-journey-with-aldo-zilli-tickets-125870763843
25 November:
6:30pm: Instagram Live cooking show with Michelin-starred chef and Masterchef Italia judge Giorgio Locatelli and food influencer Paola Maggiulli, the Tiny Italian
Live at https://www.instagram.com/giorgiolocatelli1/?hl=en
26 November:
6:30pm: Instagram Live cooking show with chef Francesco Mazzei and food influencer Antonina Parker
Live at https://www.instagram.com/chef_francescomazzei/?hl=en
27 November:
6:30pm: Video-recipe by Michelin-starred chefs Enrico and Roberto Cerea, with food influencer Anna Barnet
https://www.instagram.com/davittorioristorante/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/italianembassyinuk/?hl=en
From 27 November, a series of events entitled “The Diasporic Plate”. Information available at https://iiclondra.esteri.it/iic_londra/it/gli_eventi/calendario/2020/11/the-diasporic-plate.html
28 November
6:30pm: Cooking show with chef Danilo Cortellini and food influencer Melissa Hemsley
Live at https://www.instagram.com/danilocortellini/?hl=en
ITA London - Online masterclass with chef Francesco Mazzei.
Information on the events in Edinburgh: https://iicedimburgo.esteri.it/iic_edimburgo/en/gli_eventi
www.italchamind.org.uk/archive/events
