Initiative integrates several activities, such as wine tasting and the launch of a Young Sommeliers Competition
The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is back for its seventh edition. From 14 to 20 November, the Italian Embassy in Lisbon once again promotes the initiative, aimed at highlighting the excellence of Italian cuisine and its territories, this year with the theme "Conviviality, Sustainability and Innovation: the ingredients of Italian cuisine for the health of people and the protection of the planet". With a programme that includes several activities, the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World will reach over two dozen restaurants in the national territory, which will create menus or specific dishes to be tasted exclusively during the event.
Italian gastronomy in focus from Braga to the Algarve
21 restaurants are participating in the seventh edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, presenting menus or dishes exclusively for the initiative. Located in cities such as Braga (such as La Piola), Matosinhos (such as Il Ristorantino), Porto (Muti), Castelo Branco (Arena di Verona) or Aljezur (Arte Bianca), passing naturally through Lisbon - with various options of locations -, the Italian restaurants taking part in the event meet specific criteria which give them the "Italian Hospitality" label. To do so, they must guarantee conditions such as, for example, a qualified chef and at least one employee that speaks the Italian language, a menu with more than 50 per cent Italian dishes and a number of Italian PDO or IGP wines that exceed 30 per cent of the total wine list, or the use of Italian PDO/IGP extra virgin olive oil in the preparation of dishes.
Cooking Week programme kicks off with wine tasting
The first activity of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World takes place next Monday (6 p.m.), at the Italian restaurant Libertà Kitchen. During the event, which will be opened by the Italian ambassador in Portugal, Carlo Formosa, there will be a wine tasting aimed at Portuguese importers and operators in the sector. The event will also mark the launch of an initiative whose main objective is to promote the Italian oenological tradition through knowledge and training: a Young Sommeliers Competition, whose prize will be an oenology course with an internship in Italy.
The journey through the excellence of the Italian Alpine territory continues the following day, 15 November, with the screening of the documentary "Wine Roads", a journey through the cycle paths that follow the wine route in the Alto Adige region, showing local products, traditions and landscapes of that region. The documentary will be presented to the students of Estoril Hotel and Tourism School (ESHTE), at 4.30 p.m. Entrance is free, subject to room capacity.
Italian gastronomic tradition and environmental sustainability
On Wednesday 16 November, at 4 p.m., the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World suggests a moment of reflection with the webinar "Italian cuisine between tradition and innovation. The ingredients and dishes of the Italian gastronomic tradition: sustainability and health of people and the planet", aimed at institutions, associations and local operators in the sector, but also at the general public. The initiative focuses on how tradition and innovation in cooking can go hand in hand, generating new models of production and consumption, contributing to more balanced choices, both for people and for the planet.
Italian experts in the field, including Stefano Sforza, lecturer in Food and Drug Science at the University of Parma, Andrea Ghiselli, director of the research centre CREA - Food and Nutrition, and Cesare Varallo, lawyer specialising in food law, will discuss sustainable trends in food consumption, the latest developments in the European debate on nutrition and front-of-pack labelling. The webinar will have free access and simultaneous Italian-Portuguese translation. More information about the webinar, as well as the link for registration can be found on the website (www.amblisbona.esteri.it) and in the social networks of the Italian Embassy in Lisbon (@ItalyinPortugal).
On Thursday, 17 November, at 6.30pm, at Livraria Almedina do Rato, the Portuguese translation of the work of renowned culinary scholar, Pellegrino Artusi, "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well", will be presented. Present at the event, translator Anabela Ferreira will explain the main features of the Portuguese edition of a book that has marked the history of Italian cooking, illustrating the challenge of adapting a work dating from 1891, while remaining faithful to the original, in terms of style and graphics. The presentation will be given in Portuguese and admission is free.
The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World will also bring to Portugal Chef Silvia Baracchi, from the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Wine Resort "Il Falconiere" (located in Cortona, Tuscany), present in all the most prestigious Italian and foreign guides, to participate in some of the activities of the event's programme.
"The extraordinary strength of the Italian gastronomic tradition, in its many regional variants, loved and appreciated all over the world, constitutes one of the distinctive elements of Italianness, which this year will be enhanced in the light of the close link between food, with the territory, human health and the environment", explains Ambassador Carlo Formosa, adding that "it is precisely of the relationship of man with the territory, which is moreover a key element of Rome's candidacy to host EXPO in 2030 - "People and Territories: Urban Regeneration, Inclusion and Innovation" -, that innovative solutions can emerge to respond to the pressing needs of sustainability, while respecting tradition.
List of restaurants of the Italian Cuisine Week
La Piola - Braga (Rua Dom Afonso Henriques, 25)
La Porta - Braga (Rua dom Diogo de Sousa, 19)
Italy Caffè - Braga (Praça da República, 18 r/c)
Il Ristorantino - Matosinhos (Rua Sousa Aroso, 684)
Sapori D'Italia - Matosinhos (Rua Sarmento Beires 122,Leça da Palmeira)
Sergio Crivelli - Matosinhos (Rua de Brito Capelo, 705)
Muti - Porto (Rua da Picaria, 55)
Italianino - Coimbra (Rua Borges Carneiro, 6)
Mia Bella Pizza - Coimbra (Rua Flavio Rodrigues, 57 loja A)
Spaghetti Notte - Coimbra (Rua Vitorino Nemesio, 397)
Arena di Verona - Castelo Branco (Av. Cidade de Zhuhai, 174, shop 5)
Cantina Bellaciao - Lisbon (Rua da Costa, 10 - Alcântara)
Come Prima - Lisbon (Rua do Olival, 258)
Il Matriciano - Lisbon (Rua de São Bento, 107)
Il Mercato - Lisbon (Passeio do Pátio Bagatela, Rua Artilharia 1 51 Bloco B, Loja M)
Lupita - Lisbon (Rua de S. Paulo, 79)
Pastaria - Lisbon (Largo Santa Bárbara, 8f
Santa Clara dos Cogumelos - Lisbon (Santa Clara Market)
Per Tutti - Sines (Rua Serpa Pinto, 25 - 7520-241)
Arte Bianca - Aljezur (Rua do Vento, 3)
La Dolce Vita - Portimão (Av. Tomás Cabreira, Ed. Mar Azul, Praia da Rocha)
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