The Italian Embassy inaugurates the 10th edition of Italian Cuisine Week in the World in Belgium. A rich program of events began this weekend and will celebrate the 10th edition of Italian Cuisine Week in the World throughout November the annual event launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2016 to promote Italian cuisine and quality agri-food products through the diplomatic network abroad and with the strategic objective of supporting the candidacy of Italian cuisine as intangible cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO. The inaugural event, held last weekend, was the launch of the Fresh-Italia campaign, a joint initiative of ICE and FreshMed, in collaboration with Italian companies in the agri-food sector, which, every weekend from 8 November until Christmas, will activate Italian Weekend promotions on a selection of Italian products available on the Belgian market. This year’s theme, ‘Italian cuisine between health, culture and innovation’, emphasizes the cultural dimension of Italian cuisine and aspects related to nutrition and health, in line with the position negotiated by Italy at the fourth high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases organized by the United Nations.
Ambassador Federica Favi pointed out that this year’s celebrations in Belgium will feature a packed program of events. After today’s event, the celebrations will continue with “Che spettacolo le Dop e le Igp dell’Emilia Romagna” (What a spectacle, the PDOs and PGIs of Emilia-Romagna), an artistic and culinary event organized by the Region at the Italian Cultural Institute. On 12 November, it will be the turn of “From the forest to the table: Europe, game and sustainability”, organized by the Lombardy Region, while on 20 November, the Ambassador’s residence will host an event focusing on plant-based cuisine and conscious eating, attended by the famous influencer Carlotta Perego. Gelato on the Road: Pop-Up Museum for Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce, is a journey through the history, culture and evolution of Italian artisan gelato, which will close the event on 26 November. In addition, during the two weeks from 17 to 30 November, some of the best Italian restaurants in the Belgian capital, selected by Gault&Millau, will offer a special menu dedicated to the Week, inspired by the values of authentic, sustainable and innovative Italian cuisine.
La Settimana, Favi emphasized, is now ‘a solid reference point in the context of gastronomic diplomacy and one of the main tools for promoting awareness of our cuisine as an expression of the country’s identity and culture in the context of its UNESCO candidacy’.
