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THE fabulous flavours and sounds of Italy with be spreading across the kingdom with a hypermarket group in Bahrain staging a special celebratory festival to ensure customers can enjoy a full taste of the country’s popular products.
The Extraordinary Italian Taste, a week-long gastronomic festival of cheeses, olive oil, pasta and desserts will be celebrated from today at Lulu Group’s six hypermarkets, follows a cultural performance, plus a touch of Bahrain for some added culinary fusion fun.
The festival shall be inaugurated by Italian ambassador to Bahrain Domenico Bellato along with Sicilian Michelin star Chef Giuseppe Biuso. It is being supported by the embassy and the Italian Trade Agency and the ambassador said: “Italian food is a distinctive character of our culture and lifestyle, widely-appreciated throughout the world.
“In Bahrain there are very good Italian restaurants and people are well aware of the unique quality of our culinary tradition.
“This year’s Week of Italian Cuisine in the World aims at further promoting the ‘Made in Italy’ agricultural and food industry, as well as enhancing tourist destinations and the Mediterranean diet, one of the elements that make Italy the healthiest country in the world.
“The idea is also to emphasise the common traits between Italian and Bahraini culture, both in food and in music.”
The event’s inauguration, which is open to the public, will take place at Lulu Hypermarket in Hidd today at 6pm.
Along with food specials from Lulu’s kitchens, guests will also get a glimpse of Italian culture, engineering and style.
There will be a mandolin performance of Italian music and a display of iconic Italian cars as well as Vespa scooters and Ducati motorbikes.
Italian food fans are also being invited to take part in an Italian Pasta and Dessert prize cookery contest at Lulu Hypermarket in Juffair, to be judged by three Bahrain-based Italian food experts, Michela, Martina and Daniela.
To participate, visitors simply have to fill out a form and drop it at a customer service counter and bring their prepared dish entry with them on Saturday.
The chefs will also give a demonstration of fine Italian cooking offering some helpful tips. They have developed a new culinary approach which is a fusion of Bahraini spices and Italian ingredients under the brand, Cacio & Pepe (Cheese & Pepper).
“It is well-known that Italian food is among the most popular in the world and Lulu Hypermarket has always brought the finest Italian products to customers here – cheeses, olive oil, herbs and a range of pasta, Italian rice and halal meats. We are delighted to showcase these with special promotions during Italian Week,” said regional director Juzer Rupawala.
“There will be a sampling of classic Italian cheeses and ingredients, demonstrations on how to cook the best Italian meal by the three amazing lady chef consultants and also a feast of some Italian favourites from Lulu’s own talented chefs.”
Alongside the Lulu extravaganza, the Italian embassy has also teamed up with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, to highlight the delights of gastronomic Italian-Arabic fusion cuisine with a live cooking and tasting demonstration with Chef Biuso and celebrated Bahraini Chef Bassam Al Alawi to be staged at Darseen Café at the National Museum tomorrow at 7pm.
One of the youngest Michelin-starred chefs in Europe, Chef Biuso is the executive chef at II Cappero restaurant on the island of Vulcano in Sicily, where he was born and raised – so he knows a thing or two about Sicilian cuisine and in recent days has been travelling around the globe promoting the country.
The 29-year-old has trained and worked his way up the culinary career ladder at some of Italy’s most prestigious hotels and restaurants such as the Met of the Metropole Hotel in Venice, the Grand Hotel of Rimini, and the Golf Hotel at Puntala in Tuscany. And then the Mosaico on Ischia when renowned Chef Nino Di Costazno was there, as well as Vill Crespi and Boscarettoo under feared Chef Cannavacciuolo.
Watch out for dishes such as the traditional Sicilian appetiser of u pani cunzatu, a thin layer of crispy bread with datterini tomatoes, homemade tortelli filled with eggplant purée or a Sicilian orange and scampi risotto … all with a special Bahraini twist.
The day after, a concert of mandolin and oud starring the HPQ Quartet, tenor Aldo Gallone and Saad Jawad will take place at the Bahrain National Museum Foyer at 8pm, again admission will be free.
