The International Week of the Italian Cuisine in South Africa and Vino in piazza

The Italian wine fair in Johannesburg “Vino in Piazza”, took place at Hyde Park Corner in Johannesburg from the 12th to the 14th of November. The event had 19 wine producers from Italy and at least 20 between South African wine importers and sponsor companies participating. During the exhibition, the Michelin starred chef Luciano Monosilio, known as “the king of carbonara”, and the three Cesarine Alessandra Clemente, Cecilia Bendinelli, Corinna Carbini, performed spectacular show cookings of dishes from the Italian culinary tradition. The common denominator was pasta, the protagonist of the Week of Italian Cuisine in South Africa, whose theme was “Pasta is future”. The more than 1100 Vino in Piazza’s visitors greatly appreciated the dishes cooked in front of them, including, in addition to Luciano’s famous carbonara, gnocchetti with sausage ragù, tagliatelle with mushrooms, tortelloni with ricotta and parsley, potato gnocchi with three cheeses, Sardinian fregola with mussels and strozzapreti with tomato and basil sauce.
Various events dedicated to the Week of Italian Cuisine in South Africa followed Vino in Piazza. On Monday 15th November, the Chef and the Cesarine cooked different kinds of pasta at the reception at the Ambassador’s Residence in Pretoria.
In the morning of the 16th of November, the Cesarine held a lesson at the Prue Leith Centurion Cooking School, while in the evening they led three teams in the pasta race that took place at the Italian Club in Johannesburg. Guest of honour was chef Monosilio, who put himself in a judge’s shoes.
But the Week of Italian Cuisine in South Africa was not only held in front of a laid table: on Wednesday 17th November the Embassy organized a scientific webinar entitled “How pasta can contribute to a healthy diet”. The meeting allowed a discussion on the role of pasta as a healthy and natural food, led by Marina Carcea from Crea (Research Centre for Food and Nutrition – Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) and Mariaan Wicks from the Center of Excellence for Nutrition of the North-West University. On the same day chef Luciano Monosilio and the Cesarine held classes at the Cooking School of Ekhuruleni township, showing to these students from an underprivileged area useful secrets for their future careers.
The Week of the Italian Cuisine in South Africa landed in Cape Town too, where, on the 19th of November, the chef and the Cesarine took the reception’s guest at the Ambassador’s Residence to a new culinary journey to discover Italian excellences. The following day, the Cesarine held a third lesson at the Cooking School of Langa township, at the presence of the local community, concluding in this way a week full of events, cultural exchanges and, most of all, good food.
The Week of the Italian Cuisine in South Africa provided an important opportunity to share and spread not only the Italian cuisine, but also our country’s culture and know-how, strengthening the knowledge of Living the Italian Way in South Africa.