By Shahd Alhamdan
JEDDAH – The Italian Consulate in Jeddah, in association with the Italian Business Group in Jeddah (IBG), inaugurated Monday (Nov. 21) the ‘The Italian Cuisine Week’ in Jeddah. A group of Italian chefs have arrived to participate in the event, including the young famous Chef, Marco Martini. The festival aims at promoting Italian cooking and cuisine traditions globally and to show people that Italian food is affordable as everyone can use simple ingredients to cook Italian food.
The week started with a street food festival that was held yesterday (Monday) at the Italian Cultural Club. Around 15 businesses in the Kingdom are sponsoring the Italian Cuisine Week and had booths that present their food and products during the street food festival night including, Italian restaurants, suppliers, and supermarkets.
Chef Martini will take part in other Italian food events that will be held in some Italian restaurants and supermarkets, where he will give some advices. For instance, on Nov. 25, Chef Martini will be cutting the ribbon at the Italian Mall and the Italian corner in Manuel Supermarket in Stars Avenue branch. The calendar includes several dinner occasions such as, dinner at Park Hayat in the presence of Chef Martini.
During a press conference that was held at the Italian Cultural Club on Sunday, Italian Consul General Elisabetta Martini explained that Italian Cuisine Week in Jeddah is considered to be an international event that has been taking place in all the Italian consulates and embassies globally this month.
She added that the first event took place last year in the food expo in Milan in 2015, where the Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture signed November to be the Italian Cuisine Week. Asked how she chose Chef Martini to be part of the event , she said “I really loved his food. Once I tried his food in one of the restaurants he used to work. Then, I studied his CV and I realized how he is a self-made person coming from the neighborhood of Rome. He does not come from a family where everyone is into hospitality. He really loves food.”
“And what I liked as you can see in this exhibition, he used very simple ingredients and simple recipes. But every time he managed to surprise you, so the ingredients stay the same the basic Italian ingredients but the results is completely surprising and that what I wanted to do to promote someone who was young, someone who was self made person, and someone who is basically using basic ingredients who you can find in your fridge not even going to the supermarket.
Chef Martini remarked that every time he leaves his kitchen in Rome, he is expecting a new better thing and new. He always trying to do the best and is trying to leave something important here in Jeddah.
