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Berlin Celebrates Italian Cuisine with Tomatenfest

Italy promotes its culinary tradition abroad through ‘Week of Italian Food in the World’

November 11th, 2016
Chiara Ceccato, News from Berlin
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During the last week of November, from 21st to 27th, some of the best Italian restaurants in Berlin will be celebrating the Italian food culture. For these seven days, they will offer Italian recipes with tomato as the main ingredient. This is the reason why the initiative is named ‘Berlin italienisches Tomatenfest’ (Berlin celebration of Italian tomato).

The tomato is a fundamental element of the culinary culture of Italy, and although it is easy to appreciate its taste, it is also difficult to find good quality and savoury tomatoes in central Europe. Therefore, this event, supervised by the Italian Institute of Culture and True Italian, a network that promotes Italian traditions in Germany, welcomes everybody, not only Italians or Berliners, but anyone who loves good food. 

The main sponsor is Ferrera, a Sicilian company that produces high quality tomatoes and that, for the occasion, is donating a jar of tomato sauce for every order. Another supporter is the famous coffee producer Lavazza.

This event is part of the bigger initiative ‘The Week of Italian Food in the World’, promoted by the Italian ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, and of Education, Universities and Research. The Farnesina has got the task of coordinating the promotion of Italian haute cuisine in the world through its extensive diplomatic network made up of embassies, consulates and cultural institutes.

In the same way, the Week of Italian Food is just the first step of a wider Italian government’s plan: a food act, which aims to continue the experience of ‘Expo 2015, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ by the promotion of Italian agribusiness abroad.

The general memorandum of understanding, named ‘The Extraordinary Italian Taste’, consists not only of the culinary week, but also of master classes managed by foreign chefs with the purpose of spreading knowledge about Mediterranean diet values, scholarships for deserving Italian chefs, and Italian days dedicated to high quality cuisine, associated to international sport events.

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News from Berlin