Italian cuisine week, evening event in Mogadishu

(ANSA) - ROMA, 22 NOV - The first of two evening events organised by the Italian Embassy as part of the 'Week of Italian Cuisine in the World' was held in Mogadishu. It was an absolute first in Somalia since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation set up the initiative nine years ago.
    The evening was attended by senior representatives of Somali institutions (including the Vice President of Parliament and nine Ministers), other civil and military authorities, and representatives of Somali civil society and the international community based in Mogadishu.
    During the course of the evening, Chef Alessio Nebolini, who arrived especially from Italy, proposed a special menu, offering dishes that combined traditional Italian recipes with the excellence of Somali food products. The event was also an opportunity to emphasise the closeness of the cuisines of the two countries, evidenced by the presence of numerous words of Italian origin commonly used in Somali food vocabulary.
    In addition to the promotional value of Italian cuisine and a lifestyle favoured by the Mediterranean diet, the evening also represented a much appreciated and rare moment of international conviviality, a small contribution of the Italian Embassy in Mogadishu to the progressive and hoped-for return to normality in the country.