Italian Consul General Simone Petroni (right) speaks at the launch of the Italian Food Festival as Rosewood Sales Manager Kamal Othman (centre) and Rosewood Director of Sales Mohamed Karara (left) look on. — SG photo by Roberta Fedele Roberta Fedele and Amal Al-Sibai Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – “Life is a combination of magic and pasta,” said Italian film director Federico Fellini well exemplifying the deep roots that Italian culinary tradition has in the national culture. Passion for food is embedded in the Italian society and whether it is pizza, pasta or meat savoured with olive oil and herbs or drenched in thick, creamy sauces, Italian food is always a pleaser at any dinner table. To celebrate Italian cuisine, Habsburg restaurant at Rosewood Corniche Hotel launched the Italian Food Festival on Jan.15. The 16-day festival will allow diners to indulge in authentic and finest Italian dishes created by Chef Massimo Larosa, who is visiting from Genoa in the northern costal region of Liguria. Every night, the restaurant will unroll an elaborate open buffet featuring Italian dinner. Convinced that Italian cuisine is often too simply associated with spaghetti or pizza in tomato sauce, Larosa decided to focus his menu on some of the traditional tastes characterizing his native region. “Pizza and pasta are Neapolitan specialties that can be easily found anywhere in the country but do not make justice to Italy's regional varieties. “The uniqueness of Italian cuisine lies in its freshness, variety of ingredients and numerous regional recipes,” said Larosa. He added: “I'm presenting today some Ligurian specialties including lasagne with pesto, green beans and potatoes, pies with spinach, artichokes, pumpkin and almonds and chickpeas in zimino sauce. “Liguria also boasts of exquisite regional pastries. I couldn't miss the chance to present our delicious canestrelli and amaretti biscuits and a famous Christmas pastry known as pandolce Genovese.” Larosa personally prepared pansotti, a kind of Genovese ravioli in walnut sauce at one of the various live stations installed for the occasion. Helped by Rosewood restaurant's staff, he gave proof of his cooking skills and allowed each client to enjoy a freshly baked dish that usually buffets do not provide. Certain specialties which will be available within the buffet's daily menu are a selection of cheeses, including fresh parmesan and provolone cheese by famous Italian company Auricchio, slices of bresaola beef meat, and over five varities of Ligurian breads,which taste great with smooth, crushed black and green olive paste. “Liguria is renowned for its variegated mixture of focaccia breads with rosemary, onion, cheese and olives. “The most typical bread is the farinata with chickpea flour and the panissa which is the fried version of the farinata,” said Larosa mentioning some of his region's most famous breads. The guest of honor at the event was the Consul General of Itlay, Simone Petroni, who announced the launch of the Italian Food Festival. At the festival, Petroni chose his favorite dish pasta al pesto, a pasta dish topped with pesto sauce. The light, healthy and tasty pesto sauce is made of aromatic fresh basil, which gives the sauce a vibrant green color, olive oil, pine nuts, basil, parmesan cheese, and pureed garlic. Another interesting Italian dish at the festival was cima, a unique and scrumptious dish made of very thin lamb steaks that are rolled and filled with spinach, pistachio, and parmesan cheese, and dipped in a rich white sauce with green peas and cheese. Anthropologists have long claimed that Arabs and Italians have much in common. The Italian Consul General said: “Actually, there are a lot of similarities between Italian and Arab culture, more notably the Arab countries in Northern Africa and other countries that share the Mediterranean Sea. “We have much in common in our food, such as the abundant use of olive oil, tomatoes, olives and oranges. Even the music is quite similar. If you listen to Tunisian and Algerian songs, you will find that the sounds are very comparable to traditional Italian music.” He added: “Something else we Italians have in common with people from coastal Arab cities, including Jeddah, is that we are more open, love to communicate, and we have a vision of meeting and interacting with peoples from other parts of the world.”
