Diva Restaurants by Chef Ritu Dalmia celebrated World Week of Italian Cuisine at Italian Cultural Center

EE News Desk Nov 29, 2019

The Fourth edition of World Week of Italian Cuisine kick started on 21st November with the goal of promoting Italian Culinary traditions- food & wine as a distinct attribute of Italian Identity and Culture with Diva Restaurants by Chef Ritu Dalmia. The theme of this year was Zero-waste cooking and the four-day event exhibited a variety of Italian food, the gastronomic extravaganza hosted a panel discussion, Panini making workshop, cooking faceoff, food tasting sessions and themed dinners.

The highlight of the festival was many luminaries of the Italian food industry such as Chef Cristina Bowerman and Chef Alessandro Frassica participating in various sessions. Having established herself as the standard-bearer for Italian food in the country, Chef Ritu Dalmia along with the chef Cristina Bowerman hosted a zero-waste cooking session for their patron, where they demonstrated how to use every part of vegetable in their cooking with show cooking and tasting session. Chef Alessandro Frassica – owner of INO sandwich parlor in Florence, hosted an interactive panini making workshop.

Sharing her thoughts on the Festival, chef Ritu Dalmia said “This theme is really really close to my heart. I truly believe in zero waste and love utilizing everything from stem to peel, to cores to rinds, stems and other odds. I am really glad that Italian Embassy chose this theme for the IV Edition of World Week.

As a brand, we have always practiced zero waste cooking at DIVA restaurants and were one of the first in the country to tie up with organizations like Feeding India to distribute all excess food cooked for large events & caterings. As a norm we always try and reuse all our leftovers in the restaurants for stocks/broths, seasoning as well as for compost. But, with this event we are taking it to another level by trying to integrate undesirable and leftover parts as the main focus of a lot of the food we presented. Also, hoping that people have left motivated enough to implement some practices they learnt during the live demo, talk show done by us”.

The World week of Italian Cuisine concluded on Sunday,24th November with Sagra Del Riso festival, A festival that celebrates local ingredients. Keeping the spirit of Zero waste cooking in mind, by celebrating all things rice and trying to recapture the culinary feel. Celebrating the versatility of this essential grain- with six live stations; from piping hot Arancine to creamy Risotto; from hearty & comforting Khichdi to chatpata Jhalmuri, from indulgent Riso Tarts to Gud ki Kheer, Jasmine rice pudding with spicy sauce, from fresh Panini to Piadina and much more.