The 2019 Guangzhou International Food Festival is already underway at the Xiongfeng International Food City in Panyu District (running from November 22nd to December 1st.) It gathers famous cuisines from around China and delicacies from 10 other countries including Germany, Norway, France and Italy.

People visit the Italian Food Festival. [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]

Apart from the food festival, Guangdong fans of Italian cuisine have also been enjoying typical Italian foods and drink during the Italian Culinary Week over the last few days. The culinary week, running from November 18th to 24th, gathered several Michelin-starred chefs and representative Italian restaurants, and provided lectures, performances, tasting sessions and dinner parties to introduce Italian culinary culture and food tourism to people in the province.

A boy tastes gelato at the food festival. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Forming part of the event, the Italian Food Festival was held at the Canton Place in Guangzhou on November 24th, offering a wide range of Italian delights, drinks and desserts for visitors, such as pizza, ravioli, gelato, and vino.

During the festival, visitors also enjoyed Italian musical performances, and participated in a dumpling making competition and tasting. Furthermore, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, a special booth was set up and a ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ workshop was held for children to make handicrafts.

People watch Italian performances at the festival. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

On the afternoon of November 23rd, chefs from both China and Italy brought Foshan food lovers a China-Italy Dumpling Showcase, presenting six different kinds of Italian and Chinese dumplings. Different from Chinese dumplings, Italian ravioli is made with pasta wrapping and various fillings, such as cheese, onion and prosciutto, providing diners a myriad of different flavours. After tasting, visitors voted for the most delicious dumpling. Guess what? It was a tie.

Ms. Lucia Pasqualini (R), Consul General of Italy in Guangzhou, learns to make a Chinese dumpling from a local chef. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

In addition, Mr. Giuliano Baldessari, a famous Italian chef, prepared a special dinner at the Mandarin Hotel Guangzhou on the evening of November 21st.. Baldessari is keen on experimenting with new cuisines and his own restaurant received a Michelin Star after only one year in operation. Baldessari stayed on at the hotel as a guest chef until November 24th.

Ms. Lucia Pasqualini (L2) works with chefs at the Mandarin Hotel Guangzhou. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Authors: Monica Liu, Wang Yifan

Editor: Simon Haywood