The 2023 edition of Anuga, the world’s largest trade fair dedicated to food, witnessed a new partnership between I Love Italian Food and the Associazione Formaggi Italiani PDO (AFIDOP). The main objective was the promotion of five excellent PDO cheeses: Asiago, Grana Padano, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, and Taleggio.
On October 8th, 9th, and 10th, at the AFIDOP stand, I Love Italian Food organized a series of activities involving chefs, sommeliers, and performers, attracting the fair’s audience to discover these excellences.
At the AFIDOP stand, three exceptional performers brought the culture of Made in Italy to life, interpreting, based on their skills, the five protected PDO cheeses.
On October 8th, Domenico Gentile was the guest of the day. A well-known chef, trainer, and author of cookbooks in Germany, Chef Gentile performed a cooking show presenting five recipes, each dedicated to enhancing a PDO cheese. Taleggio was featured in a pumpkin risotto; sweet PDO Gorgonzola in a savory tart with potatoes; aged PDO Asiago was interpreted in a fondue with gnocchi, Treviso radicchio, and walnuts; PDO Mozzarella di Bufala Campana was presented stuffed with yellow and red cherry tomatoes and accompanied by bread and basil crostini; finally, a classic Cacio e Pepe with 18-month-aged PDO Grana Padano.
On October 9th, it was the turn of Laura Melara-Dürbeck, a writer and author of books about food and wine, as well as the Frankfurt Delegate for the Italian Academy of Cuisine. Dr. Melara shared stories and anecdotes about the 5 PDO cheeses in an engaging storytelling session in the German language, followed by a tasting of the cheeses in their pure form.
Finally, on October 10th, Claudia Stern, a renowned sommelier in Germany, led a wine-pairing activity suggesting the best wine and cheese pairings in a vertical tasting of Lugana DOC. This allowed to enhance the characteristics of each PDO cheese.
A delicious experience about cheeses that delighted the visitors throughout all the days at Anuga, with tastings of dishes created by the team of the Associazione Cuochi Italiani in Germania (Association of Italian Chefs in Germany), an overseas delegation of FIC, where the true protagonists have always been the five PDO cheeses.
The event was an opportunity to bring together taste, culture, and Italian tradition, celebrating some of Italy’s most renowned excellences, such as the PDO cheeses, the stars of the project and contributing to the promotion of Italian excellence in the world of international gastronomy.
