L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 4 LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Continued from page 1 Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles - officially kicked o f f t h e w e e k a t t h e I I C , i n Westwood. H e r e i s h i g h l i g h t e d , i n Antonio Verde's - our General Consul of Italy in L.A. - words, the significance of the first Week of Italian Cuisine in the world: "The launch of the 'Week' represents an important joint effort of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Cooperation and of MIPAAF- M i n i s t r y f o r A g r i c u l t u r a l Policies, Food and Forestry, that aim at promoting premium Italian cuisine, thereby execut- ing the so-called 'Food Act', our government's action plan to fur- ther develop 2015 Milan Expo's guidelines. These efforts respond to the necessity of fighting the phenom- ena of food counterfeiting and 'Italian Sounding,' still too pre- sent in the United States, and harmful to our Country's image and economy. The General Consul drew our a t t e n t i o n t o t h e w e l l - o i l e d machine, essential to any suc- cessful initiative, by the whole "Sistema Italy–Team Italy," m a d e u p o f t h e G e n e r a l C o n s u l a t e i t s e l f , t h e I t a l i a n C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e ( I I C ) , t h e Italian Trade Commission (ICE), t h e I t a l i a n T o u r i s m B o a r d (ENIT) and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West (IACCW). To this list, it must be added the precious collaboration o f t h e I t a l i a n A c a d e m y o f Cuisine. Mr. Verde went on to high- light some of the major events held in L.A., such as master c l a s s e s t a u g h t b y C r i s t i n a B o w e r m a n a n d o t h e r m a s t e r chefs, along with the movie- inspired menu offering of local r e s t a u r a n t s , r e c o g n i z e d w i t h quality marks, "Marchio Q" and "Marchio AIC" (promoted by the Italian Association of Celiac Disease). The General Consul empha- s i z e d t h e s p e c i a l c o n n e c t i o n between our cuisine and Italian cinema, celebrated at the 12th edition of Cinema Italian Style, that, this year, paid tribute to the centennial of Italian Maestro, Dino Risi, whose restored mas- t e r p i e c e I l S o r p a s s o w a s screened at the Egyptian Theater last week. In conclusion, our highest institutional representative in L.A. declared: "I'd like to thank deeply our two chefs, Cristina Bowerman and Antonio Murè, not only for having made this convivial event an important showcase of the DOP food prod- ucts of Italy, but also – thanks to the usage of food products com- ing from the territories, stricken by the recent earthquakes in Italy's central regions – for hav- ing enabled us to express our solidarity and to offer concrete help to the affected economies of those areas." In the same occasion of the official garden party, presided by the General Consul of Italy in L.A., I had the chance to chat briefly with the two Italian chefs, Cristina Bowerman and Antonio Murè, who supervised the menu o f t h e r e c e p t i o n a n d , m o s t importantly, have been great ambassadors of our cuisine in the US. Cristina, born in the village of Cerignola, in Puglia (southern region of Italy), initially seems bound to a forensic career, as she g r a d u a t e s i n L a w f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f S a n F r a n c i s c o (USF), in California. H o w e v e r , s h e e v e n t u a l l y finds her vocation in cooking, and she graduates in Culinary A r t s a t t h e C o r d o n B l e u ' s Culinary Academy, in Austin, Texas. In 2004, Bowerman feels the urgency to reconnect with her Italian roots and moves back to Italy. Since 2006, she presides over the kitchen at The Glass Hostaria, in the historical neigh- b o r o f T r a s t e v e r e , R o m e ' s nightlife's main epicenter. Continued to page 5 From November 16th to the 23rd, Los Angeles celebrated the first Week of Italian cuisine in the world with a showcase of the very best products and culinary traditions from our peninsula

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