From spaghetti to space, Italian ambassador eyes long-term cooperation with Korea

Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto speaks during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily with Italian dishes at the Cornerstone in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Nov. 5. [PARK SANG-MOON]

[AMBASSADOR’S TABLE]
 
Seoul’s ambassadors are often gastronomes keen to share a taste of their home cuisine. In this series, the Korea JoongAng Daily asks the diplomatic corps to introduce our readers to their favorite restaurants representing cuisine from their homelands, while chatting about issues of interest to our Korean and global audience. — Ed. 
 
While pizza and pasta may be ubiquitous, much of what the world eats as “Italian style” strays far from the real deal, says Italian Ambassador to Seoul Emilia Gatto.
 
“As Italian cuisine is so well known everywhere in the world, there are many fakes or reinterpretations — which is OK — but are represented as authentic Italian cuisine, putting names that resonate as Italian but are not Italian,” Gatto said during a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at an Italian restaurant in southern Seoul. “Many people are willing to pay more, believing it’s authentic. For us it’s a huge challenge.”
 
From the proper way to twirl pasta to the playful gesture of pinching one’s cheek to say “che buono!” after a delicious meal, Gatto sees cuisine not only as something delicious but as a symbol of Italian identity, a form of soft power that reflects centuries of family heritage, craftsmanship and biodiversity. 
 
To globalize that “Italian way,” every November, Italian embassies and consulates around the globe celebrate the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World under the initiative of its Foreign Ministry. In Seoul, the Italian Embassy is joining the event from Nov. 17, with a special focus on cheese. 
 
Amidst a plethora of Italian restaurants in Seoul, some more authentic than others, Gatto sat with the reporter at the Cornerstone, located in the ritzy Park Hyatt Seoul in Gangnam District on Nov. 5. The chef at the hotel also serves as the official chef of the ambassador’s residence and for the embassy’s national events. 
 
Gatto occasionally slipped into Korean during the interview. She used to study the language on her own — watching YouTube videos and using Duolingo — but recently began lessons with a private tutor. Her National Day speech this year, carefully delivered entirely in Korean, drew warm praise from Korean guests.
 
“Korean people are so warm when you try to make the effort — it’s so rewarding,” Gatto said. “I’ve always had a strong belief in my life, and strongly agree with what Nelson Mandela said: If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
 
Below are edited excerpts from the interview, edited for length and clarity.
 

Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto speaks with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Cornerstone in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Nov. 5. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Monday marked the tenth edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. What’s special about the event? 

It’s an important initiative launched by our Foreign Ministry, which also oversees our Trade Agency, which is like a second embassy for trade. We handle a lot of international cultural diplomacy; we manage and promote Italy’s soft power. Each embassy adapts the program to its country.
In Korea, it’s easy to promote Italian food because Koreans already love it — and we appreciate that. Koreans have very high taste standards; your cuisine is amazing, high level, sharing our values: good products, family traditions, attention to quality and health and the culture of eating together.
We also fight against the phenomenon of Italian-sounding — fakes or reinterpretations presented as authentic Italian cuisine.

One of the goals for the Italian Cuisine Week is to promote Italian cuisine as a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage. What are some features of Italian cuisine that make it eligible for this recognition?

Well, some parts already are. For example, the Mediterranean diet — which Italian is — is Unesco Heritage, as well as the art of making pizza. But now we’re promoting the concept of Italian cuisine as a cultural and social practice based on quality, family and conviviality.
Food is a social habit. We gather together for meals: It’s something that makes us happier, benefits our psychological well-being and has been passed down for millennia. We don’t eat like in some cultures, where people just come, open the fridge, etc. Every Sunday, all families used to gather at the grandmother’s house. We brought pasticcini — small traditional pastries — and made fresh pasta and tomato sauce together.
We devote huge attention to biodiversity. We want to safeguard that biodiversity, avoid food waste, reuse leftovers and respect seasonal cycles. You don’t look for winter products in summer, you eat what nature gives you. In our families, we eat pasta every day — and we never reheat it. Instead, with the leftover pasta we make something new, like a pasta pancake, you fry it with a little olive oil until it’s crispy. It’s simple but fantastic.

Packs of Italian pasta and cans of tomato puree [AFP/YONHAP]

What are some highly counterfeited products, and how can consumers tell the difference?

This year will be more focused on cheese, because cheese is one of the most counterfeited products in the world. They are presented and sold as pretending to be Italian, but they are not. For example, they call it mozzarella but it’s another process, another kind of milk. And Parmesan is not real Parmesan if it’s not made with our process. Both Parmesan and Mozzarella are protected by designation of origin rules.
It’s especially important to inform consumers correctly, to avoid them being cheated. Then, if you want the fake because you like it, that’s fine — but at least you should be able to tell the difference. 
If you read carefully on the package, you can find the label — the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) mark — and see if it really says Italy. Otherwise, it’s misleading.

What makes Italian cheese stand out?

What differentiates us is the wider variety. We have both soft cheeses like mozzarella and burrata, and hard ones like Parmesan and pecorino — hundreds of kinds. Each region has its own identity and excellence.
Another difference is our production system. It’s based on small- and medium-sized enterprises, often family-run. These family businesses ensure quality and authenticity but can’t make huge quantities.
This also makes marketing harder. With so many small producers, it’s difficult to promote Italy as a unified brand for wine or cheese. 

One of the programs in this year’s Italian Cuisine Week features women in leadership. As one of the few female ambassadors in Korea, was this your idea?

I tell you frankly — it’s always been important to me. Not because of me, but because inclusion is central to our policy. I also continued an initiative called “Ambassador for a Day,” where a young female student spends a day with me to see what an ambassador does. Italians are inclusive — we’ve been migrants, and now we welcome migrants. There’s no stigma.

Antennas at Telespazio’s Fucino space center in Ortucchio, Italy, pictured on March 4, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

You often emphasize space cooperation between our two nations. What can Italy and Korea pursue together in space?

Everywhere in the world, Italy is associated with the three F’s — fashion, Ferrari and food. But now we have added another F — future — which means promoting another part of Italy that is less known: our technological strength. Italy is among the world leaders in space technology and industry. It’s a huge sector with a long tradition — we have Nobel Prize winners in STEM, and we were the third country to launch a satellite into space.
During President of Italy Sergio Mattarella’s visit in 2023, we signed three MoUs on advanced technologies, including space. Our space agency has a partnership with Korea’s of Science and ICT and Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA).
Koreans are great learners — you learn quickly, you go palli palli (fast fast), you have all capacities and your government is really supporting you. So I’m more than sure that together with us and others, it’s really a win-win situation. 

Koreans are following Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s push for constitutional and judicial reforms with interest, as similar debates on institutional reform are also taking place in Korea. How do Italians view these changes?

Our judicial system is quite old. People are dissatisfied because it takes too long. Some regulations became too protective and blocked efficiency. There’s also debate about judicial independence and possible political influence.
The reform aims to improve efficiency and independence. It’s been discussed for over 30 years, and the current government finally passed it. It remains to be seen how it will be implemented and its real impact on the judiciary.

Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto hosts a reception at her residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on June 2 to mark the Italian Republic Day, commemorating the nation’s transition from a monarchy to democracy. [EMBASSY OF ITALY IN KOREA]

Your fluent Korean has become quite well known in Seoul’s diplomatic community. Was there a particular moment when you felt you could truly connect with Korean society more deeply through the language?

I think of my first National Day here, which was my first endeavor to deliver part of my speech in Korean, saying in Korean, “Hello, I am the Italian Ambassador to Korea.”
I spent a couple of weekends practicing. I tried not to write in Roman letters; I always thought, you have to read Korean in Korean alphabet — in hangul, otherwise you’ll never pronounce it well. People really like it. What I’ve always appreciated is that Korean people, when you make the effort, are so warm, and this is so rewarding. It really requires a very high sophistication of understanding the sound — that’s why it’s frustrating for us. All my colleagues began, and then they quit. But I tried hard; I had plenty of lessons.
I’ve always believed in what Nelson Mandela said about languages — that if you speak a language the other person understands, your message goes to their brain; but if you speak their mother tongue, it goes to their heart.

Italian Ambassador to Korea Emilia Gatto poses for a picture during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Nov. 5. [PARK SANG-MOON]

As the 2024–2025 year of mutual cultural exchange between Korea and Italy nears its end, what were the most memorable achievements?

We had the Caravaggio Exhibition, a mosaic art exhibit using AI, and the Stradivari Violin exhibition at the Royal Palace. Both were remarkable cultural landmarks.
For next year, we’re developing a project called Artisan Intelligence. It’s about craftsmanship in the digital age, linking Italian and Korean cities through cultural exchange like food, masks and textiles. It’s part of our territorial diplomacy initiative.

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]