Italian Cuisine Week initiatives in Tanzania - News from Embassies

On the occasion of the tenth edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, the Italian Embassy in Dar es Salaam organized a series of initiatives to promote Italian cuisine in Tanzania, in collaboration with Ice Agenzia (Ita) and with the support of Neos, the Italian airline that connects Italy to Zanzibar.


In line with the theme “Italian cuisine between health, culture and innovation,” and against the backdrop of the candidacy of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO intangible heritage, during the initiatives the Embassy emphasized its benefits, the highest expression of the Mediterranean diet, for health and sustainability, with a special focus on rice.


Throughout the week, Enaip (Ente Nazionale Acli Istruzione Professionale), Veneto, a leader in hospitality training in Italy and abroad since 1953, supported the training of trainers at Tanzania’s main hotel institutes, with the aim of strengthening the skills of young students in the tourism-hospitality sector.


As part of the three-year memorandum of understanding signed in November 2024 with the National college of tourism in Dar es Salaam, Chef Davide Saretto oversaw the training on Italian cuisine for trainers at the main hotel institute in mainland Tanzania. Chef Marco Bindi, on the other hand, oversaw the training of trainers from the Institute of tourism at the State university of Zanzibar (Suza). This initiative on behalf of Tanzania’s younger generation has taken on even greater significance in light of the GenZ demonstrations that rocked Tanzania during the legislative and presidential elections in late October.


From November 17 to 22, numerous Italian restaurants in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Iringa and several locations in Zanzibar organized themed evenings with wine tasting and regional specialties. To enable the Tanzanian public to sample the excellent cuisine of renowned Italian chefs, the Italian Embassy hosted two receptions in Dar es Salaam and Stone Town (Zanzibar), curated respectively by Saretto and chefs Giovanni De Ambrosis and Giacomo Bongiovanni of Bawe Island, a prestigious Cocoon Collection resort.