‘Dolce Vita in Serendib’: A small encyclopaedia of Italian cuisine 

If there’s something Sri Lankans and Italians have in frequent it’s our love of meals, and on Tuesday (14), the Italian Embassy in Colombo launched the espresso desk guide Dolce Vita in Serendib, a gastronomic journey of genuine Italian delicacies in Sri Lanka. The guide holds a repository of epicurean treasures with over 60 Italian recipes fantastically interwoven with tales and accounts of Italy’s culinary historical past.

Eight eating places in Sri Lanka have contributed recipes of their signature Italian dishes whereas each the Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador’s well-loved recipes have additionally been added into the guide. The featured eating places – Aqua Forte, Capital Bar and Grill on the Shangri-La, Dolce Italia, Echo on the Cinnamon Grand, Lago Italian Bistro, Mount Lavinia Lodge, Park Road Trattoria, and Tintagel – had been handpicked as serving essentially the most genuine Italian fare. 

Complementing the flavours throughout the pages is an array of narratives chronicling legend, historical past, anecdotes, and tales that encompass Italy’s romance with meals. Quirky, factual, historic, and enjoyable, the articles begin off with an introduction to trendy meals and feisty flavours, travelling by way of time with wine, cheese, pasta, ham, olive oil, espresso, gelato, and pizza, undergo the historical past of etiquette, sluggish cooking, the Mediterranean food plan, and kitchen tradition, whereas additionally including a actuality verify with the conservation of meals. 

On the launch occasion of the guide, Ambassador for Italy in Sri Lanka and the Maldives Rita Mannella who penned the guide along with famend author Savithri Rodrigo, stated: “The thought of publishing a recipe guide showcasing Italian delicacies got here to my thoughts nearly instantly on my arrival. I wished everybody to attempt getting ready, consuming, and having fun with Italian meals in their very own house, with genuine Italian recipes. As an Italian, it’s universally well-known that we love our conventional meals. I’ve additionally seen the deep appreciation and love for Italian delicacies amongst our Sri Lankan pals and that is no shock as Italian meals is really common.” 

Additionally talking on the launch occasion, Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando talked about that she was delighted to see the range of delicacies and cultures in Sri Lanka being showcased, noting: “The Italian Embassy in Colombo’s tribute to the nation’s expansive culinary choices, with specific reference to Italian flavours is really thrilling. The multi-cuisine flavours Sri Lanka affords is really distinctive and one of many nation’s USPs (distinctive promoting propositions) which I imagine we have to construct on. It’s thrilling to see this guide showcase the authenticity of flavours that Sri Lanka affords – whether or not it’s in five-star eating places or stand-alone boutique eating places. It is a good begin to putting Sri Lanka as a delicacies vacation spot.” 

Talking individually to Brunch, Ambassador Mannella defined that Dolce Vita in Serendib partly happened as a venture to work on through the lockdown when every little thing else got here to a standstill. “I’m an energetic individual, and never having my ordinary engagements was tough,” Ambassador Manella shared, including: “This venture was the panacea for the boredom that was threatening to set in. Additionally, once we started talking with the eating places, it introduced individuals collectively which is the first goal of a diplomat. We had been a bunch of people that spoke the frequent language of delicacies. However it additionally meant that due to the lockdown, our entry to eating places and their delicacies was restricted. So whereas that is our first version, we hope a second version will turn into a actuality that includes extra eating places.” 

Noting that having the ability to discover the intricacies of Italian delicacies and its deep-rooted historical past was one in all her favorite components of engaged on Dolce Vita in Serendib, Ambassador Manella additionally shared with us what she discovered most difficult, saying: “Remodeling a recipe guide right into a guide of artwork was most difficult. I wished to make this guide a murals, a masterpiece that provides meals for thought. I need it to be positioned on a espresso desk, the place individuals socialise and turn into a subject of dialog relatively than be among the many recipe books on the cabinets of a kitchen.” 

As an Italian diplomat and ambassador for Italian tradition in additional methods than one, Dolce Vita in Serendib was nonetheless a studying expertise Ambassador Manella, who stated that probably the most surprising issues she discovered whereas engaged on the guide was having the ability to hand-make the enduring Italian pasta fettuccine. 

Foodies ourselves, we additionally requested Ambassador Manella, which recipe in Dolce Vita in Serendib she finds essentially the most irresistible, and discovered that Dolce Vita in Serendib has the recipe for a sinfully scrumptious chocolate cake. “It’s simply heavenly,” she shared, including: “Actually, one of many company who acquired the guide, had made it and instructed me it actually was the very best chocolate cake on the earth, which additionally implies that the recipes have been tried and examined. I additionally just like the Vitello Tonnato – a veal recipe with a tuna and anchovy sauce, which isn’t a restaurant meal however relatively a household meal as it’s made completely recent and is a summer time meal that brings the household collectively. That’s what Italian delicacies is all about – the love, pleasure, and togetherness that each one occurs over meals.” 

Savithri Rodrigo who collaborated on the narrative side of the guide additionally shared her ideas on the expertise, noting that her favorite side of engaged on the guide was having the ability to study new issues. “Delving into the historical past of Italian meals reminiscent of pizza, pasta, espresso, and my favourites – the cheese and wine – which although a part of our on a regular basis lives, we all know little or no of with regards to origins, makes use of, and evolution was extremely thrilling,” Rodrigo stated, additionally noting that this was a double-edged sword: “Summarising all of the analysis I got here throughout – there was an unimaginable quantity of knowledge which took me ages to learn and decipher however whereas summarising all that was difficult – however the findings had been a real repository of extraordinary info.” 

Rodrigo’s most surprising studying from the guide was simply how fascinating Italian delicacies is. “Discovering out that Italy was actually the meals capital of the world, how meals is centric to every little thing in Italy, the intertwining of meals and style with the humanities, how grasp painters depicted the emphasis of recent produce of their oeuvres, studying that Italian meals is not only pasta and pizza however an infinitely expansive epicurean discovery, these completely ostentatious banquets and gosh…etiquette – what gems had been in there! I now know the best way to – and the way to not – eat pasta,” she stated, including that she merely couldn’t determine which recipe she preferred extra. “I can’t select…I merely can’t.  Every recipe is best than the final and every one, turns into a favorite, sadly.”