By Kamran Hashim / Rafiq Vayani
The Consulate of Italy in Karachi organized an ‘Extraordinary Evening of Italian Gastronomy’ with an Italian Chef who came to Karachi to celebrate the ‘World Week of Italian Cuisine’ in Karachi.
To pay tribute to Pellegrino Artusi, the Consulate of Italy in Karachi collaborated with Paramount Books (Pvt.) Limited to published a cookbook with selected recipes of the father of Italian home cooking to suit the local Pakistani palate and yet have an authentic Italian flavour.
Mr. Salahuddin Iqbal, Deputy Managing Director, Paramount Books (Pvt.) Limited was also in attendance at this colourful and flavourful event and talking to this BizToday correspondent he said; “over the years, I have experienced and observed lots of great things in life. Having travelled to a number of countries, from East to West and North to South, I have shared moments with people of varying cultures and different nationalities. One thing that has struck me all along is that food is actually one of the many positive factors that bind all of us together”.
He further validated his point by saying; “one can argue on politics, on economy and sports. But can we really argue on food? I don’t think so. I have seen people bonding over food but never seen people dissociating with each other over food. You tell me how delicious your Risotto Coi Gamberi is and I will tell you how tasty my biryani is.”
On concluding note, Mr. Salahuddin Iqbal said; “It is very gladdening that the book, ‘La Cucina Italiana’, is planned to be launched during this 5th Italian Cuisine Week. This book is not meant to be a commercial venture. It is actually an expression of my sentiments and the whole of my team at Paramount too, to manifest our love to the Italian people and their cuisine”.
