Carla Gambescia is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Finance. Prior to her years in restaurant and retail operations (Ciao Bella Gelato Company, Via Vanti! Restaurant & Gelateria in New York), she founded and managed a new products consultancy and qualitative research firm specializing in the food & beverage and food service industries. She contributed to new product successes such a Frappuccino and Sun Chips and personally conducted hundreds of focus groups and facilitated dozens of ideation sessions for such companies as Pepsi, McDonalds, Starbucks, Frito-Lay, Kraft and ConAgra. Before the call of entrepreneurship, Carla was a New York advertising executive (Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, DDB&B), rising to the position of Executive Vice President, Worldwide Account Director. Carla is also curator of the popular photoblog Postcards for the Boot and author of the Silver prize-winner book “La Dolce Vita University – An Unconventional Guide to Italian Culture”.
If you wish to attend this event, please register by clicking the “book now” button. You will be redirected to our Zoom registration page. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
British Italian Society
Annual General Meeting
The AGM is addressed to all members to discuss and review the activity of the year, deal with issues such as the election of committee/board members and reviewing the annual accounts.
Registration is required.
The AGM will be followed by the lecture “How we Fell in Love with Italian Food” by Diego Zancani.
To register for the talk please see details and register by heading to the relevant event page.
Do you know what kind of food Italians traditionally avoid on Christmas Eve? And what are the British traditionally supposed to consume one of from Christmas Day until the Twelfth Night?
If you know or are curious to know the answers to such questions, then our Virtual Pub Quiz is for you!
Justin Ellis has been an affectionate member of the British Italian Society since 2016. Justin’s experience of Italy began with a short Italian language course at the British Institute in Florence in the 1980s, following which he spent some time in the Lucca area. He now runs a boutique law firm in London. In 2016 he published his first (and so far, only) novel, Death by the Arno, set in Renaissance Florence.
IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS EVENT IS HOSTED ON ZOOM.
Please, register by clicking the BOOK NOW button. You will receive a Zoom link prior to the event. Space is limited so book well in advance to avoid disappointment
Please note:
This webinar is free of charge, if you wish to make a donation to the Society, please kindly send a bank transfer to:
The British Italian Society | Sort code 20-36-88 | Account No. 30197866
Thank you.
Sicilians are fiercely proud of their history and traditions which have protected and reinforced their cultural identity throughout invasion and emigration. Central to village life is the local Saint’s Day. This talk will explore the history and character of these events in the province of Syracuse and take you to visit the little town of Palazzolo Acreide, a World Heritage Site and this year’s runner up in the competition to find Il Borgo più Bello d’Italia, with over 2,500 years of history and two warring Saints.
Susan Kikoler has been the Honorary Director of the British-Italian Society since 2004, promoting Italian culture. A writer, public speaker and theatre critic, serving three times on the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award Panel, she taught English in Syracuse for five years and it remains her second home.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
To book this event you need to register by clicking the link below
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_57nl-7ZDT2mvMJz5QIpRMg
– THE ANNUAL CHARLES DE CHASSIRON MEMORIAL LECTURE –
HOW WE FELL IN LOVE WITH ITALIAN FOOD
a talk by Diego Zancani
Pizza, pasta, pesto and olive oil: today, it’s hard to imagine any supermarket without these items. But how did these foods – and many more Italian ingredients – become so widespread and popular?
This book maps the extraordinary progress of Italian food from the legacy of the Roman invasion to its current, ever-increasing popularity. Using medieval manuscripts, it traces Italian recipes in Britain back as early as the thirteenth century, and, through travel diaries, it explores encounters with Italian food and its influence back home.
The book also shows how Italian immigrants – from ice-cream sellers and grocers to chefs and restaurateurs – had a transformative influence on our cuisine, and how Italian food was championed at pivotal moments by pioneering cooks, such as Elizabeth David, Anna Del Conte, Rose Gray, Ruth Rogers and Jamie Oliver. With mouth-watering illustrations from the archives of the Bodleian Library and elsewhere, this book also includes Italian regional recipes that have come down to us through the centuries. It celebrates the enduring international appeal of Italian restaurants and the increasingly popular British take on Italian cooking and the Mediterranean diet.
Diego Zancani is Emeritus Professor of Medieval and Modern Languages at Oxford University and an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
He has taught in numerous British Universities, including the University of Oxford for nearly 25 years. He has been a Visiting Professor both at Harvard University and at various universities across Italy.
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Should you wish to buy the book “How We Fell in Love with Italian Food”, the Italian Bookshop kindly provided all our members and friends with a 10% discount by entering the promo code 920602 at checkout.
If you wish to attend this event, please register by clicking the “book now” button. You will be redirected to our Zoom registration page. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar