Italian embassy urges restaurants to help quake-hit Amatrice with menu add-on

The Italian Embassy in Cyprus on Friday urged restauranteurs on the island to join an initiative launched by the head of Slow Food organisation, Carlo Petrini, to put pasta alla Amatriciana on their menus and donate part of takings to the municipality of the earthquake-stricken town of Amatrice.

“In the context of the solidarity initiatives that have sprung up in the aftermath of the earthquake in central Italy of August 24, the Embassy of Italy in Nicosia would like to bring to the attention of all restaurateurs and citizens of Cyprus the appeal of Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food,” an announcement said.

Through the initiative A future for Amatrice (#unfuturoperamatrice), “Slow Food asks restaurateurs from around the world to put the symbolic dish of this devastated town on their menus: pasta alla Amatriciana,” it said.

The funds will be paid directly to the town of Amatrice.

Those who will accept to join the initiative, should keep the dish on their menus for at least a year, donating a small part of the proceeds to the municipality of Amatrice, to assist the victims of the earthquake, which killed more than 290 people and left thousands homeless.

“By the same token, customers are kindly asked to choose these dishes wherever they find them in restaurants,” the announcement said.

“The goal of the initiative is to provide an ongoing, steady stream of donations to those who have lived through the trauma, assisting them in returning to a sense of normality as soon as possible”.

“With a symbolic dish of the gastronomic history of Amatrice, we hope to spread the values of solidarity and sharing all over the world, typical of the farming culture it was born from,” Petrini said.

Pasta alla Amatriciana is a dish based on cured pork cheek, pecorino cheese, and tomato and it is one of the best known pasta dishes in Italian cuisine.  The Italian government has named it a traditional agro-alimentary product of Lazio.

For donations, the IBAN for the municipality of Amatrice is: IT 28 M 08327 73470 000000006000 – Description: Un futuro per Amatrice

For restaurateurs who would like to join the appeal: [email protected]
(please cc the Italian Embassy in Nicosia: [email protected])

The list of participating restaurateurs can be found on the Slow Food Italy website

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