Buon Appetito to Valle di Comino

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Italian Consulate Lovers of Italian food and wine in Scotland are set to enjoy a bounty of undiscovered products from one of Italy’s lesser known regions thanks to a new trade initiative.

The Acting Consul-General of Italy is hosting the inaugural Valcomino Expo in Edinburgh – which aims to introduce top quality wine and artisan food products from the beautiful Valle di Comino district in the Province of Frosinone in central Italy to Scotland.

More than 20 suppliers and producers have travelled from Valle di Comino to meet an invited audience of Scotland’s leading food/catering distributors, restaurants, delicatessens and chefs over the two-day event.

Valle di Comino (the Comino Valley) is famed in Italy for producing many of Italy’s finest wines – many not yet imported in the UK – while also being notable for its delicious cheeses, pasta, cakes and truffles.

The Valcomino Expo will also provide an opportunity to learn of the tourism and cultural attractions of the area, which lies approximately 150 kilometres south of Rome or north of Naples.

Valle di Comino encompasses a range of towns and villages where many of the families from Scotland’s large Italian community originate from.

Ivan Filippo Tavolieri, Councillor of the town of Atina and spokesperson for the Valcomino trade association, said the trip has been eagerly anticipated.

“There is great excitement from all the producers to come to Scotland to show their beautiful products and region for the first time.

“Everyone loves Italian food and wine but the Valcomino region offers products that perhaps will not be that well-known to most people.

Strong Commercial Links

“The hope is that by organising this Valcomino Expo we can develop strong commercial links with Scottish suppliers, restaurants and delicatessens, so that people all over Scotland can in due course enjoy the beautiful food and wine from Valle di Comino.

“The potential benefits for our suppliers, especially the small and independent businesses, if this trade exchange was to develop could be very significant.

Edinburgh restaurateur Tony Crolla, whose family home is in Picinisco in Valle di Comino, said he is delighted that Scottish people could soon be able to enjoy the products from his homeland.

Tony, who runs award-winning Vittorias and La Favorita group, said: “The quality of the products from Valle di Comino is truly exceptional.

“While people will be familiar with the likes of Chianti or Parma ham, this event will help to introduce a range of excellent Italian food and wine that people in Scotland will not have sampled before.”

Arturo Camillacci, Acting Consul-General of Italy, added: “We are delighted to play a role in developing trade relations between Valle di Comino and Scotland.

“This region of Italy is important to many Italians who now call Scotland their home so it is very pleasing to be able to support a commercial drive to bring all that’s good about Valle di Comino to Scotland.

“We wish the producers of Valle di Comino every success with their Expo.”

The Valcomino Expo will feature at least 10 wine producers, many of them small independent businesses as well as suppliers of the region’s famed cannellini beans, pecorino cheese and truffles.

The Valcomino Expo is taking place at Graypaul Edinburgh on June 8 and 9.