Buon appetito! Italian food festival takes over

MANCHESTER’S first Italian food festival takes over the city this weekend for a three-day feast in Cathedral Gardens.

Starting today and ending on Sunday, Festa Italiana will celebrate all things Italian, from cuisine to great drink and live music.

Organised by the city’s Italian community, the festival will bring an authentic street party to the city centre with food, produce markets, live music, workshops, demonstrations, kids’ activities – and, of course, plenty of prosecco.

Producers are coming from all over the country, with many visiting Manchester direct from Italy for this one off weekend.

Salvi’s, San Carlo, Cabrelli Brothers and I Knead Pizza are just some of the Italian restaurants involved in the Italian weekender.

Here are 10 things to try over the weekend. SIP ON FINE ITALIAN WINES True Terroir will be bringing their range of Italian wines for guests to sample.

Festival goers will be able to taste different wines, all available to buy by the glass to drink at the festival, or by the bottle to enjoy at home.

They will also be offering cicchetti, freshly prepared on their stand to complement their finest blends. DEVOUR 50 METRES OF PIZZA Italian restaurant group Salvi’s are recreating the 20-metre pizza they staged at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Italian Day last year.

This time they aim to beat the record by making 50 metres of pizza, all to be devoured on site.

Slices of the pizza will be available to buy, with a bottle of Peroni for £5.

The stunt will be taking place on Sunday at 2pm. COOL DOWN WITH REAL GELATO Joe Delucci’s will have some mouthwatering traditional gelato for visitors to try.

Choose from flavours including tiramisu, melon and chilli, and cherry custard. TASTE SOME REAL LIMONCELLO For those who like a little zest, the Pallini Limoncello truck will be selling limoncello and limoncello spritz – a refreshing, zesty drink of the lemon liqueur mixed with prosecco. ENJOY AN ITALIAN BEER Expect not one, but two Italian beer bars on Cathedral Gardens.

The Birra Moretti bar will be pulling pints of their fine Italian lager, and there’ll also be a Peroni bar serving ice-cold bottles of beer, including their new range, Peroni Ambra, which is their traditional beer infused with Chinotto. SAVOUR FINE ITALIAN MEAT AND CHEESES Get your cheese fix with Cibosano, artisan producers of Italian deli products.

Think buffalo mozzarella, burrata, taleggio and more, alongside their full range of produce including cured meats and sausages. SAMPLE FRESHLY MADE RICOTTA Italian cheese makers Caseificio Sommese will be coming to Manchester especially for Festa Italiana and will be making fresh ricotta on site for guests to try. Located just a few steps from castle Visconti, the cheese experts use their very own dairy to produce some of Italy’s finest cheeses. These will definitely be worth a sample. TOAST WITH GLASS OF PROSECCO There’s only one thing to drink at an Italian festival – prosecco. Celebrate the occasion with a glass of bubbly from wine merchants, Con Gusto, who will be serving the good stuff throughout the weekend. ENJOY 241 ON APEROL SPRITZ Sit on a Vespa seat or lounge in an orange hammock while enjoying your classic Italian aperitivo.

The Aperol team will be mixing up this wonderful summery cocktail, and even better, you can buy one get one free all weekend. EXPERIENCE REAL ITALIAN PORCHETTA San Carlo are just one of the Italian restaurant groups heading up the Italian Festival and are serving porchetta – stuffed and rolled roast Italian pork – over the weekend.

This is a real authentic treat served street-food style by one of Manchester’s best Italian restaurants.