Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
Visiting Sri Lanka as part of The International Fund for Agricultural Development’s Recipes for Change campaign, Italian culinary genius chef Carlo Cracco was overawed by the rich variety of Sri Lankan cuisine.
IFAD’s ‘Recipes for Change’ campaign takes local flavours originating in developing countries and brings them to a global audience. The campaign highlights the story of how a rural community’s livelihoods are vulnerable to climate change and helps them adapt.
Hailing from Vicenza, Italy Chef Carlo is at the forefront of a new generation of progressive Italian chefs who places emphasis on innovativeness in the kitchen conjuring up delightful dishes using exotic cuisine.
Chef Carlo mastered his culinary skills in some of the best restaurants in Milan, Paris and Monte Carlo and now he runs the renowned Milanese eateries Cracco and Carlo e Camilla in Segheria which is regularly featured in the world’s best restaurant lists.
Apart from his mastery in the kitchen, Chef Carlo also has a successful media career. He features regularly in the Italian version of Hell’s Kitchen and Masterchef. Since 2012 Chef Carlo has also served as President of Mestro Martino, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Lombardi agri-food supply chains.
IFAD’s Recipes for Change campaign covers 19 global celebrity chefs. Under the program Chef Carlo had previously visited Bhutan, Cambodia and Morocco. In Cambodia he discovered ‘samlor kako’, a popular Cambodian curry dish. In Morocco it was ‘Lamb tagine with Moroccan truffles’ and in Bhutan it was Ema Datshi and Millet Momos.
