Cous Cous Fest kicks off

(ANSA) - San Vito Lo Capo, September 23 - The 18th international Cous Cous Fest for cultural integration starts on Thursday in San Vito Lo Capo. Ten countries will be taking part: Brazil, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Mauritius, Palestine, Senegal, the United States and Tunisia will be facing off at the most prestigious part of the festival.
    For Brazil there will be Christopher Cabicieri, who manages the Zuza restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, who will be making couscous with broccoli, octopus and red-hot chili peppers. For France there will be Jean-Roch Audion from the Edgar restaurant in Saint-Laurent du Var, who will be presenting 'Couscous Constantin' with fava beans, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, chickpeas and tomatoes. For Israel there will once again be chef Boaz Cohen with 'The Colors of Jerusalem' and its chickpeas, chicken, carrots, spinach and dried apricots. Italy will be represented by San Vito chef Rocco Pace, who heads up the restaurant 'Crik e Crok', alongside the Lombard chef Stefano De Gregorio, winner of the Italian BIA couscous championship.
    For Morocco there will be Suede Barouz, born in Essauoira (Morocco) but who has lived in San Vendemiano (Treviso) for 28 years, with a recipe of using meat, zucchini, carrots, pumpkin and lettuce. For the first time in San Vito Lo Capo there will also be the Mauritius islands with Vinod Sookar, head chef of the Michelin-starred Fornello da Ricci in Ceglie Messapica (Brindisi), who will be presenting a couscous with Trapani shrimp, curry and lemongrass cooked in glassware.
    Palestine will be represented by the Jerusalem chef Jack Antar with a couscous including beef, carrots, peppers, zucchini and eggplant. Competing for Senegal will be Maremma Cisse, the chef of Ginger People&Food, a restaurant inside the Farm Cultural Park in Favara (Agrigento), which offers specialties of African cuisine. The cook - a member of the social cooperative Al Kharub, was started to foster social and cultural integration of non-European immigrants - will offer a version of couscous that reflects his homeland's traditions. The US is fielding two female chefs: Sara Kramer, co-chef and owner of Madcapra, a 'falafel shop' inside the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, and Pamela Young, co-owner and baker at 'Semilla' a mostly vegetarian restaurant in Brooklym. For Tunisia there will be Fethi Kahlaoui, executive chef at the Caribbean World Beach and Garden Hotel in Hammamet, helped by Wichtati Bilel with stuffed squid couscous. As part of the Cous Cous Fest, which runs through Sunday, there will be cooking shows, debates with experts and wine and food specialists and evening open-air concerts.
    After Caparezza, Elio e le Storie Tese and Vinicio Capossela, on Thursday there will be Marracash, one of Italy's most well known rappers.