Life in Italy, is said to be celebrated with food. For them, Pizza or any food is not merely a delicacy but a quintessential part of happiness. Bringing that spirit to India and now Bangalore is the Pizza Hut World Food Fest that launched in the City recently.

To add to the festive spirit of celebrating the joy of food, the brand had Rosa Catalano of Italy to kickstart the fest in the South and share with the City, the Italian way of life.

“Italians absolutely love food. Food brings a smile on our face and happiness to our hearts. We believe in enjoying what we eat and when we do, it in itself becomes a celebration of sorts,” says Rosa who moved to India three years ago.

The festivity is brought in with new additions to the menu that promises to make a gourmet’s experience truly global. With tastes primarily from Lebanon, China, Mexico and Russia, the Italian influence of Pizza along with a hint of Indian spices adds variety to the platter catering to the international tastes across the world. But it isn’t just about enjoying flavours from other countries, the fest aims at an exchange of culture and traditions through food. “Along with the new menu, I hope to bring in some of Italian culture and lifestyle to India along with imbibing some of India’s traditions myself,” she says, adding, “I moved to India three years ago and I know that right now in my life, I need to be here. I love India and the people and feel I can do well here.”

Being from a country that loves food, Rosa says she can dish out quite a few delicacies from various cuisines. “I can cook good Thai, Chinese and Italian food and having been in India for sometime now, I can churn out a few delicacies from the North and South Indian cuisine and am learning much more.

“I enjoy Thai food and now Indian chats as well.”

The new additions in pizzas include the El Rancho (in paneer and chicken flavours), Arabic chicken and chilly chicken pizzas. With just about enough cheese and going easy on the spices, the pizzas are light on the stomach. The tortillas, coupled with an iced green apple cooler, make for a good appetiser. For those who aren’t too keen on pizzas, the pastas and salads (an option of one vegetarian and non vegetarian each) will make for a good quick bite. Down it all with an alphonso sorbet, an almond praline or Pizza Hut’s very own dessert.

What does Rosa think of the menu? “I have tried the pizzas and the salads and they are quite nice. In terms of flavouring, pizzas here do taste a little different from the ones we make in Italy but that’s mostly because of the vegetables used. Due to the difference in climatic conditions and method of growing vegetables, the taste varies a bit.”

She may like Indian food and pizzas available here but at the end of the day, it’s the pizzas her mother makes back home that she would want to settle for. “My momma makes the best pizzas and it’s so exciting to watch her bring it out of the oven. If the taste of pizzas here (Pizza Hut) comes close to what my mother makes, then I would think they have done an excellent job,” she says smiling.

The World Food Fest will be on for three months across all Pizza Hut outlets and a few dishes from the festive menu, based on popularity, will be retained and added on to the main menu.