By Hiroko Sakashita, USGC Associate Director in Japan

The Council’s Japan office participated in the Italian Cuisine Show held last week in Tokyo. More than 3,000 Italian chefs and restaurateurs were on-site to showcase their specialty dishes that featured corn flour as the star ingredient.

The Council partnered with a Japanese corn miller to help introduce corn flour as a versatile and tasty ingredient in Italian cuisine. Promotional information and take-home recipes were available for attendees.

Italian cuisine is very popular in Japan, and many staple dishes from the region, like Polenta made from corn grits or zaletti cornmeal cookies, already incorporate corn-based ingredients into their preparation.