Italian Experience: Expo Milan 2015

By Lauren Fuschillo, ICC Italian Culinary Arts student.

EXPO 2015 is the current Universal Exposition, and as I mentioned, is being hosted by Milan, Italy. The opening took place on May 1st, 2015 at 10:00 am and the expo will close on October 31st, 2015. Fun fact – this is the second time Milan has hosted the exposition, the first being the Milan International in 1906.

This time around there are 145 countries participating and the theme is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. It is a grand celebration of slow food, local agriculture and healthy eating sustained by energy saving methods.

Some say that Expo 2015 has been one of the most controversial World’s fairs ever staged in Europe for a number of reasons, some being the ballooned expenditures for the pavilions and transportation. However, I am a tourist; a proud traveling American and I’m here to see the pavilions for fun. I find this to be a fabulous way Italy is using eco-tourism to improve their struggling economy, provide jobs and use this event to their advantage.

In the morning all of the students meet and hop into the van. I’ve got a comfy seat to myself and pastry in hand, thanks to my bud Mikey (you probably see him on my Instagram on the reg, he’s one of my best friends and pretty soon going to be one of the most amazing chefs around!) We chat, we nap, we jam out and we get ourselves psyched to see one of our favorite teachers, Michele Crippa, and visit the Expo!

We arrive and set our sights on the first pavilion, Japan. It is one of the most talked about pavilions, as it is so grand and absolutely beautiful. The interior took us on a food tour that started in a techy rice paddy and demonstrated how rice is grown. Then we saw what different ingredients are used for and in what dishes they are used, the production, the recipes things are found in and then what the finished product looks like. Okay, they did NOT stop there. Japan went above and beyond and demonstrated what a future restaurant in their country will be like. It was surreal and a part of me doesn’t want to give too much away because it was just that amazing. (yes, you’ve gotta go see it!) But what the heck, peep some photos below. You’re welcome!

We visited Japan as a class and afterwards we split up to see a few things on our own before meeting home, well, I like to think of it as home. After all, it is the American Pavilion.

My first stop: Indonesia! I had the most incredible of experiences in Indonesia. I could smell the different spices of Bali, the incredible scents coming from the burning incense and I got to enjoy some Indonesian street food, Nasi Goreng. Mmm, I was a very happy camper!

Next stop: America! As soon as I walked up the stairs of the American Pavilion I was personally greeted by a lovely woman. I put out my hand to shake hers and she went in for a hug. She was kind and very welcoming. Her name is Dorothy Cann Hamilton. Dorothy, a true “foodie”, was ready to show us what she and her team had created and more importantly, what the U.S. brought to the world with regard to the future of food. She led us to a balcony off to the side of the pavilion and then I looked up in amazement. It was what Dorothy described as a vertical farm. Above us were giant oscillating boards several stories tall that house soil for plants to grow and there were actual plants in those huge planters: everything from kale and chard to all sorts of herbs. It was quite impressive. It only got more interesting as Dorothy explained how this could become the future. These sections could be removed from the partition and be placed on a truck with plants intact and still planted in the soil, so they are fresher longer during transportation.

Then we made our way to these informative video displays which demonstrated the different aspects of food, like farming industry and nutrition, which delivered an impactful message of the current status and a look towards the future. Afterwards we where whisked downstairs to the main event, which were a clever series of seven short video clips that describe the American food culture’s past, present and future.

Once that was over, we took a short climb up the escalators to the rooftop deck and enjoyed a toast and got to chat with Dorothy, who shared some of her wisdom with the group. Not because I am American or a student of ICC, but I truly believe that the U.S. Pavilion was the best thought out and executed, it maintained the main focus on the Expo theme while at the same time having fun. What a wonderful pavilion and what an honor it was to have Dorothy as our guide!

Directly following our visit, I grabbed a lobster roll and some pulled pork with Marianne, Sara, Andrea and Michael (a few of my ICC besties) and we talked about some of the pavilions we were looking forward to seeing. With all of this excitement building up, I couldn’t help but jump from my seat and go on to the next “country”! I would then visit 10 more pavilions!

I had a map that I used as my guide. I circled all the pavilions I wanted to see and crossed each one as I visited them. I was a girl on a mission.

Kuwait was enchanting. The sand drew me in and I was greeted with the beautiful perfumes, spices and traditional garb. Absolutely beautiful and I must say they spent quite the pretty penny on this pavilion because much like Japan, it was extravagant.

Moving on, I didn’t waste time. We were told that the United Arab Emirates was a must see, and I am usually never the one to follow directions, but this was a directive I knew mustn’t be ignored. I walked around this great giant and stood in the makeshift sand dunes and waited in line for 30 minutes. I felt like I was in the actual desert and feared my sweat would soon be staining my clothes. Sexy, right? After the introduction to UAE I walked into the theatre and sat through what seemed like a full blown production. The film told a beautiful story about a young girl in search of water in the desert and then fast forwarding to the future and proving how much we waste water nowadays. Now I felt bad about complaining that my wait felt like a wait in the desert. Awesome A++ pavilion!

Then I dropped by Belgium, The Netherlands and Thailand. Thailand was breathtaking and full of life. It brought back so many memories for me, especially having green curry chicken and mango with sticky rice! I saw Hungary and watched a musical performance that touched my heart but as the day went on, so did my yearn to snack and I popped over to China for some goodies. On my way out I ran into my friends Mikey and Ian, and we decided to visit Argentina. We went in without any idea of what it would be like and what might unfold before our eyes..or ears. The drums were going and then the beats started flowing.

There was lots of clapping and a big crowd that kept inching closer and closer to a stage. Yes! The colors were vibrant, the beats-exciting and the dance moves were electrifying and hot, probably as hot as the desert-like-weather that day. They banged on pots and pans; the men spun the women around before dipping them and then pulling them in all close and sexy. There was music coming from bright yellow painted garbage cans and cool blue barrels. These people were playing and dancing their hearts away and I knew I wasn’t the only one in the crowd that wanted to jump on that stage and join them. Downright fantastic pavilion. Mikey, Ian and I definitely won’t be forgetting that any time soon. Thanks Argentina!

A little stop to check out India’s digs, to buy some new incense and get a henna tattoo. Eeek, that tattoo wasn’t drying fast enough and I had to book it to meet my pal (and ICC student), Benito, for some tacos and margs’ at Mexico’s pavilion before we got back to the bus. All of our friends had visited Mexico that day and were ranting and raving about not only the food, but about how cool it was.

But it was all ‘cool’: grand, majestic, amazing, wondrous, eye opening, and much, much more. What an experience! Thank you, International Culinary Center and ALMA, for sending us to EXPO Milan 2015!

This blog post was originally published by the International Culinary Center (ICC), founded as The French Culinary Institute (FCI). In 2020, ICE and ICC came together on one strong and dynamic national platform at ICE's campuses in New York City and Los Angeles. Explore your culinary education where the legacy lives on.