Food is one of the staples of Italian culture and all over the world and Italian words are used on a daily basis for many different foodstuffs. America is no exception, with its own take on the spelling and meaning of Italian culinary buzz-words. Social cooking is now frequently and successfully used to promote cross-cultural encounters and exchanges, creating alternative settings and goals for second language acquisition and performance.

“Dolcissimo!” combines social cooking and second language acquisition by way of a group competition where first year students of Italian at UVa will communicate exclusively in Italian while baking Italian cakes and cookies. Each group will research a staple Italian recipe and then meet at the cooking venue to bake their chosen dessert in a three-hour filmed bake-off in front of their UVa teaching staff, VIP judges and invited guests.

Please join us on March 27 from 4 to 7 pm at the Lorna Sundberg International Center and follow us on Facebook