Less meat and fat, more olive oil

Giuseppe Pezzulo, director of the Italian Trade Commission in Seoul, shows off the guidebook that he wrote about Italian restaurants in Seoul. By Moon Gwang-lip

Many Koreans think Italian food is an oily cuisine.
But, according to Giuseppe Pezzulo, director of the Italian Trade Commission in Seoul, it takes more than just oil to make healthy Italian food.
An Italian dish is complete only when virgin olive oil is added, he stresses.
Pezzulo has lived in Korea for five years now. He’s recently published two guidebooks about Italian restaurants in Seoul.
“Unsaturated fatty acid from virgin olive oil doesn’t accumulate in the blood and it’s an effective means of lowering cholesterol,” said Pezzulo in an interview at the ITC office in central Seoul.
“Olive oil is a key component in healthy Italian food, but many Koreans are unaware of this, which is partly because of the flood of refined oils here.”
Pezzulo said refined oils, unlike virgin olive oil, contain saturated fatty acids, which can seriously damage your health if it accumulates over time.
He said many Koreans are exposed to such health risks by Korean food importers, who bring into Korea refined oils that are much cheaper than virgin olive oil.
Those fake oils are served in many Italian restaurants in Korea.
That inspired him, he said, to write a guidebook and a directory of Italian restaurants in Seoul, published in December 2007 and February 2008, respectively.
The guidebook, he said, doesn’t answer the burning question that everyone wants to know: What is the best Italian restaurant in Seoul?
It doesn’t consider factors that are usually a high priority for Koreans, such as an attractive interior design, music, cleanliness and politeness of the employees, he said.
The only factor that concerns Pezzulo is whether the kitchen uses Italian ingredients or not.
“This is not written for Korean consumers but for Korean importers so that the importers can take note of these restaurants, find out where to bring virgin olive oil and provide them to Korean consumers,” Pezzulo said.
The food author is now working on a new book about olive oil and a true Italian diet. He also plans to give a talk on the same topic on May 14 at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Ilsan, north of Seoul.
He said Koreans will benefit from better knowledge of the genuine Italian diet, or Mediterranean diet, which means eating well but in small quantities.
“I think Koreans should eat much more vegetables and fruits and less meat and fat,” he said.
“If you can eat it, every day, one plate of pasta, cheese, tomato, oil, one glass of wine and fruit. This is the best for your health.
As the guide book says, “a good quality food is one of the most important elements for a good quality of life.”

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]