There’s nothing more entertaining than a chef who can also make duck noises and who can look through cored zucchini halves as if they were binoculars. Young children and their parents visiting the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival were treated to a special cooking session by Italian chef Giancarlo Caldesi and his wife Katie from the UK.

During the session, the jovial culinary couple showed the audience how to prepare stuffed zucchini both vegetarian and with beef. Besides the technical steps of the recipe, the couple shared some tips like frying the onion in a lot of oil brings out the sweetness in them and placing a wet towel under the cutting pad makes sure it doesn’t slip or slide.

Speaking about their first visit to Sharjah Giancarlo said that they were delighted to be art of the festival. “This is the first step for a cultural exchange. Through cooking you can get a more peaceful and wider look into the world. You understand the goodness of human kind. Cooking is a way of expressing yourself to others and making friends. As we all sit around the table to eat you realize that you’re one of them that you’re part of same nation - the Human Nation,” said Giancarlo.

The couple who run their own restaurant that offers Tuscan cuisine have also made regular appearances on television for programs such as Market Kitchen, Masterchef, BBC Breakfast, Sunday Brunch and Saturday Kitchen.

In 2015 they launched a book on the food of Rome and in 2016, they plan to launch a book on salads and another about Sicilian cuisine. Giancarlo was presented the Cavaliere Del Lavoro by the Italian government for his lifetime work representing Italy abroad.