Ambassador of Uruguay, Dr. Alba Florio Legnani, hosted a reception at the Grand Hyatt Seoul on Sept. 3, 2015 of Uruguay to bid farewell to her Korean and international friends as well as colleagues?with beautiful music performances by Korean Gayageum (traditional Korean zithers) and Daego (large drum).

Many Korean and international dignitaries attended the reception. They included Ambassadors Jorge Roballo of Argentina, William Paterson of Australia, Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan, Guadalupe Palomeque de Taboada of Bolivia, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Hernan Brantes Glavic of Chile, Tito Saul Pinilla Pinilla of Colombia, Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo of Dominican Republic, Oscar Gustavo Herrera Gilbert of Ecuador, Hany Moawad Selim Labib of Egypt, Adolfo Lopez Calderon of Guatemala, Dato Rohana binti Ramli of Malaysia, Clare Patricia Fearnley of New Zealand, Emma-Francoise Isumbingabo of Rwanda, Nozuko Gloria Bam of South Africa, Hakan Okcal of Turkey and Vasyl Marmazov of Ukraine.
Speaking to the guests, Ambassador Legnani explained the special features of the Uruguayan beef, Asado, which finally found its way into the Korean market after a long process. Excerpts of speech follow:

Excerpts from the speech of Ambassador Legnani:
It is a pleasure for me to receive you, once more, this year being able to share with you a little of the essence of being Uruguayan such as meat, wine, cheeses and friendly gatherings with friends.
Some years ago when after a very long process the Uruguayan meat could finally arrive to the Korean market, at a dinner, similar to this one, I said that, the so called “asado”, beef cooked directly on a grill, is not only the flagship of the Uruguayan gastronomy, it is an expression of our national identity.

Uruguay is a genuinely carnivorous country. Our people have a special relationship with the meat; that could be compared only with our passionate relationship with football.
All of us who have lived abroad, together with the longings for a walk along the seaside promenade, the southern wind with sea scent, the endless slightly undulated prairies, we also long the delight of the weekend “asado”.
That particular scent of meat, grilled on fire; the social meaning of meeting with family and friends, around the grill, with a good tannat wine, salads; the seasonings, like ‘chimichurri’, or ‘salsa criolla’ and on top of all this, the bread, the cheese and the sausages.
In Uruguay, everything happens around the table: we celebrate, we feast, we discuss and we cry.

And this is what we want to reflect, as we can and in spite of the distance, in each one of these reunions.
In a few days, I will be going back to Montevideo and I will resume these traditions. There I will wait all of those who wish to visit the other side of the world and share this grilled meats; near the sea. I invite you to visit us, to know our geography and to feel the hospitality of the Uruguayan people.
Thank you all for your company, tonight and all these years.
Before the end, and begin with the dinner, I have two more announcements.

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