Costa Cruises is introducing a new menu onboard its ships based on a partnership with Italian chef Bruno Barbieri.

The new menu is set to take passengers on a “journey of emotions” according to a Costa statement.

“I am all for cuisine prepared with love, where everyone who tastes my dishes can scrutinize the very soul of their food, the real history of its people, all those people who wake up every day and go out to work so that exceptional ingredients reach our plates,” said Barbieri. “Learning about all the stories behind a dish makes cuisine a wonderful journey. My aim has always been to make exciting things, and this is what lies behind every dish on the new menu I have created for Costa Cruises guests.”

“Being able to offer dishes by Bruno Barbieri onboard our ships fills us with pride,” commented Giuseppe Carino, vice president of guest experience and onboard revenue. “Every year we take hundreds of thousands of guests on holiday who come from approximately 200 different countries and to whom we want to offer a cruise experience that encapsulates Italy’s finest, starting precisely with our cuisine, which has always been one of our strengths. This new menu will give our guests the chance to discover the cuisine of a great Italian chef who mixes together exquisite ingredients in recipes that are always new and amazing.”

The new dishes are available at a special dinner on each cruise that bears Barbieri’s name.

Examples of dishes include a salad of prawns with endive heart and minced Mediterranean pesto, and “garganelli” pasta with swordfish, tomato and basil, on a cream of cannellini bean and strong ricotta, a pasta dish that calls to mind the Romagnola riviera, the chef’s homeland.

One of Bruno Barbieri’s other pasta dishes includes “tortellini” in a Parmesan and bay leaf fondue flavoured with nutmeg, ingredients that remind him of his family and his nascent love of cooking.

The partnership between Costa and Bruno Barbieri began in 2016 with the launch of the “Benvenuti alla felicitಔ (Welcome to happiness squared) campaign. The chef created a special menu for the occasion, giving Costa guests the chance to go on a journey through the flavours of traditional Italian cuisine, from North to South.