Delicious Italy

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

If you are looking to buy a book about Italian food and food culture then we have to recommend the winners of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2006.

They are 'Piemonte... la signora del vino' in the category of "Gourmand Italian Awards" - "Best Book on European Wine (excluding France!)", and 'Vivo è  - I Mercati del Pesce in Sicilia' in the category "Gourmand Italian Awards" - "Best Book about Fish and Best Photographic book on Food".

Edited by Carlo Cambi Editore based in Poggibonsi, Tuscany, both titles were written by Andrea Zanfi and illustrated by Giò Martorana.

We can also vouch for the inspired fish supper at the presentation of 'Vivo è - I Mercati del Pesce in Sicilia' last year in San Lorenzo, Rome.   

Also by Andrea Zanfi is the definitive book on Tuscan wine 'Supertuscans'. 

www.carlocambieditore.it

Food confusion

Think of Italian regional identity in the global market and you think of the country's food, as well as the whole range of 'Made in Italy' .

But are you sure you are consuming genuine olive oil from Umbria or ripe tomatoes from the province of Naples?

Leaving aside worries about genetically modified food (where the jury is still out) and fights over branding name rights (parmesan cheese etc) the most immediate problem is labelling.

According to the Coldiretti, who represent Italy's farmers, one product in ten is not what it seems.

The fortress of Europe has holes and many imported products, once inside, are being relabelled as coming from the EU.

The IGP and DOP certifications, which guarantee the origin of production, do inform consumers, but it seems there is massive pressure to remove all such indications from foodstuffs sold within the EU.      

The reverse logic is that such labelling would mean unhealthy competition within Europe and probably encourage more Italians to buy food products from Italy than from other countries.

But we may just be doing that already such is the worry over origin.

The Dialects of Italy

The dialects of Italy, or the Italian regional accents if you like, are pretty strong to the untrained ear.

They may not be as incomprehensible to other Italians as the used to be, say 100 hundred years ago, but they are still spoken at home and between various social groups.

Internal migration, war displacement, radio and televison have created a fairly standardised everyday language which was, of course, based on the spoken language of Tuscany during the Renaissance.

We are, in fact, all speaking Tuscan.

Encouragingly, the world wide web is offering a new home and expression for many regional dialects.

There are forums for grammar, online dictionaries, collected histories, fables and stories. A living anthropology.

The trend is now seeping into the world of advertising as brands seek easily recognisible identifiers e.g. the Neapolitan used for a mozzarella cheese spot filmed in Capri. 

The most popular Italian dialects online are from Lombardy, Veneto and Rome, but Genovese, Toscano and Siciliano are not far behind.

We'll be pushing Abruzzese!

Italian luxury goods

Everyone has heard of Ferrari and Gucci, but the rest of Italy's luxury goods market?

The very best of the Made in Italy is being collected together at 'Scrigno Tesori d'Italia' in Rome in March 2007.

The list of items includes fashion, furnishings, perfumes etc and even musical instruments.

Best of all is the Zonda supercar made by Pagani Automobili in Modena. Only 25 are made a year.

For most of us this will be a unique exhibition, but for a select few a nice little Sunday shopping jaunt.

The brands to look out for:

Daniele Arcaio
Erredi Creazioni Moda
Eriberto Attili
Riccardo Zannetti
Arcacustica
Associazione Amici del Ricamo
Bandiera Bianco Bianchi                                             
Runway - Bibis                     
Biliardi Raponi                     
Borselli Cornici                   
Carapetyan Zaven               
Cartujano                           
Club Stradivarius                  
Camiceria Jean Luc               
La Pagoda International    
Fabian Pellicceria             
Calzaturificio Paoul            
Art Casa                         
Zanneto Argenti               
Di Prinzio- Ferro Battuto      
Foglia Argenteria                  
Giosa Milano                        
Carthusia I Profumi di Capria
Lucio Bubacco                  
M. Paci M.                        
Masserano Paolo Cashmire               
Micocci                                    
Moleria Locchi                        
Nautica Riva - Casarola          
Opificio Serico Fiorentino      
Pandora                              
Pelletteria di Tolentino          
Penko
Pinfildi
Romano Opificio Marmi Antichi   
Saskia                                  
Scaglietti                              
Scuola Asolana Antico Ricamo   
Le Ceramiche del Borgo         
Ulturale Cravatte                  
Vanity Jewels                      
Vetrofuso

www.scrigno.roma.it