Delicious Italy

Those Michelin stars

In June 08 we commented that Gualtiero Marchesi, famous for possibly single handedly relaunching Italian post war cuisine, decided to give up his Michelin stars for their lack of relevance to good eating, at least in Italy.

It is no surprise, therefore, that November 08 saw Mr. Marchesi's restaurant stripped of all of its stars in the new Michlein guide and reduced to the level of 'Hotel Restaurant'.

You can't have it both ways, of course, but this feud has been going on since the late 1990's when the restaurant was downgraded from 3 to 2 stars.

Delicious Italy has talked about the issue with Heston Blumenthal, whose own restaurant is widely considered one of the top 3 in the world.

If there is a world standard for ranking restaurants, then Michelin is certainly it.

And the jury is still out if Gualtiero Marchesi would have had arrived at this point if he had kept his 3rd star.

What is for sure is that France has 5 times more 3 star Michelin restaurants than Italy.

But is there a deeper cultural take on food being played out here?  

It seems in Italy there is a strong movement for preserving the country's regional gastronomy as it always has been.

Since when? is the obvious question.

Dishes out of a peasant tradition above fusion or experimentation; the old flavors against the new etc.

A sentiment which may stop the country's young upcoming chefs from combining the best of the old and new and opening up a bright, distinct future for Italian cuisine. 

A history of Italian cuisine would support this fully.

When fruit was fruit

Who would not want to be a member of the European Union's fruit and vegetable management committee.

Particularly at the recent meeting when it was decided that 26 types of fruit commercialized in the EU no longer need to satisfy shape standards.

In other words a bent carrot or a knobbly mushroom can now be sold with no embarassment; to them or the shoppers we're not quite sure.

The full list of permitted ugly fruit and veg in alphabetical order includes: apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocadoes, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons and chicory.

But the aesthetic value of certain products must still be taken seriously.

They are: apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes.

Nevertheless, even an apple with a blemish can hit the markets as long as it is labelled a 'product intended for processing' or equivalent!

Fantastic stuff, which brings to mind the current print campaign for the millions of apples cultivated in the valleys of Trentino Alto Adige.

The ad features a perfectly formed golden delcious with a mole, or dark spot. The spot marks the apples as being distinctive and each one unique.

Continuing the theme, we have just been given a present of a box of apples by the GAL Monti Sibillini.

Native of these imposing mountains in Le Marche, the apples were all of different sizes, some red, some green, others gnarled, all imperfect.

But they were the best apples we've eaten for years.    

Eating Smartly in Sicily

We received a newsletter from Joan Peterson of the Eat Smart Guides (GinkGo Press) to launch their new Eat Smart in Sicily edition.

From the press release:

Eat Smart in Sicily - How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods, & Embark on a Tasting Adventure.

Rich with seafood, citrus, olives, and almond sweets, the cuisine of the sun-drenched island of Sicily reflects the influence of Greeks, Norman French, Tunisians, and Italians, among others. Unlike guidebooks that sweep Sicily into an overview of Italy, this latest addition to the award-winning Eat Smart series focuses solely on the cuisine of Sicily.

Eat Smart in Sicily provides an historical overview of the peoples who have lived there and their contributions to Sicilian cuisine, with attention given to the fare distinct to the villages and urban centers of Sicily’s four regions.

A helpful guide to Sicilian menus, with English translations of Italian (or Sicilian) words, makes ordering food in Sicily an easy and immediately rewarding experience. Highlighting regional recipe mainstays, Joan Peterson and Marcella Croce provide tips to shopping for traditional ingredients in Sicily and at home.

The book also includes a comprehensive glossary of foods, kitchen utensils, and cooking methods to prepare authentic Sicilian specialties at home or abroad.

Distributed by the University of Wisconsin Press, more information can be found at
www.eatsmartguides.com

You Tube eyes Rimini

In the very near future it is going to be possible to broadcast live from mobile telephones straight onto You Tube and similar video delivering platforms.

Privacy legislation is already struggling to keep up and this next technological opportunity seems an incredible challenge.

Especially for beach dancers in Rimini.

The reason we mention this is that our 30 second clip of bronzed pensioners enjoying themselves last July at the famed Adriatic coast resort was removed for a while by You Tube recently. 

We checked the rules, and as the clip was ours, the reason could only be that it was not suitable for general public viewing or one of the participants had enforced the privacy ruling.

The former is a possibility of course, but the latter seems more likely.

Or, just a thought, perhaps the local tourism authorities no longer feel this image of Rimini fits with the future of the town as a congress, golfing, mid to up market all year round destination.

But that's not the Rimini we saw and wanted to share with the world.     

Michelin Stars? - no thanks

This is a really interesting piece of news.

One of Italy's most highly regarded chefs and someone who has been fundamental in developing Italian post war cuisine has decided to hand back his Michelin stars.  

To be fair Gualtiero Marchesi has not just nominated Michelin, but the whole system of independent and not so independent guides and commentators.

Gualtiero is quoted as saying: 'L’unico giudizio a cui tengo è quello di chi si siede al mio tavolo per gustare un piatto“.

Or 'the only judgment I hold valid is that of those who sit at my table'.

Cooked impeccably and fusing many novel tastes, you certainly eat well in Michelin star restaurants, but .. but .. we have to warm to Gualtiero.

www.marchesi.it

High flying mozarella

Mid June 2008 does not seem the best moment to be getting into joint promotional ventures with Alitalia.

Especially if your sector has just come out of a dioxin scare which circumnavigated the world in record time.

But this is exactly what the new Agricultural Policy Minister announced recently in Caserta, one of Italy's buffalo mozzarella cheese heartlands.

In effect, anyone flying Alitalia between the United States and Germany will be offered the typical product as part of their inflight meal.

Both countries are major markets for the cheese which has seen sales fall by 40% from the same period last year.  

The cost of the promotion has been declared as two million euros.

Such solutions seem strictly old school particularly when you consider the opportunities offered by new media such Web 2.0, social networks, viral marketing etc and particularly if part of a comprehensive image marketing campaign.

Croatia - land of truffles, fine wine and olive oil

'Croatia - land of white truffles, fine wine and olive oil'.

Not exactly, but the actual pay off line being used by the Croatian national tourism board is a lot more subtle in relation to their neighbour just over the Adriatic Sea.

That's Italy by the way.

The actual line is 'The Mediterranean As it Once Was' and it is a statement full of intent. 

But it is the Croatia Tourism Food ad which really sits up and looks you straight in the eyes

In particular the line our gastronomic friend in the spot relishes saying: 'the wine produced in Croatia was so good, it was considered the best in the Roman Empire'. 

http://press.croatia.hr/video%5Farhiva/

No April Fool

We thought this was an April Fool, but apparently not.

The Regione Lazio has decided to come out fighting against the recent buffalo mozzarella scare by distancing itself from its Campania cousins.         

The buffalo mozzarella produced south of Rome, typically in the province of Latina, is to be rebranded as 'Collosella' with obvious references to gladiators and lions.

Apparently, 10% of all buffalo mozzarella is made in Lazio.

If we can make a couple of observations.

Firstly, in our humble opinion, the Italian buffalo mozzarella industry should be closing ranks and putting together a concerted Pr and advertising campaign for the benefit of all.

Secondly, branding and marketing initiatives need to be treated with great care and not a little prior research. What is the image of buffalo mozzarella abroad today?  Does anyone care where buffalo mozzarella is made in Italy? Is 'Collosella' the right communication? 

Osella by the way is a famous brand of cheese from Piemonte distributed across Italy. What do they think?

www.fattorieosella.it

Global Mozzarella

We read today that Paul Samuelson, the US Nobel for Economics, suggested that globalization is not a little responsible for the current export problems of buffalo mozzarella in the Far East.

There was a time when there was no such such thing as bad publicity, but it seems this is no longer the case and it's an interesting thought.

It seems the image of Italy abroad is taking a battering at the moment, but how much is true and how much deserved?

We can only comment on first hand experience.

In February, we went to Venice. During our time there news was circulating in the US, then elsewhere, that the water level of the lagoon was so low that gondolas could not circulate and a rare breed of insect was infecting the local population and tourists.

What a load of old cobblers. And double cobblers to boot.

The level of the lagoon was certainly lower than normal, but all very normal. So where did this report originate from?

Some say an anti mass tourist lobby in Venice had launched the news. Who knows?

But such was the take up by the world's press that many small family run hotels suddenly found they had canceled rooms on their books in a difficult start to the year.

It seems disinformation can be utilized to great effect. Political disinformation, we know all about, but economic? How interesting.

Wasn't there a run on food in Italy before Christmas?

Regional food icons

For the last 20 weeks, Gambero Rosso and Il Sole 24 Ore have been proposing a collectible line of DVD's and summary travel guides to the best of Italian regional food and where to find it.

Most interesting has been the culinary images chosen to represent the 20 Italian regions.

Well, 17 as Calabria/Basilicata, Abruzzo/Molise and Piemonte/Val d'Aosta were combined  and, surprisingly, Trentino and Alto Adige separated for the first time since 1948.

The territories of Langhe and Maremma/Versilia were also given their own volumes.

So, as for those icons, it was apples for Trentino, chocolate for Piemonte, pecorino cheese for Sardinia, hot peppers for Calabria, hazelnuts for Langhe, basil leaves for Liguria, olive oil for Tuscany and porcini mushrooms for Umbria.

A little less predictable were the almonds for Sicily, saffron for Lombardia, forest fruits for Alto Adige, grapes for Friuli Venezia Giulia, wheat for Puglia and artichokes for Lazio.

We have to admit we hadn't anticipated honey for Abruzzo and chestnuts for Le Marche.

For the rest, fresh tortellini pasta for Emilia Romagna, asparagus stalks for Veneto, chick peas for Maremma and what look like yellow tomatoes for Campania.    

http://gambero-rosso.ilsole24ore.com