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Italy

The Slow Food Movement- digestion after attending Terramadre

November 2, 2012 / Italy, Local/Organic, Travel Adventures / 0 comment

Calabria representing at Salon Del Gusto

One of the things that was on my “Pros” list when I decided to move to Italy was the fact that Italy is home to the Slow Food Movement, an organization that supposedly embodies an ideology I wholeheartedly subscribe to. Which is the notion to avoid a fast food life and the temptations of commercial food while demanding a food supply that is clean, good and fair.

Every year there is a “conference” in Turin (within Piedmont): the very region where this movement was born. The conference, Terramadre, is advertised as “a gathering of Slow Food certified producers, tasting workshops of safeguarded regional Italian and international foods, round-table discussions of delegates from NGO’s from all over the world to plea to us their slow food manifesto and inspire the public with news, injustices, triumphs and happenings in the food world.”

I was tickled pink for weeks leading up to this conference. I was finally in Italy during the time of this conference I’d dreamed of attending for the last few years. I attended Slow Food events in Seattle and basically begged them to let me volunteer for them in the hopes of one day giving a real hand to the cause.

And now, living in Florence I received approval to write an article about the event. I was so proud and full of excitement and hope. Only to have all my ideals of the movement shredded to smithereens upon my arrival at the entrance.

The event online stated that there were 2 events both in association w/ Slow Food. Terramadre, which was the one with workshops, food for thought discussions and Ted-like talks. And then Salon del Gusto which was this big food and wine tasting convention. It’s 20 euros to get in. Unless you’re a member, then it’s 10. In addition to this entry fee, most stalls charged for a tasting, and there were hundreds of stalls.
What upset me the most was not the price gauging, but the exclusivity of the event and the organization. It was a mad house with hundreds of people herding around like sheep trying to get a free sample- and few people actually available to educate or talk about their “slow food” products. The stalls were in 3 categories. Orange stalls were Slow Food Presidia who are apart of projects to safeguard foods that are historical and typical to the region, thus continuing its slow food tradition and culture. I.e. ancient apple varieties of Piedmont, pistachios of Bronte, etc. There were MAYBE 20 of these.

Then the rest, which were the bulk of the stands, were seemingly commercial food producers who may or may not support the notions of Slow Food, who probably paid for their stall in order to get consumer exposure, make some sales and raise brand awareness. Another kicker was the massive corporate sponsorship like Samsung, Fiat, Canon and others.

I was sick to my stomach. This is supposed to represent SLOW FOOD. Sustainable, small models for food production, yet there were tons of commercial multinational corporations present and ones that had nothing to do with food. Samsung- really? What appeared to me was that really the 20 euro entry fee, did not go to the programs like Slow Food Presidia, but more than likely went to all the commercial production of the event. Should we expect that Carlo Petrini (the founder) is turning sour from this commercial mockery of the organization’s founding values and ultimate expression of “selling out”?

Basically, Salone del Gusto in Turin is a glorified food expo. Isn’t this convention supposed to educate the public about slow food? Wasn’t it supposed to be about slowing down from globalization? How can you continue to position yourself as a grassroots organization and a non-profit?

And the talks on biodiversity and land grabs? Among the zoo of people in this expo arena, there was only a few rooms shoved in a corner giving these talks with a maximum capacity of 100 people- when the attendance of the event was 100,000. How on earth could you educate any of those people in those tiny rooms? And to make matters worse, I was sometimes one of the few spectators beyond press that attended the talks. I felt like no one cared- not the public and not even the organization itself.

Beware people. People who have true hearts for the matters that plague our food cultures. Some organizations are just in it to make a dollar and make an industry off of “care marketing.” I know the disappointment and shaming should be directed to the companies responsible for this food mess like Monsanto and McDonald’s and the policy makers that allow their profits and monopolies to be possible, but we have to keep the institutions in check that are claiming to defend us- and demand that they stick to their stance. That they remain noble and not succumb to the temptations of money and manipulated success.

Slow Food International, this is my open letter to you. I know you need money to survive, but I think there is a better way. I think you can not rely on commercialism and still have a big impact. I still believe you have fantastic programs and initiatives and think you could be more successful with them, I am afraid that by having certain corporate sponsorship some projects or ideals could pose a “conflict of interest.” towards your goals of creating a food system that is fair, clean and good. For everyone.

I hope you appreciate the points I have made and continue to strive for integrity and consistency not for public approval, not to retain your supporter base- but for the sake of this planet and the causes you attempt to stand for.

Thank you to every one of you who took the time to read this.

Forever dedicated to the food fight and the future of our planet,

Curious Appetite.

Eating man food in Florence

October 5, 2012 / "Street" Grub, Europe, Food & Wine, General Eating Out, Italy / 3 Comments

Whenever I have guests, I tell them that they must try lampredotto from a banco mobile (food cart) that puts the whole “street food”…”food truck” fru fru scene in America to shame. I recommend it because it is an authentic food experience besides “pizza and pasta.” And it’s what the general blue collar work crowd can comfortably afford for lunch. I am about to explain. I will use this post to squash some ideas Americans and tourists have of Italians and Italian life. Okay, so we come here like it’s Disneyland, voyeuristic in taking snapshots of the old ladies buying fruit at the open-air markets, or as one of my friends told me- taking snapshots of him buying tomatoes in the store. Which if you think about it, is pretty creepy. How would you like some tourist taking your picture in Trader Joe’s? But the reason people shop at these “open-air markets” that tourists think is so glamorous, is because life in Italy for some is poor and that 10 cent difference between bananas at the market and at the store is worth something that most tourists could hardly fathom.

So my point is, unlike living in the states, life is modest here. I’m not complaining, but most people in Italy don’t exactly have the luxury to eat out expensive meals multiple times a week . I’m not writing this to incite sympathy or pity- It makes me uncomfortable to talk about money in my sort of public blog but I think people should understand this. And nothing irritates me more than people who think Italians live this life of vespas, ferrari, gucci and cappuccino. The vespa part is kinda right, but because the gas is cheaper for scooters. Gas costs almost the equivalent of 10 dollars a gallon. Cappuccino is also kind of true, but it’s part of breakfast and there is a national “cap” on how much a bar can charge which is not the Stumptown fancy schmancy 4 dollar cup to-go but 1.20 at the counter.

Anyways…do you know what lampredotto is? It’s this:

lampredotto- a Florentine specialty made from the fourth and final stomach of the cow, the abomasum.

Florence and Tuscany in general should be known for la cucina povera which is a cuisine based on peasant food that most cultures have. Tripe, chitterlings, liver “crostini”, tomato bread soup, minestrone, etc- are all cheap and crucial to real Tuscan cuisine. It’s a no-waste philosophy that dates back to when Italy was limited on resources during post-war depression periods. Because Italians are sticklers for tradition- these foods are still as popular as ever. And sadly, Italy has in a sense returned to a depressed economic state. Meno male that la cucina povera never went out of style. :/

So today I had to do an interview with the Cordon Blu culinary school for an article I am writing and I asked the director if they taught lampredotto in the Tuscan cooking courses. She said no, because most tourists and Americans are scared of it and think that they don’t like it. It made me smile that she said they think because picky eaters drive me crazy- how can you not like something you’ve never tried?!

Then it made her smile when I asked her where her favorite lampredottaio “banco mobile” was. She said near the bronze porcellino near Piazza della Repubblica. I didn’t know what the porcellino was, which apparently is the lucky rub-for-luck tourist attraction bronze pig. So I decided for lunch today I was going. I realized I’ve been here for 4 months and haven’t had lampredotto yet AND I didn’t know what the lucky porcellino was. It was a sign.

Panino con lampredotto at Il Trippaio del Porcellino.

This sandwich with a glass of wine will cost under 5 euro. The meat is stewed in a simple broth and then made to order. These innards are then cut up and laid a top a crusty bread roll, doused with salt and pepper.

the meat getting pulled from the pot- made to order!

Then a half of the bread is dipped in the lampredotto stock and topped with a kind of herb paste made mostly of parsley. I chomped on this at the “banco” counter of the food truck, observing the guy make sandwiches and noticing that most of the clientele were men and I was seriously the only woman eating a cow guts sandwich. I felt oddly proud of my “bizarre food” Andrew Zimmern inspired moment.

It was okay. It had a weird fatty consistency and there was too much salt and parsley sauce to really be able to get an idea of what lampredotto tasted like. It was a nice, filling lunch that I think my stomach was confused about how to digest (which enzymes to I make for this thing this crazy lady just ate? lipase or protease?) You could for sure taste that the meat was stewing in a broth yet it was soft and flavorful. And I could see why this would be a pit-stop for the Florentine lunch crowd- especially because there is cheap wine that you should for sure have with it. Why not?

So if you are in Florence or in Tuscany- be adventurous, be curious! Taste everything! Unless you are a vegetarian or celiac- you can’t knock it till you try it:)

Food and Wine Pairing- Chocolate + Marsala!

August 27, 2012 / Dessert, Food & Wine, Italy, Recipes / 0 comment

I just discovered something a little amazing: dark chocolate and dry Marsala:

I’m just about certified in Food & Wine pairing and one of the 1st things I ever learned was: Red Wine and Chocolate is not a good pair. GASP! I’m sorry ladies, it’s true. There is too much bitter clash and the sugar in the chocolate confuses the tannins in the wine. My instructor said it best: “It’s like sex on the beach: in theory it sounds like a GREAT idea- but then you got the sand and the rocks…the reality is that it’s pretty uncomfortable.” I mean, there are ways to pair red wine and chocolate if you really want to. Like with a bitter chocolate with low sugar content and a careful selection of red wine that has some bitterness and tannin to match. But the general rule of thumb is that chocolate pairs best with a fortified dessert wine like port or….MARSALA…

When I was just recently living in the states, the only marsala wine you found was for cooking. And unlike most wine, you don’t drink it as you cook with it. I don’t know, maybe its because how some wine is not imported well that I never believed in a marsala. So recently a friend came and made some veal marsala and left the bottle behind. I asked, what the hell am I going to do with all the leftover wine? I’m not making a tiramisu’ anytime soon. They said: drink it!

I never would have thought of that, you know.

So I poured some in my snifter, swirled it about and went through the usual motions of analysis….butterscotch, toffee, caramel, vanilla and coconut…and then gulp! Heaven! The nose proved accurate on the palate. Pretty damn tasty.

Together with dark chocolate…the cacao echos…like a nutty hazelnut caramel toasted fairtrade chocolate s’more…

I don’t know if you can get this kinda stuff in the states- but try! The states is always improving the channels of fine imports.

Notes on the Marsala that was left so graciously behind:

Producer: Florio 1833, VECCHIOFLORIO Marsala Superiore Secco (DOC) ’08, aged for 30 months in oak (hence all the toasty toffee notes)

buon dessert! 🙂

La Pentola Dell’Oro- Renaissance fare in 2012

August 13, 2012 / Europe, Food & Wine, General Eating Out, Italy / 1 Comment

La Pentola Dell’Oro means “A potful of gold.” I live in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance (consider the museums like the Uffizi, The Accademia, THE DUOMO, the Boboli Gardens, etc) and of the Italian language (remember Dante Alighieri and L’Inferno? Dante was Florentine and Italian was born from his laments on hell and society.) I overheard about La Pentola from a group of locals cooing over their recent experience with renaissance inspired fare describing spices from the orient and other exotic posts that influenced Florentine society during the Rinascimento, Italy’s cultural “rebirth.”

Mostly what I’ve found eating out in Florence is either Tuscan “delicacies” of animal guts (such as la tripa and il lampredotto, good thing Italian is such a pretty language because these are all words for offal), pizza or pasta or some other variation concerning tasteless Tuscan bread, tomatoes, pork products and pecorino cheese. Delicious, yes. But not exactly intense culinary technique (excitement) compared to foods of the south.

This “Pot of Gold” was indeed a worthwhile venture. Consider the following:

Le Pappardelle sulla lepre (pappardelle fresh pasta w/ wild hare ragu’ made in the Etruscan “Artusi” fashion)

Le Lasagnole (lasagna-like cut noodles tossed with ginger, cane sugar, chestnut honey and walnut. Not sweet, but very savory!

Il Porco Cinghiale in dolce forte- Wild Boar in a chocolate, cedar & pine nut sauce. Looks like mound of mud but indeed very yum num. Ever had “mole’?” Well, imagine instead,, a melt in your mouth savage forest ranged pork that feasted on chestnuts and filberts in an aromatic olive oil pine nut chocolate spice marinade.

And wine? A Chianti Classico with notes of herbed violet and tobacco tannins to cut through the fat and protein pleasures of the boar in order to radiate this plethora of layered savor.

Good wine by the bottle for under €20 (at a restaurant)

After this imbibement, my belly was also feeling like a pot of gold. This is definitely off the beaten tourist path and thankfully undiscovered but frequented enough by locals (am I a local yet?) to stay churning slivers of rich, historic gastronomic bliss.

More info here: http://www.lapentoladelloro.it/

You might need a zing bing or go go google translate super powers if you can’t quite decipher the Italiano. BUON APPETITO 🙂

Gelatoholics anonymous- Florence!

July 17, 2012 / Europe, Gelato, General Eating Out, Italy, Vegetarian / 2 Comments

I am pretty bummed that I haven’t been writing as frequently as I would like, I tend to have a good reason or another but ultimately- I’ve been too busy stuffing my face and keeping my glass full to bother typing away. 🙂

The first thing I must speak upon is my ungodly obsession with gelato. It’s pretty sick and twisted, at this point I should be considered a gelatochocohawlic. There is good reason, too! First off, I live in Florence where gelato was supposedly born. However, ask an Italian where anything was born and it will just so happen to be conveniently original from their hometown. Secondly, I live right above one of the best gelaterias in the city. Is it the best in my opinion because I could practically crawl spiderman style down these ancient walls to arrive at such delectable wonders? Who knows, and let’s be honest- no one cares. I live above a gelateria and it’s become a problem. Thirdly, to make matters worse than being haunted by a gelateria every 100 meters, apparently during renaissance times women were forbidden from eating ice cream. Well, it wasn’t like they got a fine but it was a huge social faux pas for a woman to be seen licking an ice cream. And even today in some silly male and dogma dominated culture it is still heavily discouraged. SOOOOO naturally I MUST make up for all these years of ice cream oppression!!!! I mean, it’s my duty as a free western WOMAN of the 21st century!!! And yes, you’re welcome! 🙂

My wine studies went really well at Apicius and I feel very confident about my command of knowledge concerning wines in Tuscany. Moreover, you can depend on me to ace any challenge on a food and wine pairing with a wine from this beautiful region. For studies sake, I had to really understand and study a pair with a chianti classico (which makes up a good chunk of the Tuscan sangiovese-based line-up) with a nice Tuscan aged prosciutto and a hard umami loaded pecorino cheese. I mean, it was rough work but I finally figured it out, for the sake of my grades.

Back to gelato. My go to flavors are generally anything chocolate and something nutty like pistachio, coconut or nocciola (hazelnut) but sometimes I get a little tutti frutti and venture with fresh watermelon, apricot or cantaloupe. I’ve even ventured into the fusion realm with saffron rose and then walnut gorgonzola (gelato?! yes you can!)

I have yet to meet a gelato I didn’t like. Today I had a realization that I may need to go on a diet if I continue at this drink wine at every meal that consists of cheese and cured meats pace/lifestyle, but how could I live without gelato?! Well, thankfully today I found a gelateria that has “skinny” yogurt gelato and apricot sorbet so that crisis seems to have been averted. Or wait, maybe I could go on a gelato diet! In fact, some Italians DO have ice cream for breakfast! I was having lunch with a Sicilian friend and I casually mentioned my gelato obsession and pondered the possibility of having it for breakfast and she said I could in theory as this is practiced in Sicily. (?!?!) Basically, since it gets rather warm down there in the summer, it’s not uncommon apparently to have a lemon granita (like a sort of slushie) with a piece of bread. Alright, so turns out it’s in my genes to want gelato for breakfast! I knew it!! 🙂

Macaroooooons! a perfect cookie for an ice cream sandy!

Oh! one more thing! So eating in Venice can be complete crap! I know you can find little hole in the walls and restos off the beaten path, but you know some people (tourists, you know those who are making a lot of commerce possible with their hard-earned money) should be able to sit near the canals, watch the gondolas pass by and have a bloody good meal too and not get ripped off just because they want to visit a new place. GRRR! That mentality really pisses me off about some resto owners to rip tourists off for the immediate financial boost but really, they are creating a crap reputation and then some people write home about it. 🙂 But nevertheless, Italy is the only place where you can eat complete crap but it still looks lovely on a plate (like these wretched fishy freezer burned gunky shrimp and razor sawed salad with sulfuric over boiled eggs:)