Have you ever noticed how the Slow Food philosophy influences your choices and tastes in food?
Take a moment and think about it…
I was born in the early eighties. I remember that when I was very young, talking about food with a child was very different from how we are used today. Lessons on the importance of eating healthy were a duty of moms, grandmothers, and teachers – and they were very boring 😂
During those years, the famous American fast foods were arriving in Italy, and the advertising hype quickly made them a trendy symbol. The food factories, in turn, strengthened their brands, and buying industrial, convenient, standardized products (especially those well-advertised on television) was what everyone used to do.
In the same years, much more quietly, in the area around the town of Bra (not far from where I live), Arci Gola was born – a non-profit association that reacted to the prevailing gastronomic trends… simply by saying something different! Almost no one noticed them right away; we were too caught up in other matters.
The newborn association grew, changed its name to Slow Food, and began to “do” things differently from others. We are not talking about success achieved overnight, but a slow and gradual process that has, however, sparked a global impact. Today, good, genuine food, produced in a sustainable and traditional way, has added value compared to industrial food — a value so high that more and more consumers are willing to pay more to buy products that align with this way of thinking.
To influence food culture so profoundly is no trivial mission. Whether or not one aligns with the ideas of Slow Food, this philosophy now underpins many of the choices we make every day. This includes the belief — referring back to my childhood memories mentioned earlier — that those who constructively involve children in creating a teaching garden (rather than boring them with a lecture on healthy eating) are truly “forward-thinking” in teaching food education!
Slow Food brings recipes from restaurants across Italy to our tables
The reason why I find this series of cookbooks interesting is that the dishes presented are not designed “at the drawing board” in a publishing house. They are regional specialties found on the menus of taverns and restaurants throughout Italy, reinterpreted by our chefs, cooked by our kitchen brigades, and served by our dining room staff.
I really like the idea of learning how to cook local food by drawing on the knowledge of culinary professionals, not the ones famous on television and the web, but those who work in the field every day. Just as I enjoy taking my time to read the introductions of these books, where the authors explain the typical ingredients and the reasons behind certain culinary traditions.
When I stress the importance of not stopping at the recipes found on the Internet but using cookbooks, of “digging” into the origins of food and not just focusing on replicating techniques, I am referring precisely to this type of publication: essential, simple, affordable, yet authoritative. Absolutely consistent with the realities of the restaurant business, but also with the timeless traditions of our country.
