Delicious Italy

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.

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

Toxic BBC mozzarella sample

We always refer first to the BBC to add a certain measured perspective to a newsworthy argument.

The media organization's summary of the mozzarella case in Italy is as succinct, up to date and hysteria free as it gets with some useful institutional links.

But 'Tainted Love - How Italy's highly-prized mozzarella turned sour' by journalist Stephanie Holmes seems to us a lazy, hatchet job.

Lets take it apart.

Tainted Love -  reference to a 1980's Soft Cell song of dubious content. Why?

How Italy's 'white gold' turned sour - white gold! so Italy loses its gastronomic Midus touch?

Like the cholera outbreak that hit Naples in 1972 - selective and inappropriate quotation.

Choosy Italian consumers have been turning their noses up at the product - since when? who are they? A gross exaggeration and sweeping statement.

Regardless of how many mouthfuls of the stuff are eagerly swallowed by smiling ministers - the world over Stephanie, the world over!

But the European Commission is taking no chances - of course. As the piece says, it is a highly regulated EU product. Normal par for the course and consumers would not expect otherwise.

That's the first half of the article and, to be fair, the second half resets the balance, but the damage has been done.

Anyone scanning the article quickly receives a concentration of cliched verbal and visual communication nurturing prejudices and exaggeration.

The last thing small family buffalo mozarella cheese makers in Italy need and deserve. 

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

The real amatriciana

There is some debate at the moment as to what makes a real amatriciana sauce and where it comes from.

The essential ingredient is guanciale and Gourmet Food Suite 1001 has written to us on the same subject.

I'm surprised at how little info I can find out there. I know it is pork cheek or jowl. I believe it is Northern in origin and primarily used in hearty dishes such as carbonara and Amatricana? Is guanciale like our flank steak, something butchers used to save for their families because it was less popular with customers. Now, we have discovered what used to be "scraps" and enjoy flank steak as well as guanciale... maybe I'm way off here. Perhaps it is a highly prized artisanal product that has not been available until recently here?

Even in the town of Amatrice in north Lazio there is hot debate as to the right way of preparing it.

The authorities even want to bring in official cooking lessons to certify those who know how to make the 'ideal' version.

Anyone who regularly reads our blog knows that this sort of thing should set the alarm bells ringing.   

Imitation Italian Food Products

One of the biggest worries for the Italian food industry is counterfeit or imitation Italian food products made abroad.

They may seem like the real thing, but they are most definitely not.   

The problem is compounded when these products reach the Italian food market and are relabelled as  'Made in Italy' or  more confusingly 'Packaged in Italy' with tomatoes being the easiest to get away with.

The point is that Italian sounding food products sell, but ultimately harm the brand, as well as ruining the taste buds of future generations.

Here are a culprits to look out for: Parmesao cheese from Brasil, Parmigianino from the US, Tinboozola from Australia, Danish Gran (Padano) and Asiago from Wisconsin in the US.

Where's Christmas?

What's happened to the Christmas spending binge?

You have never seen the shops of Rome so empty, at least away from the main historical centre.

The final Saturday before Christmas felt like Boxing Day in terms of the number of people milling around.

Things seem so desperate for the department stores that we were literally taken in hand by the Clarins sales lady in the Rinascente and begged to buy some perfume. We accepted the free samples and said we might come back.

What are doing well are the book shops and the 'pile them high' bargain stores, even the 99 cent shop was buzzing.

Perhaps it is due to the holidays falling mid week, as the sensation is that most people have taken a 'mega ponte' and cleared off for 10 days.

Our barometer of Christmas is, of course, the annual appearance of the zampogne musicians from Abruzzo/Molise.

Checking out this blog from a year ago, we registered their presence from the 24 November.

This year we saw a lone player in Via Alessandria at 7pm on Saturday 22 December. All very low key.

More milk, less alcohol

This week Manchester United were playing in Rome in the final match of the Champions League group stages.

To stop any trouble between rival fans, a total ban on the sale of alcohol swept the city.

From midday to 8pm it was officially impossible to buy a bottle of Gotto d'Oro from EUR to Prati Fiscali in your local supermarket.

Not that it stopped 6 Manchester supporters, reportedly drunk, being assaulted by thugs claiming to be Roma fans outside the Stadio Olimpico.

So the rest of us watched the match on television perfectly sober with friends.

But at least the Comune di Roma can say they acted decisively to stop any trouble in our house.

The government also acted decisively recently to allow fresh milk to be sold directly to the consumer from special dispensers.

There were some problems for the go ahead, mainly due to the supermarket brands being undercut as the producers have removed the middle man.

Nevertheless, it is now possible to buy a litre of milk across Italy at two thirds of the standard price, unpasteurized and delicious.