A strong desire for Italy

Earlier this week in Rome, at Villa Madama, they presented the first Settimana della cucina italiana nel mondo, another important step in the new relationship between institutions and the Italian food sector, which began in March 2015. It seemed impossible then that the government’s interest in chefs (and pastry-chefs, sommeliers, pizzaioli, maîtres and other professionals of delicious things), starting from the minister for Agricultural Policies Maurizio Martina, would get so far that they will dedicate an event to Italian cuisine which in the end will include 1,300 activities and 105 countries, with the involvement of 295 diplomatic sees.

This will happen under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and minister Paolo Gentiloni, who spoke first, followed by Martina and Ivan Scalfarotto, undersecretary for the Economic development. With them, in the front line, there were also some food people, starting from Cristina Bowerman, president of the Ambasciatori del Gusto association (see here).

The presenter reminded how a few years ago, a then almost unknown Beppe Sala first spoke of Milan as the city of Expo 2015. Intending: let’s hope this Settimana will shine as much as the World Fair in Milan. It will be repeated every autumn, always in November, but a little earlier compared to this year, since it was set from the 21st till the 27th and will inevitably clash with another essential day in the United States – that is to say Thanksgiving, on 24th November, so much so Massimo Bottura will open the event in advance, on the 15th, and the participate a few days later in Madrid.

Since the programme is still to be confirmed, it’s now impossible to give details. The main idea however is to welcome anyone in every corner of the planet who has the requisites to be a spokesperson for Italian high quality food and restaurants. Then, once this first test is over, we’ll see how to make an even stronger impression in the future. Aside from the fact everyone will speak of food and everyone eats, there’s nothing folkloristic in the intention of our institutional leaders. Gentiloni and then Scalfarotto stressed how export in the sector reaches a remarkable value of 37 billion euros. Which is already a big sum but the goal is to reach at least 50 by 2020, a very close deadline.

Gentiloni also pointed out how the network of establishments recalling Italy represents a soft power which often turns out to be more effective than the official diplomatic network, because as Italians we’re great at finding solutions and agreements around a table, while eating and drinking.

It is from this very thought, from how easy it is to eat Italian food wherever you are, that the biggest problem emerges. Celebrating our cuisine is a choice worth sincere appreciation but it must also be a way to do more. Just like it wouldn’t be enough to say “let’s do the week of Italian music” (what music? What genre?), so cooking is a galaxy in which we, as Italians, can have an impact on pleasure and money, by separating restaurants from food culture and food products.

Maurizio Martina also pointed out how what is about to happen is the result of Expo and the Food Act (read here); so he invited the almost 100 food and wine professionals and cooks in Rome to work as a team: «There’s no doubt that we are individuals with unique, extraordinary experiences. However the time has come so we unite all this and become a real team. We want to make the parallel “diplomatic” network recalled by my colleague Gentiloni even stronger».

Cristina Bowerman used similar words two weeks ago after the official presentation of the association of which she’s president: «Ambasciatori del Gusto is an inclusive association and we’re the first to realise we’ll do more and better if everyone who’s in the sector will benefit from this. We must speak at last of Italian quality without wasting time debating on innovation or tradition, which are two equally important sides of the same medal».

And we shouldn’t forget anything, not even the most negative facts: there’s always something worth saving, or from which we can learn. Scalfarotto explained: «Indeed 90% of Italian products consumed around the world are false. But this also means there’s a very strong desire to eat Italian food. Our economy has a huge potential if it can valorise and better safeguard the sector. Just think of this example: Italy is the largest producer of wine, yet France exports 60 million litres to China and we export less than 10».

So we’re back to the starting point: work as a team, work hard and don’t waste time in useless polemics that make our cousins happy as well as those who often are worth less than us but are very good at personal selling.

See all the events here