My roommates and I were living steps from Santa Croce in Florence, Italy, when we saw a circle of red and white tents pop up in the piazza. Our excitement peaked when we realized the tents housed samples of the freshest mozzarella, warm bread and pastries.
The big sign advertising Slow Food was quickly passed by -- I didn't know at the time that this was a movement greater than a few free bites. I figured it referred to the Italian way of waiting hours for meals to arrive at your table, and even more hours spent enjoying each sip of Chianti and bit of tagliatelli. Even my cooking teacher in Italy said the reason the population was so healthy was because they ate good food, real food.
Nowadays, it scares the heck out of me when people haven't heard about Slow Food -- a non-profit concept that counters fast, tasteless, traditionless morsels that we've gotten so used to. Instead, over 100,000 people and 130 countries are advocating the return of the responsible and delicious palate.
And while the Slow Food movement speaks to all of my ideals and values and economic views, it speaks even more to my stomach. That mozzarella was the best I've ever had, and the thought of eating the shredded kind in a Sargento ziploc bag is not even an option. What I like about Slow Food is that instead of hitting people over the head with guilt, it plays up to our simplest fantasy.
So eat and cook on, friends. But do it slowly.
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8 comments:
I like the concept of Slow Food, here in Croatia we also spend hours at the table. It's a change from "fast-eating" style in America where you are in and out of a restaurant in under an hour! (somehow the waiter coming to your table every 10 minutes puts some sort of pressure to eat up and fast).
I like your blog. Good info
Thanks for the link to your blog. Gives an amazing insight into the Uniqueness that is You, loving-caring-exploring and reiterates my belief in life as a Journey :-)
Like in India where they say "Dhire Dhire," in Greece they say "Siga Siga" and as Elisa pointed out from Croatia, in that region of the World, the sitting down for dinner is just an elaborate affair.
I lived in Greece for 10 years, traveling frequently in the region and abroad.
Looking forward to your musings more often ;-)
I like your concept.. Slow Food does wonders to the palate.
Thank you for sharing. I hope this is okay, but I hope I can follow your blog entries. I'm relatively new at this. Happy Eating :)
These are all the great ideas, thoughts and suggestions which tend to glow our expertise and we could learn more new and unique things from these experienced suggestions for sure.
Sitting around a table with your friends or your wife and eat & drink the amazing italian wines&food is one of the reason to be proud being italian. But, for real mozzarella, Bari (burrata) & Naples (mozzarella bufala) are the best places to eat it. Hey!
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