When tourists or foreign friends come to visit us, they always ask us to cook together: sometimes they're actual cooking lessons, other times they're just moments of conviviality.
This is why I like the motivations expressed by the UNESCO committee, which defines Italian cuisine as: "a cultural and social blend of culinary traditions, a way to care for oneself and others, express love, and rediscover one's cultural roots... a community activity that emphasizes intimacy with food, respect for ingredients, and moments shared around the table."
This is undoubtedly true, but there's more.
My friends and guests are surprised by the fact that traditional Italian dishes are made with just a few ingredients. A plate of pasta with sauce is made with oil, garlic or onion, tomato, and basil. Carbonara is made with eggs, pepper, pecorino cheese, and guanciale.
I could go on for hours, but the point is always that to make the iconic dishes of Italian tradition, you need few but high-quality ingredients!
And who produces these ingredients?
The thousands of small businesses scattered throughout the region, even in inland areas. The women who harvest chicory and herbs from the fields and bring them to local markets, like the one in Colleferro. The winemakers who preserve native grape varieties and the landscape and reveal that there is more to life than Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. The young people throughout Italy who have returned to growing ancient grains, even though production is very low and wild boars eat half of it.
I could go on and on. Tomatoes picked in the field at the right time of year have a flavor that cannot be compared to those grown in greenhouses.
"We try to cook as we were taught in Italy, but the flavor of the dishes is different because your raw materials are impossible to find elsewhere," this is what my friends abroad tell me.
So I must say that the prize for Italian cuisine should be distributed among all those who work the fields with love and organic methods. And I thank my daughter, who, with her Donna Vittori Borgo Agricolo (www.donnavittori.com), introduced me to this world.
The true UNESCO heritage is the workers of Italy's small fields!!!
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