QUALITALY_129

June/July 202 2 II MAGAZINE decrease in the availability of beef. Grains and dairy products, more cost-effective than meat, were introduced to feed the population. In addition, cattle were essen- tial for pulling the plow and cultivating. For these closely related reasons, the use of beef was prohibited. Which it did, not by a simple ban, but by elevating the animal from an object of sacrifice to a full-fledged deity. The ban on the slaughter and con- sumption of beef and veal is a social and economic measure which, in this case, has determined the eating habits of the entire continent. Food then becomes, along with language, religion and traditions, a strong element of cultural identity. When cultures meet, the need to remain anchored to their customs and identity emerges, and at the same time the desire for knowledge is created. The meal becomes a moment of conviviality and meeting, a dialogue between cultures. Food builds bridges. It creates links between people and their region. Culture, people and territory, values that CIC wants to communicate with the new Qualitaly brand. Carefully selected ingredients evoke the places of their origins. People tell the stories of the products through culinary traditions. Products that, with their history, bind people together and make up the region’s culture. by Nicola Levorato AT PAGE 10 FOCUS ON The green you expect PRESENTING LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLY GROWN (OR FARMED) INGREDIENTS IS A BASIC PREREQUISITE NOW TAKEN FOR GRANTED BY CUSTOMERS. NOW SOME ARE RAISING THE BAR. HERE’S HOW by Anna Muzio Sustainability, from niche to mainstream: the step was anything but short, it took years, adverse climatic events and even a pandemic. Suffice it to say that one of the first restaurants to take a gourmet approach to plant-based cuisine, Greens, opened in San Francisco way back in 1979. Today, however, the issue has become crucial: food systems around the world are under unprecedented pressure. Between the climate crisis and the problems arising from Covid-19, the challenges of feeding a growing population, tackling obesity and ending hunger have become, if possible, even more pressing and overt: at home, in restaurants and, hopefully, in the circles of power. What has changed compared to only two years ago is customer awareness. By now, in fact, offering local and traceable products and vegetarian options is no longer an oddity or a niche for the few, but a prerequisite that everyone, starting with the youngest, expects when they sit down at a restaurant table. So, the bar is being raised. And many chefs and owners are pushing the accelerator towards an even more environmentally friendly and healthy food approach. In what direction? We explain below. At the centre, however, remains the importance of knowing the ingredient, those headmasters of biodiversity in which our country is very rich (says Bottura : ‘What can we do for Italy? Fall in love with it, fall madly in love again with our country’). LOCAL IS BETTER What has made and still makes Italian cuisine great is the regional, and indeed local, diversity of its products and traditions, which some are recovering in an almost philological manner. As is the case at Ronchi Rò in Collio, where Fares Issa , a young Syrian chef (because diversity in the kitchen is strength and curiosity is more important than autochthonous origin) is focusing on enhancing the territory and its products. Starting with the wines: the idea is to bring all the Collio Doc labels for tasting at the restaurant, around 700 bottles from 130 companies. But also on the menu are the Rose of Gorizia , Resia garlic, Salàm tal aset and radic di mont (Cicerbita alpina). CM ZERO: IN-HOUSE PREPARATIONS If dinner is to be an experience as well as good and healthy, there is nothing better than good preparation by the chef’s hands. An increasingly popular approach that speaks of authenticity, craftsmanship, attention to detail and certain traceability: from the kitchen to the table. At Carter Oblio in Rome, for example, they work on fermented products by making different types of kimchi, the slightly spicy vegetables typical of Korean tradition whose most classic version is made with green cabbage. In Milan, Dry Aged experiments with the maturing and maceration of meat, fish and vegetables. While Melaleuca, a café with kitchen in Florence, makes bacon and cheese at home. ZERO WASTE: UPCYCLING ARRIVES The perception towards food waste has also changed: if until a few years ago the doggy bag was asked for in a slightly embarrassed whisper, today it is the norm. Many restaurateurs are striving to reduce that 21% waste for which the industry is responsible to zero. Haoma, in Bangkok,