ITALY’S MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE RESPONDS TO ACCUSATIONS OF FOOD RACISM BY BRITISH NEWSPAPERS THE GUARDIAN AND TIMES: “THERE IS NO GASTRONOMIC RACISM IN ITALY. BUT THE IDENTITY OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE MUST BE DEFENDED…”

“My battle is not against someone, but in defense of an identity: to safeguard a food and agriculture treasure that is the fruit of the extraordinary cultural wealth of our country”. This was one of the comments made by Italy’s Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia, in an open letter written in response to reports of “gastronomic racism” in Italy by the British newspapers Times and The Guardian.

The Times recently published an article on ethnic restaurants in Italy and the decision by the mayor of the town of Lucca to ban kebab restaurants from opening in the historic center, within which it also noted that Italian cuisine is actually fruit of international contamination and that these recent events are just a sign of the fervent new trend against foreigners in the country. Another similar article was then published in The Guardian, in which it is stated that Italians are annoyed by foreign cuisine but that Italian cooking is an invention from only the last century, and though the quality of Italian cuisine may be undeniable, there is still the risk of declining entirely into localism and forgetting that, for example, Venetian style baccalà uses a fish from the Baltic Sea.

“It is the uniqueness of our multiplicity” – explained Minister Zaia in his replication – “that we are striving to safeguard and which is so appreciated throughout the world. One’s food and cultural identity cannot be lost in the name of hospitality, otherwise there is the risk of becoming an empty container that has nothing left to offer… Abdicating the variety and typicalness that counter distinguishes our culinary tradition in the name of principles of mixing and of food contiguity at any cost means, in my opinion, impoverishes a patrimony”.

Zaia even proposed his idea on what the solution should be: “I myself have placed myself as a spokesperson for a possible conciliation, proposing the use of Italian products when preparing dishes from other countries, for example, Cantonese rice made with our eggs, ham, and one of the extraordinary varieties of rice that is grown in our country”.

Source: Adnkronos