Slow Food Thanksgiving Quiz

Take the Slow Food Thanksgiving Quiz and learn some tips for making a Slow Thanksgiving Day meal … and also check out the bubble-blurb by Slow Food NOLA’s Gary Granata.

Slow Food New Orleans is once again proud to support our fabulous friends and partners at the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation for the 2nd Healthy Supper Bowl Jam, Thursday Nov 8, 6-8p at the Ashe CAC on OC Haley.  The first “Jam” was a rousing success that launched Slow Food NOLA !  Councilperson Stacy Head will be on hand for this 2nd incarnation of the “Jam” that will feature food by Nola Girl, La Cocinita and Los Poblanos and music by DJ Captain Charles, Bamboula 2000 and the Sistahs Making a Change. Please come support these wonderful food truck vendors, enjoy the music, dance and learn more about healthy eating on a limited budget.

My Italian Experience – Gary Granata

Al Bicerin, located in the old section of Torino Italy, is known for creating the world famous Bicerin, a coffee beverage made with espresso, warm chocolate syrup and topped with chilled cream. This decadent caffeinated delight originated in 1763 when Italian ladies would walk across the small piazza after mass, at the Santuario Basilica La Consulata, and treat themselves to a Bicerin.

The incredible taste of my daily Bicerin and the slow pace of this quaint cafe combine to create the perfect setting to write these blogs, something I am often challenged to accomplish in my faster paced life in the U.S. where “productivity” is the daily mantra. Thus, indulging myself with decadent taste has been the catalyst to slowing myself to a pace that allows me to accomplish more work … kind of an hedonistic spin on the tortoise and the hare.

The references to decadence and hedonism may not resonate with some Westerners as both self-indulgence and striving for pleasure are often considered to be more vices than virtues. Hedonism, a school of thought in which pleasure in the only intrinsic good, is actually central to one of the four major themes of the early Slow Food movement:

“To research and promote the pleasure of gastronomy and conviviality,in a genial and tolerant manner that encourages an approach to food based on the hedonistic advantages of deeper knowledge, the education of the senses, and harmony around the table.”-Carlo Petrini, Slow Food (2003)

The taste of food has become the central focus of my journey to Italy. While I have devoted most of my professional life to the intellectual and scientific study of food and nutrition, I somehow allowed “Good” food to take a backseat to food that is “Clean & Fair.” Curiously, I have been an avid cook since childhood and most of the food I prepare either comes from my own garden or from a local farmer that I have come to know personally. Yet, I somehow grew to take for granted the good taste of food as my food always tasted good, in addition to being healthy and nutritious. Thankfully, Italy has opened my eyes to the importance of taste and how taste plays a major role in sound nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

I had the good fortune to be a graduate student of Dr. Dan Benardot during his tenure as Nutritionist to USA Gymnastics in the 1990′s. Dr. Benardot’s research with the team demonstrated how eating frequently (every 2-3 hours) and avoiding hunger increased performance and optimized body composition. The proof was in the gold medal when the women’s team stepped onto the floor in Atlanta as muscular dynamos, rather than anorexic pixies, and won by the largest margin in Olympic history.

Dr. Benardot’s research also delved into untangling the French Paradox of why the French have such low rates of obesity while indulging themselves in a diet rich in butter, cream, white flour and refined sugar. The very foods that have been labelled as “bad” in the US where the obesity rate continues to proliferate as an epidemic. In general, Europeans eat frequently and do not skip meals, as is the norm in the U.S. Furthermore, portion sizes in Europe are modest, if not petite, compared to the super-sized bargains in America (Kudos to NYC’s mayor Blumberg for outlawing soft drinks > 16 oz!). So, Europeans indulge themselves more often, with smaller portions of delicious food … which is unfortunately changing with the locust-like invasion of western fast food into Europe.

But, back to taste.

I am completely and utterly satisfied by my daily indulgence of Bicerin, though the serving is a mere 6 ounces. The fresh espresso mixed with warm liquore al cioccolate and topped with cool cream … the real stuff … renders my body and soul blissfully satiated. Each sip is a hedonistic adventure to be slowly celebrated and thereby lingers long after the sip is past my lips. Thus, I have little need nor desire for anything else for the 2-3 hours. At which point, I might indulge myself in a petite plate of thinly sliced meat, or possibly some fresh fruit and cheese, or even a small cup of rich gelato. Good taste comes first in whatever I eat in Italy, and thus I have no need to over indulge … and I definitely have no desire to miss an opportunity to eat something delicious.

Contrast this to Americans in their SUV, pulling up to Starbucks’ drive-thru and ordering a “skinny” super grande frappa-crappa-cino topped with artificial, yet cholesterol free whipped cream. Then proceeding to guzzle the 1,000+ calorie caffeine fix while driving, and likely texting, in rush hour traffic, only to hurriedly arrive at work, often late, prompting the need to work through lunch. No worries, as more caffeine, these days in the form of a sugar-free “energy” drink, suppresses appetite, which is somehow considered a virtue in the U.S. (Note: Don’t get me started on “energy” drinks that contain no caloric energy). If the need arises to leave the office, another trip to Starbucks is a good possibility. Then back to the office to work late, followed by the long commute home. The reward for such and arduous and fast-paced day is typically a couple of lite beers, that are mostly light in taste, which are soon followed by the massive consumption of food-like substances that were either foraged at a drive-thru window or gathered from the freezer and popped in a micro-wave to render it semi-palatable.

The quantity and shear volume of food has increased exponentially through the industrialization and standardization of the food supply. But, taste has fallen by the wayside as quality inherently diminishes when quantity is rapidly increased. Thus, people now eat large quantities of food, now abundantly available, in a futile attempt to satisfy their innate need to enjoy the taste of Good food. The result in America is an obesity rate that has risen from 10% to over 30% in a mere 20 years, and a diabetes rate that now tops 10%. The cost of the obesity epidemic needs to factored into the equation when proponents of industrialized food tout how they have decreased the cost of food and somehow increased the quality of life in America. I have seen only one morbidly obese person in Italy during my two week visit and have yet to see an obese child.

The discussion of quantity versus quality brings to mind my background in drumming. The original drums were nothing more than dried animal skins loosely stretched over hollow logs or simply hollow logs themselves. Yet when struck, the naturally resonant sound of these primitive drums could be heard for miles. The resonance or ringing quality of these organic instruments is due to the overtones, the sounds that continue to emanate from acoustic instruments for several seconds after being played. Thus, drums were commonly used to communicate between distant villages and tribes.

Today’s drums are made from a wide variety of materials, many of which are dense and do not resonate. For example, drum heads are commonly made from Kevlar, a synthetic fiber used to make bullet proof vests. Since Kevlar heads are designed to withstand repeated impacts, they produce a dead and non-resonant sound. Thus, drummers fall into bad habits of hitting them too hard, which often leads to tendonitis and other chronic injuries of the wrist and forearm.

However, this dead drum sound has become the popular norm in professional studios and large concert arenas where microphones are placed less than an inch from the drum head. Sound men, the guys sitting behind the large board of control knobs, prefer a dead drum as it is easier to amplify to loud volumes that are typical at concerts performed in large arenas. The World Health Organization has deemed these loud volumes to damage hearing and be a hazard to human health. Once again, quality is sacrificed for quantity with irreversible damage to human health being the result.

The industrialized western world has given us an abundance of loud music, that is hazardous to our health and totally absent of the resonant quality that moves the soul. The industrialized western world has given us an abundance of food-like substances that is central to the epidemic rises of obesity and related diseases and is totally absent of pleasure of taste that we all desire.

Life is all about choices. I choose to listen to music that naturally resonates and moves my soul. I choose to grow and eat food that provide me with the decadent taste that nourishes me with please. And just like the Italian women of the 1700′s, and the four ladies that sat next to my friend and me yesterday, I choose Al Bicerin.

The Mercati della Terra or Slow Food Earth Market is held every other Saturday in Milano Italy at the Fabbrica del Vapore, an old fabrication warehouse that has been transformed into shops and restaurants. I traveled via il treno veloce, fast train, from Torino on the 3rd Saturday in October. I arrived at the market at 10 am and was warmly greeted by market managers Alessandro and Paolo.

A gustatory tour of the market began with espresso from l’Art Caffe who served us presidia coffee from Guatemala. Presidia are projects that involve food communities in safeguarding native breeds, plant varieties and food products (bread, cheese, cured meats, wines, etc.). We then sampled Tipico Lodigiano, a delicious aged cheese produced in nearby Lodi, the hometown of mia nonna (my grandmother) Secondina Granata.

Around 11am, Alessandro asked me if I wanted to try some local handcrafted bier, to which I replied “it’s noon somewhere” … and the real slow food market soon ensued. I took a seat at a nearby table, which was quickly covered with cups of bier, large round loaves of fresh bread, sausage & cheese. Even though I am gluten intolerant, I could not resist trying, and eventually gorging myself on, the fresh bread made from locally grown and milled wheat. Note: I am writing this 2 days after visiting Milano and have yet to suffer the ill effects of my gluten intolerance. Thus posing the question, am I truly gluten intolerant or simply can no longer stomach the GMO merde cranked out by US agribusiness?

We were soon joined by three generations of Alessandro & Paolo’s families, in-laws and friends … each of whom would shop the market and add to the ever growing feast that now covered three tables and included countless bottles of wine. Wine appears to be the essential catalyst for slowing any meal to a savory pace. We ate, drank and shared stories, many of which were about New Orleans and crawfish, until the market closed at 2:30.

Alessandro and Paolo spoke of their motivation for working at the Earth Market to preserve and promote local the food of Milan and the Lombardy region. They both have infant children and became concerned by the westernization and degradation of their native food culture. They are keenly aware of the incredibly high obesity rate in America and how poor quality industrialized food is a major contributor to the epidemic. Most importantly, they enjoy the taste of good food, which they found missing in the American fast food that was overtaking their culture. They appreciate how good food energizes the body while commercial food leaves one with a bloated and listless feeling. They understand that food is only truly good when it is both clean and fair. Thus, they dedicate themselves to Slow Food’s mission of Good, Clean and Fair Food … both for themselves and their young families.

Milan sits at the crossroads of the old and contemporary worlds. The city is well known for its ornate old world architecture, much of which was crafted by the famous stone carvers of Milan. Milan is also Italy’s financial center and one of the world’s most influential cities for contemporary design, particularly in the fields of fashion, furniture and architecture. However, the juxtaposition of old and new influences creates a visual tapestry that is quite difficult to digest or comprehend as contemporary sky scrapers obtrusively dot the landscape where historic old neighborhoods once existed.

After the market, Alessandro drove me to the center of the city so I could play tourist before making my return to Torino. I was rendered breathless by my first sight of the Duomo di Milano, the gigantic and ornate stone-carved cathedral in the city’s center. Yet, I was totally dumbfounded by Trenitalia’s brand new bullet train sitting in the middle of the piazza in front of the Duomo. This tacky marketing campaign made me briefly wish for the second coming so I could witness Jesus overturning the bright red choo-choo onto its side. The gorgeous fountain outside the Castello Sforzesco was overshadowed by a gargantuan Time Square-like billboard of a male fashion model. Milano Centrale train station is also a beautiful old carved stone building that is adorned with countless marble statues. Yet, every single turnstile is an advertisement for the golden arches.

I now understood why Alessandro and Paolo were so driven to preserve their culture. I now understood why Carlo Petrini and friends were driven to launch the Slow Food movement in Northern Italy in 1986.

The alliance between America and Northern Europe became considerably stronger in the 1980′s, largely due to the strong ties between the Reagan and Thatcher regimes. The American fast food industry invaded Europe in the 80′s in a manner similar to the Allied invasion of WWII. Small farmers and artisan food producers soon fell under the onslaught of burgers, sodas and buckets o’chicken in a manner similar to which the Nazis crumbled beneath allied troops, planes and tanks. The fast, disposable and convenient “American Way” was marketed as making life easier and therefore better. Thus, the run for the border was met with little resistance. That is until the clown and the colonel crossed into Northern Italy and ran into a group of idealistic traditionalists that valued the taste of good food over the transparent promise of a more convenient way to live.

Good, Clean and Fair Food is well-worth the effort … especially when it is shared with good friends and lots of wine on a gorgeous day in Milano.

Epilogue: The 3rd Saturday in October is special to me as that is the traditional day when Alabama, my alma mater, plays our oldest rival Tennessee. I wore my crimson to Milano for two reasons; 1) it was game day and wearing anything else would have be blasphemous, and 2) my Italian grandparents Ettore and Secondina came from small villages near Milan and I wanted to represent my home in their hometown. The tailgate party that my Italian hosts shared with me at the Milano market is one I will never forget and hope to one day return when they come to New Orleans.

My travels to Italy to attend Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto & Terra Madre, by Gary Granata

The predictably unpredictable predicaments of international travel provided me with the good fortune of having my very first meal in Italy at the birthplace of the Slow Food movement, the Osteria Boccondivino in Bra. I travelled by train from Torino to Bra on Wednesday, my third day in Italy. Yes, I had my first meal on my third day in this country known for it’s gastronomic culture … a tale told at the end of this blog.

I met Slow Food staffer Elisa Demichelis outside the International Headquarters. We took a short stroll down a narrow cobbled street and entered a quaint courtyard. A sculpture of the now famous Slow Food snail stood in the corner, marking the very spot where the grassroots movement germinated as Carlo Petrini and fellow founders savored the food and wine of the Piedmont and decided that regional food traditions were worth preserving.

I could not help but notice a giant wisteria vine had wound its way around the balconies of the courtyard. I felt at home as I used to climb and play in an even larger wisteria in my neighborhood when I was a very young child. We climbed the wisteria enshrouded staircase and entered the Osteria Boccondivino. Osteria is symbolic of local, seasonal and traditional cuisine served in a family style establishment at moderate prices.

Paolo di Croce, Secretary General of Slow Food, joined us at our table and an incredible meal and conversation ensued. Paolo ordered foods and wine traditional to Bra and the Piedmont region and an amazing pranzo (lunch) began with a toast to new friends and slow ventures.

Lardo, salsiccia di Bra e carne cruda, small sausages made with raw veal, was the first antipasto dish to hit the table … amazing! Next was Vitello tonnato, veal carpaccio with a creamy mayonnaise seasoned with tuna … astounding! Tajarin al burro e salvia o al sugo di Salsiccia di Bra, delicately thin pasta made with 40 egg yolks per kg and served with a butter and sausage sauce was my main course. The ingredients suggest a heavy dish, but it was both light on my palate and my stomach and pared perfectly with the local wine. And finally, Paolo insisted I have the panna cotta for dessert … and yes, I ate the whole thing! I was left speechless and truly humbled by the entire experience.

My first meal in Italy, the birthplace of my grandparents, in the very spot that gave birth to the Slow Food movement and shared with two wonderful people that took time from their busy preparations for Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre … these words and pictures simply do not do justice to the blessing that was bestowed me that day.

Elisa then drove me a few kilometers to visit the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. UNISG was founded by Slow Food in 2004 with the goal to create an international research and education center dedicated to renewing farming methods, protecting biodiversity, and building an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science.

Daniela Pirani served as my tour guide. The campus, facilities and surrounding vistas are truly inspiring. My incredible day simply got better and better. Unfortunately, the tour was cut short as I had a train to catch. But, seeds were planted, good friends were made and my journey in Italy had only just begun.

Epilogue: How I had my 1st meal on my 3rd day in Italy I arrived in Italy on Monday afternoon.

My travels included a delayed flight in St. Louis, a cancelled international flight in Newark, a “Mr Toad’s Wild Ride” shuttle to JFK for a flight to Paris and connection to Torino. I had planned to exchange money at the airport, but choose a different course after learning about their fee for services … a prelude to what awaited me. I found a taxi that took credit cards and proceeded to take me on a $cenically circuitous tour of Torino. I knew I was being taken for a ride when the driver popped in the Blues Brother’s CD. But hey, I was in Italy for the first time, the weather was great, the sights were beautiful and I was listening to Cab Calloway sing Minnie the Moocher … how apropos. We finally headed into the old city, drove past the Royal Palace and proceeded a few blocks down the narrow and cobbled Via del Carmine, my street for the next 16 nights. Believe or not, I actually tipped the guy, even though he had just fleeced me for 13 Euro more than the standard fare from the airport … ciao Mario the Moocher!

I was soon greeted by my temporary landlords Daniela & Dario, who led me to a quaint apartment on the 4th floor overlooking the courtyard. We shared pleasantries and made plans to meet Tuesday for lunch so I could pay my rent once I had exchanged my money for Euros. They gave me a few recommendations of neighborhood restaurants that would accept my credit card. Once the left, I laid down for a brief nap that turned into a 15 hour sleepfest … so, no soup for me on day 1.

I awoke early Tuesday morning and hit the streets with two tasks; 1) exchange my money …. errrr, travelers checks and 2) “make groceries” at the neighborhood morning markets. I visited 9 banks in the morning. Even though my Italian is very poor, I soon understood that Italian banks were not fond of American Express travelers checks. So by lunch on day 2, I found myself still rich in travelers checks and credit cards, but with nary a Euro in my pocket … and I owed my hosts 2 weeks rent in Euros.

Daniela and Dario arrived for lunch, learned of my plight and began calling banks to find one that would exchange my unpopular legal tenders. While I understood hardly a word Dario spoke on the phone, the bulging veins in his neck easily communicated his displeasure in what he was being told. He located banks in both Roma & Milano that would exchange my pieces of paper, but none in Torino. So, we jumped in his car and the adventure continued.

Bank #11 finally accepted my checks, but only $600 (~$450 Euro) per day … and I owed Daniella more than twice that amount. We then visited bank #12 to exchange the few American dollars that I had in my pocket. I choose to view the day as a fun adventure. I made two good friends, got to see the city and accomplished one of my two tasks by the end of the day. Plus, I was in Italy … why complain?

I returned to my apartment and busied myself with e-mailing friends/family and researching how I was going to find my way to Bra the next day. Before long, the clock struck midnight and I had yet to dine in Italy. So, I hit the sack.

OK, I was not starving. My friends will tell you that I always carry calories, usually delicious homemade snacks, especially when I travel. I refuse to waste my money or risk my health on the expensive crap offered in airports and (in)convenience stores. I had made ~ 5 pounds of chocolate date & nut rolls and also stashed some fruit in my bag. My hosts provided some complimentary water and juice at the apartment, so I was fine. Overall, things could have not turned out better. My first meal in Italy was savored in the very spot where Slow Food started … what a memorable way to start a trip!