Chapter 12 Tasty Revolution (1)

--------------- Tasty Revolution (1) --------------- For eating, I have always been able to hear and see-- An old classmate’s girlfriend’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s recommendation (one of these messages can’t be taken lightly!) When you arrive in Venice, you must find this small family-style restaurant called Unagi, and you must eat something... I have arranged and changed my schedule for a few days. The so-called formal viewing of the Biennale, watching architecture and listening to performances has become embellishment. The most important thing is where to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner? What to eat? Which restaurant? Need to make an appointment first? Which one should go to the queue early? Which one can have the cheek to only eat desserts... Work hard, for eating, because it is in Italy, so it is worth it.

Eating and eating in Italy gradually develops from caring about the good food and wine on your table and who is with you to "enjoying" the overall dining atmosphere provided by the neighboring table.I am usually afraid of noise, but I never resist the din of people in large and small restaurants. It is the most relaxing and enjoyable moment for everyone, and it is a step beyond filling the stomach. The choice was at noon on Sunday, and the restaurant opened at 12:45. We arrived early and wandered outside the store.I am more sober during lunch, and I am less likely to be carried away by alcohol. I have time and leisure to pay attention to the table after table of Italian family dinners with the old and the young.Greedily watching people order more authentic dishes that are not on the menu, and the Italian dialogue with high and low accents like a cannonball, I can't understand it, but it is more interesting to guess.The intimacy and harmony between family members is fully revealed in eating and drinking.Pay special attention to those little boys and girls under the age of 10, who are loved by thousands of people, and they will definitely "absorb" more than in ordinary classrooms when they interact and answer questions with their elders at the family dinner table.The training of gluttonous food, the persistence of traditional delicacies, and the cultivation of lifelong benefits from childhood are really enviable.

Today I skipped the appetizers, and I am going to order Gnocchi with crab meat sauce and fresh small cuttlefish grilled on charcoal, and drink a little spirited white wine.The chubby boss, who speaks pretty English, told me with a smile that the potatoes have not grown well recently, and the best gnocchi can’t be made, so let’s try the handmade Fedeli round thin noodles.I was taken aback when I heard it. Didn’t I eat gnocchi in another restaurant yesterday? Of course, a foreigner like me can’t taste the subtle difference between "best" and "not the best". people moved.When the food was not served, I went to the other side of the store for a walk. There was a special counter displaying and selling handmade dry noodles from the neighboring areas of Venice. There were also beautifully printed leaflets introducing a dozen or so restaurants on the nearby islands, emphasizing that they insisted on using them. Restaurants that make traditional tastes with authentic ingredients and form associations. Of course, the eel restaurant we are in is one of them.

This absolutely satisfying lunch, how delicious it is should be tempted to seduce you, but all of this reminded me of the "Slow Food Movement" (SLOWFOOD) that originated in Italy. Slow food is not because the waiters who are too busy to take care of you can't take care of you, let you eat the cold hard bread, and don't know when you can order something hot.Slow food is not about a group of idle gourmets eating up all the romantic food slowly and slowly all day long.Slow food is a delicious revolution with far-reaching meaning and great feelings! It was already in the spring of 1986 that the slow food movement was first exposed in the international media and attracted widespread attention.At that time, the multinational fast food group McDonald's was planning to step into the Italian catering market and planned to open a McDonald's next to the Spanish Steps Piazza di Spagna, a famous tourist attraction in Rome.On the opening day, in addition to the flock of American tourists (!) Curious young Italian customers, there was also a group of demonstrators led by Italian food columnist and social activist Carlo Petrini.Holding plate after plate of Italian macaroni in their hands, they show up with traditional food to guard against the public who are increasingly accustomed to the American fast food model-why do they switch to McDonald's when they are good and have their mother's taste?

Long before this demonstration, Carlo Petrini was already the head of an organization called Arcigola that was determined to preserve traditional cuisine.Carlo, who comes from the Langa wine region in the northern city of Bra, has been concerned about how the traditional food and specialty products of his hometown can continue to operate and flourish under the drastic economic structure in the early years. The scale of the organization and activities grew, and the Slow Food movement was officially renamed in 1989. It was not just the general fast food (Fast Food), but the entire fast food culture (FastLife).

What to eat? How to eat? Where to eat? For Carlo Petrini and his Slow Food comrades, it is a principled attitude that matters.The Slow Food movement not only emphasizes the healthy eating of individuals, but also the concept of territory.A local is inextricably linked with local ingredients, recipes, local cultural traditions, and local cultural spirit.The ancient taste passed down from generation to generation conveys the rooted color and fragrance, so that people can settle down and feel at ease. How can the hasty and rough fast food be a substitute? Carlo used the investigation to debunk McDonald's claim that 80% of the ingredients are Italian products, and found that everything from beef for hamburger stuffing to wheat for bread to fried (and bird) nuggets to salad vegetables to potatoes to olives Oils are all produced on a factory scale, not to mention the natural taste and texture of food. No wonder McDonald’s passing through the world has the same stagnant oily smell and the chemical fragrance of the toilet cleaner that is given at the same time. .As for the overwhelming advertisements of these fast food chains, dedicated to the ever-changing store environment, giving small gifts for redemption, and even the politeness and smiling faces of the waiters, none of them can conceal their most critical weakness. The food is not good at all, and it is even harmful to health!

It must be a thankless and stupid thing to fight against the leading brothers of these fast food groups.But also because of the deep love for the local food culture, Carlo and his comrades cultivated it silently, organized local agro-industrialists all over Italy, and held countless tastings for wine, cheese, truffle olives and other ingredients. Wine and food tasting sessions, published numerous survey reports, contributed to the declaration of the innovative alliance of many peasant associations, and thus attracted the enthusiastic attention and support of relevant import and export companies around the world, especially the ubiquitous gourmets. Slow Food The movement has grown from a small group of hundreds of people to an organization with numerous global chapters (among them, the American chapter has the largest population!) and is no longer "underground" and not only a "diet" organization with frequent activities. .