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N. 249, MAY 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS

L’ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA FOUNDED IN 1953 BY ORIO VERGANI AND LUIGI BERTETT , D INO BUZZATI TRAVERSO , CESARE CHIODI , G IANNINO CITTERIO , ERNESTO DONÀ DALLE ROSE , M ICHELE GUIDO FRANCI , GIANNI MAZZOCCHI BASTONI , A RNOLDO MONDADORI , ATTILIO NAVA , A RTURO ORVIETO , S EVERINO PAGANI , ALDO PASSANTE , G IAN LUIGI PONTI , G IÒ PONTI , DINO VILLANI , E DOARDO VISCONTI DI MODRONE , WHIT MASSIMO ALBERINI AND VINCENZO BUONASSISI .

DEAR ACADEMICIANS… CIVI LT ÀDELL ATAVOLA 6 The Birth of Middle Class ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA 3 Italian Restaurants Abroad INTERNATIONAL EDITION (Nicola Rivani Farolfi ) MAY 2013 / N. 249 in a Time of Globalizazion

EDITOR IN CHIEF (Giovanni Ballarini) GIOVANNI BALLARINI

ASSISTANT EDITOR AND ART DIRECTOR 8 Restaurant Acoustics FRANCESCO RICCIARDI FOCUS (Maurizio Campiverdi ) COPY EDITOR SILVIA DE LORENZO 4 The Perennial Topicality EDITORIAL SECRETARY of the Italian Academy TILDE MATTIELLO FRANCO MARENGHI of Cuisine STUDY CENTER LAYOUT (Paolo Petroni) MARIA TERESA PASQUALI

TRANSLATORS 9 Is Family Cuisine NICOLA LEA FURLAN DONALD J. C LARK CULTURE AND RESEARCH Still Alive and Well?

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BY (Silvia De Lorenzo ) Giovanni Ballarini, Maurizio Campiverdi, Silvia De Lorenzo, Paolo Petroni, 5 Piadinas and Piadinerias Gianbruno Polllini, Nicola Rivani Farolfi. (Gianbruno Pollini ) ❖❖❖

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On the cover: Lobsters , painted by Pasquarosa Bertoletti Marcelli around 1930, is part of the exhibition Our Fascination with Simple Objects , at the GNAM in through June 2. The subtitle, Still Life from the Collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art well describes the artist’s slant. This rarely displayed series of works owned by the Gallery revolves around a common theme. There are many interesting still lifes in the exhibit, all painted between 1910 and 1950, including works by Pasquarosa (1896-1973 artistically she did not use her last name), a Roman painter of peasant origin born in Anticoli Corrado. Having come to Rome at an early age, she initially worked at as model. Her debut as a painter came in 1915 when the Rivista associata colorful verve of her work combined with her spontaneous opposition to the academy thrust her into the all’Unione Stampa limelight. Starting in the 1920s, although she still occupied a marginal place in the Roman context, she Periodica Italiana participated in all major expositions of the time.

CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA 2013 • N. 249 • PAGE 2 DEAR ACADEMICIANS...

Italian Restaurants Abroad in a Time of Globalizazion

BY GIOVANNI BALLARINI ing, the problem has increased ow - it is necessarily to make a schematic President of the Academy ing to the global economic crisis. distinction among at least three types One example is Argentina, which of abroad: low cuisine , The Academy some time ago enacted a commercial industrial cuisine , and high cuisine , policy that could lead to the closing each of which is different from the has an important role of its markets to our typical and tradi - other. These differences in part re - to play in identifying tional products, and at the same time flect a situation that has already taken foster an increase in their imitations. place in . thosenrestaurants abroad Along these lines it is easy to imagine It is very difficult to affect low cui - that offer, maintain how, in addition to Argentine wines, sine that, both in Italy and abroad we will soon see the emergence of qualifies itself as “Italian cuisine”, and defend true Argentine olive oil, pasta, and espe - starting with pizzerias or places that Italian cuisine. cially a series of Argentine cheeses offer low cost “pepperoni ” and salamis that are of lower cost made with sausage (NB: In Italian, and of increasingly good quality. All peperoni means green peppers) or these Italian style products compete “pasta Bolognese”, in which the with those that Italy exports in an in - are served with meatballs. creasingly globalized market. The This is a cuisine in which “Italian well known example of good quality sounding” products are used because Moldavian grana cheese that is avail - their cost is much lower than the im - able in Italy is a case in point. ported product. To some degree, per - What I have briefly outlined sug - haps it’s more opportune for Ameri - gests a series of questions regarding cans to believe that the pizza they or - Italian cuisine abroad in so many der in a their local restau - countries with their own different rants is their own invention and a . For cultural reasons, the sit - unique American patrimony, only to uation in North America is different discover what real Italian pizza is ear Academicians, regional from that in South America, or from when they arrive in Italy. Italian cuisine is traditional the emerging countries of the Orient, It is equally difficult to intervene ef - D and is based on the use of lo - and so on. Equally different is the fectively in the industrial cuisine of cal products. This condition creates condition of those dishes that are of Italian style processed ready-to-eat difficulties abroad, given the large necessity tied to the Italian, if not re - foods, which owing to insurmount - number of so-called “Italian sound - gional, origin of one or more ingredi - able conditions imposed by the in - ing” imitations - products that con - ents, from that of those dishes that do dustrial economy, primarily use jure up a non-existent Italian image not necessarily have that require - generic products, or at best those but are not Italian at all. They are ment, as in some of the above men - “made by Italy ”. It is also a cuisine generally low quality products, pack - tioned examples. There is also the that utilizes production, conserva - aged using an Italian name or flag delicate issue of the use in Italian cui - tion, distribution and consumer sys - but having nothing to do with Italy. sine of “made by Italy” products; that tems that are not part of traditional For quite some time we have ob - is, those Italian style products that Italian cuisine, starting with heating served and noted this situation, Italian companies are increasingly by microwave, that are required by which has caused considerable harm producing abroad using Italian customers who demand “fast” or to the Italian economy and indeed to equipment exported for those mar - “convenience” foods even at home. the very image of our products kets (pasta, salami, etc.) In a complex Most important for Italy, and espe - abroad. Today, rather than diminish - situation like the one outlined above cially “ made by Italy ” firms, remains

CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA 2013 • N. 249 • PAGE 3 DEAR ACADEMICIANS...

high cuisine , which is analogous to perfect, or near perfect, and it must High cuisine Italian restaurants high fashion, quality interior furnish - satisfy the needs of a relatively re - abroad, with their “great chefs” are ings, exclusive jewelry, and luxury stricted social group. It is in high cui - the only ones that are able to pro - car sectors in which price is not seen sine that we find the best Italian mote, sustain and defend high quality as an obstacle, but rather confers an products, in which the brand name and elite . Our elite and prestigious symbolic value or high specification assume particu - Academy has an important role to to the product. High prestige prod - lar importance: a simple DOP or IGP play by pointing out which restau - ucts, like high cuisine , cannot and denotation will not suffice. A perfect rants abroad can teach people about should not compete with mass pro - example is DOP Champagne, in true Italian cuisine, thereby safe - duced and broadly consumed ones, which the brand name, with the qual - guarding the identity of our tradition - for which price plays a decisive role. ity specifications, vintage, and in - al and regional foods. In high cuisine everything must be evitably price, predominate. GIOVANNI BALLARINI

DI PAOLO PETRONI THE PERENNIAL TOPICALITY OF THE ITALIAN ACADEMY OF CUISINE

he adjective in the title may appear a tad imposing, of Lincei that could apply the acuity of sight of the lynx in strong and almost a provocation. Perennial here observing the universe; the Academy of Crusca that aimed T does not mean eternal, but rather it stands for the at protecting the true language by separating the wheat enduring, continuous presence of our Academy. The from the chaff; the Academy of the Intronati that strove to name was debated long and hard by our founders, who at be free from the noises of the world and to harbor sharper first were hesitant about “Association” or “Club” but then thoughts; the Academy of Concordi that had solidarity on became convinced, at the suggestion of the talented pub - its mind; the Academy of Oscuri that was devoted to ema - licity guru Dino Villani, that “Academy” was the correct nating the light of truth; the Academy of Umidi that cele - designation. brated the plain language of the populace in opposition to With great wisdom it was decided that it would not be the Academy of Infiammati that upheld the classicism en - the Academy of Italian Cuisine, which does not exist, but twined with Latin. rather the Italian Academy of Cuisine. The name stuck In due time, with the advent of the Enlightenment, sci - and surely was endowed with perennial “up-to-dateness”. ence too became enthralled with the academies, particular - But why academy? An academy is an institution dedicated ly those of “Cimento” that adopted the famous motto of to the most refined studies and to elevating knowledge to “trying and retrying”, and the Georgophiles with whom we new heights. have recently signed a memorandum of understanding. The term Academy derives from the Greek to describe All things considered, Academy is the correct definition: the philosophical school of Plato, founded in 387 BC and we are not professionals, we are passionate lovers of our located just outside the Athenian walls, named after the subject, free from encumbrances and not bound by cen - war hero Academus , who had donated to the city a plot of sorship or moral debts. Freedom, however, must be han - land that became a public garden. It was here that Plato dled with great care. We should be grateful not only to conducted his philosophical discussions with his disci - our founding fathers, but also to those who have led the ples. Later on, as the sharper minds were curbed by the Academy until now, preserving it from cliques, blandish - powerful censorship of the men in power and most decid - ments, egos and political and economic involvements. We edly by the dogma of the church, the place became a have come to a new convocation in a delicate phase for meeting point for groups of people stimulated by diverse our gastronomy, squeezed by an ever worsening crisis disciplines, not all of them learned minds or practitioners and the striving by the chef to introduce novelties at all of literature and philosophy by profession. costs. Starting with Humanism and the Renaissance, most no - We have always said that our mission is to protect our tably in Florence, the modern academies came to life, of - traditions by improving them from generation to genera - tentimes masked by imaginative names with a student’s tion, but everything that surrounds us must remind us of mocking twist, in order to escape the blows of censorship. the commitment undertaken by the Academy. In this spir - This is how academies came about, such as the Academy it, its work is vital and perennially up to date.

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Piadinas and Piadinerias

BY GIANBRUNO POLLINI The name, perhaps, that is still used radicchio and so on, and then herbs Delegate, Cervia-Milano Marittima in the hinterland, far away from the to be sautéed with garlic, onion, shal - beaches and the night clubs, or in lots, pancetta, lard, fats, natural aro - Once a hand made local food, certain houses in small towns where mas. And then squacquarone cheese, little girls learn to prepare their first pecorino, goat cheese and more sea - piadinas are now being piadine rolled by their mothers. The soned cheeses. Also, cold cuts in mass produced both name is still used by the people of general: lard, pancetta, ciccioli Romagna when they buy them, al - (scraps of fats)”. Together with in Italy and abroad. though they are aware that nowadays these fillings, the only ones that can the dough is worked by machine and be faithful to the original taste of this the cooking surface is nothing but a dish, the evolution of taste has intro - flat metal pan heated by electricity. duced subtle changes, such as the Even though tradition rests upon re - addition of bicarbonate to make a membrances, the habit surrounding a softer dough, and a number of true asotti’s Dictionary of the certain food and its taste are also re - mutations that no matter how im - Italian spoken in Romagna sponsible for the modern face of the probable they may look, will proba - M (Vocabolario Romagnolo piadina . bly enhance a new taste. We are thus Italiano , Zanichelli, 1996) contains The piadineria appeared in the seeing the arrival of piadine filled the following definition: “Piada. A years of the economic boom and the with Nutella and chocolate, tropical thin focaccia of unleavened bread, incipient mass tourism, as a provi - fruit, jams and marmalades, quite re - cooked over a hot surface, typical of sional semi-mobile food stand, to sat - moved from the time when only hon - the Romagna Region. The Romagnoli isfy the hurried appetite of the ey was used, especially in the area consider it a symbol of the family, of young. It featured piadas prepared at around Cervia, all the way to mar - the land and the social life that the home and then cooked over hot riages with foods of highly differenti - community had embraced. Its fra - plates with the traditional ingredi - ated cultural traditions. grance spreads happiness and feel - ents. Thus it became an official com - One could defend such trends by ings of friendship and love”. In the ponent of the vast and varied system remembering that the piadin a, in its beginning, it was nothing more than of global eateries joining the most essence, is nothing more than a a simple focaccia made by peasants, popular pizzerias, bread and kebab bread, accompanied from the begin - never modified over the centuries, vendors. Food chains are now offer - ning of time by whatever may be without any evolution, cooked to eat ing franchising, key in hand, of the available, in economic and cultural with whatever was leftover from a gastronomic experience of the piadi - terms, to people who look for nour - previous meal and whatever was na (or piadena as the purist Morri ishment. Even the unthinkable fill - available in small quantities. But later called it), knowing full well that the ings may be welcome because taste it did evolve into a typical dish with taste comes first and foremost from is taste. And yet, those who believe two souls: the first as a dish with the the ingredients. They strive to serve a that food is also civilization are also value of a memento that marks the wheat base that must be “fresh and cognizant that only by searching the tourist’s adventure in Romagna and never frozen” and use as ingredients roots of tradition we can understand the second as a testimony of taste fillings that are produced in semi-arti - the product of such civilization. Only and of an Italian matrix that those sanal kitchens. the taste and aromas of the “original people who have left their country The historic composition of such piada ” can speak to us about Ro - wish to satisfy by finding a “ piadiner - ingredients has remained basically magna and Italy. The “ piadinari ”, i.e. ia ” in order to feel close to home and the same, although it may be difficult the consumers of piadine , know that rediscover the experience of a won - to find some of them as a conse - well even when adapting to the local derful taste. If those are the visible quence of the evolution of cultures: preferences, they strive to offer a souls of the piadin a in our times, “herbs from the house garden such slice of genuine Italy in foreign coun - what is left of the original piadina? as cabbages, nettles, corn poppies, tries.

CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA 2013 • N. 249 • PAGE 5 CULTURE AND RESEARCH

The Birth of Middle Class Cuisine

BY NICOLA RIVANI FAROLFI t is widely accepted that the birth ing cuisine. The era was a cornu - Academician, -Brera Delegation of bourgeois cuisine was a direct copia of game, and of sweet and I consequence of the French Revo - sour or sweet and savory contrasts At the beginning lution. The decimation of the noble that have survived to this day in class would have led the culinary some historic dishes, especially pas - of the 18 th century personnel of the important families tries. Some classic examples are there was already to seek out new occupations and panforte from Siena or panpepato open new businesses. This is true for from Ferrara. Still, these products a demand for change the most part and explains why the were reserved for a small group of in the art of cuisine. establishment of great restaurants elites. took place in France before any - The desire for a culinary renova - where else. tion that would lighten up dishes However, if we focus on the histor - and make them available to a broad - ical reality, we realize that as a social er group of people was born in class, the bourgeoisie had already France. It was a phenomenon simi - begun to develop much earlier, so lar to the one that took place during much so that it was able to marshal the second half of the last century the destructive force that allowed it that led to the development of nou - to bring down the prevailing order. velle cuisine . Sauces were made The French middle class, and to an lighter, fresh herbs were added, and even greater extent that of the low vegetables assumed a greater role in countries, already played a funda - the main dish. mental role in the 17 th century econ - In essence, the technique of “en - omy (one need only think of the riching” the plate was replaced by Flemish paintings depicting wealthy one of the “counterpoint”. One prin - bourgeois associations), and since ciple ingredient was enhanced and the early 1800s we can detect a showcased with other ingredients strong demand for a change in the that exalted it. art of cuisine. The term “bourgeois” was already In his Cuisinier Moderne , pub - used in 1745 in François Menon’s La lished in 1733, Vincent La Chapelle Cuisinière bourgeoise to refer to a demonstrated that there was a great modern cuisine, in polemical con - desire for culinary renovation. trast not to a provincial one but to an The cuisine of the Renaissance was “old” cuisine. The new fashion rapid - the province of the royal court, and ly spread across Europe, as we can as such was based on ostentation: its see from several cookbooks pub - purpose was to demonstrate the op - lished in various countries. In Italy ulence of the nobles, using as many we had the publication of The Gal - of the rarest and most varied and un - lant Cook by Vincenzo Corrado and usual ingredients possible. The dis - The New Economical Milanese Cook covery of the Americas and the con - by Giovan Felice Luraschi (1829). stitution of the East India Company The greatest change that would constantly brought new products to take place during the 19 th century the European courts, but it was diffi - came about as a result of inventions cult to integrate them into the exist - both great and small that would

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transform society. In more advanced competition between the culinary tusi. His Science in the Kitchen and economies like France, Great Britain style of the well off, or noble, fami - the Art of Eating Well , first published and Germany the invention of the lies with that of the middle class. in 1891, has remained in print for steam engine would lead to the de - This competition led to the creation over 100 years and has been translat - velopment of a network of river and of many of the dishes for which our ed into many languages. overland transport. This would allow country is so well known today. Alongside bourgeois cuisine we for the rapid transfer of cargo from They are dishes from many traditions must add another, perhaps less no - one part of the country to another, that take advantage of the different ble in its balance and taste, but cer - especially from rural areas to the components of a country that is tainly no less important one of our city. More and newer products ap - topographically complex and climat - tradition: peasant cuisine. In this in - peared at the markets at ever more ically varied. It is a cuisine that is stance, all the ingredients are grown reasonable prices. This exchange al - predominantly regional, and its vari - on the home farm and are utilized lowed for the diffusion of dishes of ations constitute an incomparable with an eye to maximum savings different traditions and expanded the wealth. both in terms of time and money. By gastronomic panorama. Another Bourgeois cuisine, understood as and large, the products are or poor small invention that would have an “within everyone’s reach” exploded origins, but of extraordinary flavor, enormous impact on cuisine was with the diffusion of popular cook - and have generated some of the that of Nicolas Appert, who in 1810 books that took place after the unifi - must delicious dishes in our cuisine: patented a system for hermetically cation of Italy. In 1864 Giovanni pizzoccheri from Valtellina, Tuscan sealing food. That same year the Vialardi, court chef to the House of , Milanese cassoeula , cres - Englishman Pierre Durant patented a Savoy for over 50 years, published centine from Emilia and testaroli method of conserving food in tin his book Simple and Economical from Pontremoli. cans. These two inventions put at the Middle Class Cuisine . In it we find Certainly both bourgeois and peas - disposal of cooks products that many traditional Piedmontese ant cuisine have contributed a char - would become indispensible in 19 th recipes that are easily replicated acter of excellence to Italian cuisine century cookbooks and in modern even by non-professional cooks. The that is recognized throughout the cuisine, such as canned tuna, an - principal authority on bourgeois cui - world. chovies, and capers, not to mention sine was undoubtedly Pellegrino Ar - NICOLA RIVANI FAROLFI tomatoes. In Italy the process of culinary ren - ovation was much slower, as a result of its more complex geographical 2013 ECUMENICALDINNER conformation and political fragmen - tation that would only be unified in The 2012 ecumenical dinner based on the cui - 1861 under the Kingdom of Italy. sine of herbs and spices once again brought The exchange of products was far Academicians in Italy and around the world more limited, even though in time it together at the virtual table. Next year the con - vivial ecumenical dinner will take place Octo - would become important for the cre - ber 17 at 8:30 pm, and its theme will be The ation of certain dishes. Even as late Cuisine of Unforgettable Meat. The theme, cho - as the mid-19 th century the transport sen by the Franco Marenghi Research Center of wine from Piedmont to Liguria or and approved by the President’s Council, in - to Valle D’Aosta was done by horse cludes the cuisine of the “fifth quarter”, but also other meats and animal cart, and in order not to return with products that have always had a place in popular cuisine but that are empty carts, the drayers would take seldom used today because we are no longer subject to a “cuisine of on barrels of anchovies in salt or poverty”. The objective for 2013 therefore will be to rediscover traditional wheels of fontina . The importation dishes that use offal - giblets, organ meats and tripe - that can still have of these products that were unheard a place in frugal modern Italian cuisine. Delegates will be charged with of in Piedmont would lead to the ensuring that the ecumenical dinner is accompanied by an appropriate cultural presentation that discusses the proposed theme and that the birth of the two great local dishes dishes chosen reflect the foods that have been selected by the Council. bagna caoda and fonduta . Italian cuisine is the result of the

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Restaurant Acoustics

BY MAURIZIO CAMPIVERDI t has happened to all of us: We are ticular is emblematic. A restaurant re - -San Luca Delegate seated at a restaurant only to find cently opened in the city that can I ourselves surrounded by an echo - seat 400 in a single large room (we Is it possible ing cacophony that forces us to try to must recall that Bologna is a city of read the lips of our dinner compan - trade fairs). When the room is divid - that once upon a time ions. We look around and see a room ed into four sections using removable all restaurant owners were filled with apparently civilized peo - walls the situation is acceptable. ple, not making unseemly gestures or However when the entire vast space soundproofing geniuses? shouting. Everyone appears to be is used it is an acoustical disaster. speaking in a low voice, but the Clearly acoustics are not a priority words bounce off the walls, are de - in the restaurant business these days. flected onto us from the ceiling and This is also true for many smaller surround us in a deafening and irri - restaurants opened with enthusiasm tating roar. and a spirit of sacrifice on the part of How is this scenario possible espe - young managers. One consideration cially in newly opened restaurants in arises: it is likely that in the past a our increasingly technologically spe - restaurant was built as a restaurant, cialized world? The manager of a not a recycled space once housing restaurant that is about to open must offices or stores as may be the case focus not only on the kitchen, service today. and ambiance, but should also pay The situation is analogous for Paris, attention to the lighting and also - which continues to be the world’s and there’s the rub - to acoustics. restaurant capital. There is not a sin - Soundproofing is of fundamental im - gle old restaurant or typical brasserie portance because we go to restau - that has an acoustics problem. Is it rants not only to eat but also to so - possible that once upon a time all cialize and converse. Today there is restaurant owners were soundproof - no dearth of corrective measures that ing geniuses? I hardly think so! But are both cost effective and non-inva - in recently opened restaurants prob - sive that can substantially mitigate lems abound. The most emblematic acoustical problems and can make a case is that of a restaurant that room devoted to dining a place of opened six years ago in the Latin conviviality. Quarter and this year earned its sec - Let us take a look at two cities that ond Michelin star. It is utterly impossi - I know well: Bologna and Paris. The ble to converse. While it may be true historic restaurants in Bologna do not that being deaf provides the advan - have acoustics problems. It may be tage of not having to listen to non - because the ceilings are high, often sense, being deafened while dining is arched; perhaps because there are absolutely intolerable. Restaurant pa - draperies or bottles lining the walls, trons should revolt! As Academicians but one thing is certain: even in a we should disqualify without hesita - packed room one can converse com - tion all those restaurants with acousti - fortably. New restaurants are another cal issues that render normal and civi - situation altogether. One case in par - lized conversation impossible.

CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA 2013 • N. 249 • PAGE 8 FRANCO MARENGHI STUDY CENTER

Is Family Cuisine Still Alive and Well?

BY SILVIA DE LORENZO new trends. This year, with its 60th unique patrimony that is up to date anniversary, the Academy examines and rich in the wisdom and flavors of A question that concerns Italian cuisine today. And this is pre - our . Carla Chiara - cisely the title of the latest volume in monti, the editor of the cookbook, a worrisome aspect the series, which will be presented at then updated us on the progress of of our cuisine was discussed the convention in Montecatini. And the project. “cuisine today” is the cultural theme Paolo Petroni then turned to the at the meeting of the Franco that will inspire the Academy’s work online Restaurant Guide , which as Marenghi Study Center. this year, continued President Ballari - we know can be downloaded on ni, keeping in mind that while Italian more than 75% of cell phones. The cuisine is currently enjoying great Academy’s website now averages popularity around the world, at 5,000 visitors each month, and we home we are confronted with an have more than 90,000 users on cell epochal change: the collapse of fami - phones and tablets. And since we are ly cuisine. Many issues have con - considered the world’s most consult - tributed to this phenomenon: among ed restaurant guide it is essential that them, the “time” factor, which has led the information be continually updat - to the use of pre-cooked industrially ed and that the information it con - produced products. And as Secretary tains is valid. After a short debate on of the Franco Marenghi Study Center the measures to be adopted toward Alfredo Pelle has pointed out, anoth - this end, it was decided that regional er factor is the barrage of television editors of the Guide would be nomi - cooking shows that have destroyed nated by the Regional Study Centers. our love of cooking. The Academy, Their job will be to keep restaurant he President of the Study Center concluded President Ballarini, must information and descriptive ratings Paolo Petroni presented the new seriously evaluate the current state of current, as well as to handle new en - T Director of the Regional Study our cuisine and oversee and focus on tries and any cancellations, working Center of the Veneto Roberto Robaz - it with great dedication. hand in hand with the Delegations. za, and Pierluigi Fedele, Academician Returning to the book Italian Cui - At our October meeting we will tack - from the Borgo Val di Taro Delegation sine Today , which contains many ar - le the subject of the printed version the Commander of the Parma forest ticles by Academicians and members of the Guide, The Good Traditional brigade, who may soon join the Fran - of the Regional Study Centers, Paolo Table, which now has a established co Marenghi Study Center. Petroni discussed the positive results format. Thus we embarked on the first of the synergetic work of the Franco The final item discussed was the meeting of 2013 getting to the heart Marenghi Study Center and the Re - Gastronomic Cultural Itineraries se - of some of the year’s topics, especial - gional Study Centers that over the ries. After having mentioned the 2013 ly cultural ones, which, as President course of the years have come to rep - issue that will be devoted to “Meats Giovanni Ballarini emphasized, the resent the Academy’s primary struc - to Remember”, we moved on to sug - Academy would like to increasingly tural support in the area of culture. gestions for the 2014 topic. President focus on along with the human and The President of the Study Center Ballarini recommended that we convivial elements. then emphasized that because of this choose a subject that reflects family Ten years ago when we published very synergy, an imposing work in cuisine. Among the various subjects the first volume in the Cultural Gas - gastronomic culture is taking shape: proposed three were selected to be tronom y series on the occasion of the new Academy cookbook. This ef - submitted to the new President’s Academy’s 50 th anniversary, we fort already includes more than 2,000 Council for a final decision: the cui - looked back at the cuisine of the pre - recipes, not including side dishes and sine of rice, the cuisine of legumes, ceding fifty years, its evolution and desserts. This work represents a and street food.

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