Round the World with Slow Food
Held in the pavilions of the Lingotto Fiere exhibition center and the Oval arena in Torino from October 23-27, this year’s Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre events will lay on a journey to the roots of food and back: from fork to field, from field to fork. These two major events mark the climax of the work of a worldwide network of small-scale producers who follow the philosophy of good, clean and fair food production. Many of these people come from places that also happen to be tourist atractions, some of which not yet well known but all of incomparable beauty.
What follows is a journey round the world via the Slow Food network.
Egypt
No lovers of cultural travel in search of places that preserve ancient customs, habits, traditions and dialects that haven’t changed in centuries can afford not to visit the Siwa Oasis in eastern Egypt. Here, from out of the hot sand, appears an expanse of palm trees with small lakes and pools of fresh spring water at different temperatures (the so-called ?Cleopatra’s baths’, where once upon a time brides would bathe on their wedding day). Today Siwa has a population of 11,000 inhabitants, some of whom still live in traditional mud brick huts. The area still conserves sites of great historical value such as the temple of the oracle dedicated to the god Amon, other buildings from the times of the Pharaos and the Hill of the Dead (Gebel el-Maut), with tombs dating from the 25th dynasty to the Ptolemaic period. Siwa also boasts an excellent spa with bathing and sand-bathing facilities. This year the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre will showcase the Slow Food Siwa Oasis Date Presidium dedicated to a staple foodstuff of the local tradition. With the support of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, the Siwa Community Development Environmental Conservation association is promoting the production and commercialization of the best quality dates on national and international markets.
Spain
From the sea to the mountaintops in the space of less than a kilometer. This is the province of Castell?n, in the Valencian Community, home to the Slow Food Maestrat Millenary Olive Tree Extra Virgin Oil Presidium. Besides beach holiday activities, the region offers a great variety of tour options: castles (the clifftop Castillo de Pe?isola for starters), fortified villages like Mascarell, the Roman ruins of Benicat?, the grottoes of San Jos? in the Ux? Valley, the church at Nules, nature parks, the sanctuary of Cueva Santa, and more besides. A trip through a typically Mediterranean landscape. Since 2003 local producers have made and commercialized an oil with olives from millenary trees to preserve the landscape and culture of the commerce of Maestrat. The oil, which is extracted cold and decantered naturally, has an intense, fruity scent. It will be available for tasting and purchasing at this year’s Salone del Gusto.
New Caledonia
This year Terra Madre will welcome food communities from one of the most exotic locations in the world. Thanks to the financial support of the Veneto Regional Authority, the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity is developing a project to promote food biodiversity, agricultural traditions and practices in New Caledonia. The focus will be on the Kanaks, natives of Melanesian origin, but the other racial groups of European, Asian, Japanese, Melanesian and Polynesian origin that interact locally will not be neglected.
New Caledonia, situated in the western part of Melanesia, the French-speaking Pacific, is an archipelago completely surrounded by a coral reef that forms the largest lagoon in the world. The main attractions are the beautiful beaches, the ocean floors, the crystalclear waters of Grande Terre Island, on which the capital Noum?a is situated, Ile des Pins, to the south, and the Louyaut? Islands archipelago off the east coast.
A must-see is the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Noum?a, founded in 1998 by Jean-Marie Tjibaou, an ethnologist and leader of the national independence movement who, in the 1970s and 1980s, fought to defend and promote Kanak culture. The aim of the center, a project of the Kanaks and designed by Renzo Piano, is to recover and conserve the traditional knowledge of native populations. It is one of the most innovative institutions in all of Oceania.
Brazil
The Sater?-Maw? are a semi-nomadic ethnic group, with an estimated population of around 8,000 spread over 80 villages, who live in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity runs two presidium projects in the area: the Sater? Maw? Canudo Bee’s Honey Presidium and the Sater? Maw? Native Waran? Presidium, closely interlinked as the honey itself is produced mainly from the waran? flower. Canudo bees are domesticated in 15 or so villages. This fact is fundamental, since this wild bee is responsible for the pollination of at least 80% of the trees in the whole of Amazonia.
Immersed deep in the boundless green rainforest, the environment which surrounds the Sater?-Maw? community is virtually unspoilt. Adventure lovers who practice responsible tourism will be interested to know that the International Economic Cooperation Research Institute has built 20 Kilos, an experimental ?ecovillage’ for indigenous communities on the Andir? River (a tributary of the Amazon). The village offers sustainable accommodation for tourists, hence unique opportunities to live with the Sater?-Maw? people, learn about their culture and take part in local activities. (For more information: Icei tel. 02.25785763 – www.icei.it).
Salone del Gusto/Terra Madre
October 23-27 2008
Turin, Lingotto Fiere exhibition center/Oval
Ufficio Stampa/Press Office Salone del Gusto ? Terra Madre:
c/o Slow Food: Tel. +39 0172 419653 /45/66/12 press@slowfood.it Fax +39 0172 419725
c/o Regione Piemonte: Tel. +39 011 4323312 ufficiostampa.giuntaregionale@regione.piemonte.it
c/o Comune di Torino: Tel. +39 011 4423606 raffaela.gentile@comune.torino.it
www.salonedelgusto.it / www.salonedelgusto.com / www.terramadre.info
