CHEESE! Slow Food's biennial event in Bra, Piedmont- Italy

In the words of Carlo Petrini; "The seventh edition of the event that brings together artisan cheesemakers and cheese lovers from around the world.The biennial event Cheese, organized by Slow Food and the City of Bra, is back for its seventh edition this year, being held over September 18-21, 2009 in Bra, in the northwestern region of Piedmont, Italy. The festival has become an international reference point for dairy artisans and cheese enthusiasts from around the world, with its presentation and exploration of the incredible diversity of cheese, through workshops, debates, tastings, educational activities and markets. Over its 12-year history, Cheese has changed consumers’ perception of the world of cheese, highlighting the diversity of artisan production and its fragility next to industrial producers. Since its first edition in 1997, Cheese has been restoring raw milk’s reputation, confirming its important role in the relationship between a product and the local territory and sensory quality of cheeses. This year, Cheese is focusing in particular on the issue of enzymes added during cheesemaking. As milk is today subjected to strict food-safety regulations, it is low in native bacterial flora and standardized laboratory-made artificial enzymes are used. This practice represents one of the most widespread and little-known standardizations of taste, leading to a progressive flattening of sensory qualities. Cheese promotes the production of milk or whey starter cultures directly in the dairy, preserving the local microflora and so also each cheese’s original characteristics."

Terra Madre & Salone Del Gusto Italy Trip

We are back just last week from a whirl wind trip to Italy having been selected by the Slow Food Organisational Committee, to attend Terra Madre 2008 in Turin, Italy.

What a trip! And what a mammoth task that now lies ahead of me as I endeavour to continue practising, preaching and implementing the Slow Food principles that have been refreshed and nourished through this meet.

For those of you not familiar with Terra Madre ‘mother earth’ this Slow Food movement brings together those players in the food chain who together support sustainable agriculture, fishing, and breeding with the goal of preserving taste and biodiversity.

Slow Food and the Terra Madre family works to defend local cultures and products, in order to make real the Slow Food concept of Good, Clean, and Fair quality. Good refers to the quality of food products and of their taste; Clean, to a production process that respects the natural environment ; and Fair, in which there is dignity and appropriate economic return for the people who produce, including respect from those who consume.

Terra Madre offered me a unique opportunity to spend five days with small-scale food producers and farmers, cooks and academics from 150 countries, attend workshops and conferences held every two years in conjunction with the Salone del Gusto, the largest artisanal food fair in the world held from 23 - 27 October 2008; staged in Turin to utilise the massive sports complex built to host some of the events at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

My personal highlights of the conference was the opening and closing ceremony of which we were addressed by Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini and other inspirational and notable food activists such as Vandana Shiva, Alice Waters, a bevy of Italian officials, as well as a pre-recorded video message from Prince Charles; a long time activist of the Slow Food Movement.

There is much that I have experienced and come to understand from my time in Italy at these two events to now pass on to my food community the ‘McIntosh & Bowman’ Food community.

I will endeavour to do so over the coming weeks to share the experience and the ideas and teaching I have gained.

Please share your thoughts on this topic and feel free to ask questions in the mean time.