Let’s make Marsala the symbol of the unification of Italy. This is the request of the highest of state officials, of the Paladins of the Wines of Sicily, the Voluntary Association of Tutelage and Promotion of our House’s most Famous Wine in the World for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy to be celebrated this year. In 1860, the One Thousand soldiers in red shirts led by Guiseppe Garibalbi, who led the process of the unification of Italy, disembarked in Marsala. Marsala was already then a wine town par excellence; in fact, almost a century earlier, its wine had been discovered and then enhanced by the Englishman, John Woodhouse and then by the Ingham-Whitakers and the Florios. History recalls that the landing of the One Thousand was favoured by the presence of the British ships and by those for wine transportation in the Port of Marsala. Garibaldi, himself, having returned to Marsala, named a type of Marsala that he particularly liked: Garibaldi Dolce. And the 99 ships of the Florio Company carried Marsala everywhere around the world, thus bolstering the competitive strength of the English commercial fleet.

There have been some enormous changes in the Italian diet from the post-war period till today; the consumption of meat has increased 300%, the consumption of bread and pasta has diminished and that of fruit and vegetables increased. On an average, the daily consumption of kilocalories have increased by 56% (2.281 in 1950, 3.685 today), while in the same period, food expenses have decreased from 45 to 15% of average earnings opure the average household budget. Notable is also the fall of the amount of wine consumed per capita per annum; in the ‘50s more than more than 100 litres, today no more than 28 litres, but in compensation, the tendency is now towards higher quality.
These are some of the results of the recent polling, Rapporto Censis Coldiretti, reporting about the consumption of Italian agricultural food products. Coldiretti is an association which unites an important amount of the Italian farmers. Furthermore, mid morning and afternoon snacks have been given up by two out of three Italians who are generally young, female, single and residents of the South and the islands, Sicily and Sardinia for example, who prefer a bun, crackers, a roll or yogurt. Lunches are little different from dinners, both almost always consisting of pasta among other things, in fact 2.1 million Italians eat it twice a day.
“From this report – said Giuseppe De Rita, the president of Censis – emerges a cautious, even if individualist, consumer. Unquestionably, with respect to the past, we’ve taken many steps forward.” The fact that the Italian consumer loves more and more kebab or enjoys eating ethnic food, to the detriment of Italian products, doesn’t worry the experts. What’s most important is that the safety of the foodstuffs, even more so than the prima materia. It’s good that it comes from abroad, just as we suppose that an Italian restaurant in London uses products made in Italy.
Appeal to the President of the Republic to declare Marsala that product that symbolizes the Unity of Italy.  The proposal of the Association of the Paladins of the Wines of Sicily.

Terroir Vino, a smart wine and food exhibition format, will be held in Genova next June 7, in the Magazzini del Cotone. It presents to the trade press, professionals and aficionados, a top selection of winemakers and wines resulting from the choices made by the panel of tasters of the wine magazine TigullioVino.it. The show rewards those that, beyond their high quality level and excellent quality-price ratio, have also managed to impart a strong emotion and the respect of their grape varieties or their terroir.
TigullioVino.it, created in April 2000, has become a reliable reference for wine and food information on the Web in Italy. This publication presents not only "trendy wines" or "top flight wines", but rather wines that deserve attention for their quality, originality and ease of drinking.
After the success of the previous editions, the meeting point has been moved to the Magazzini del Cotone, one of the most well served congress areas in town. Terroir Vino was born out of the need to stimulate communication and feedback between winemakers, professionals, consumers and independent media (mostly on line media); the name "Terroir Vino" responds to an effort to bring about a common ground for dialogue and exchanges between viticultural areas.

Italian deli meats triumph on tables around the world: during the darkest economic year since 1929, exports of ham, bacon and mortadella increased by 3.6% in quantity and 3.3% in value. 110,000 tons of products were exported, and brought Italy a turnover of 860 million euros, says ASSICA, the Association of Meat Industries. The most popular exported meats in 2009 were cured ham (+2.1%), cooked ham (+2.6%), bacon (+6.1), mortadella (+11.3%) and bresaola (+12.3).
“Export is a primary goal,” said President Francesco Pizzagalli, “and the positive numbers in 2009 are the result of a strategy ASSICA put in place to confirm our deli meats in the world. We recently obtained an extension of the range of meats so that virtually all of them can now be exported to Canada and South Africa. Negotiations are in progress also with India, Thailand and Taiwan. The excellent positive trend of our exports confirms that one of our strong points of our products, their quality and inimitability, which allow us to succeed on world markets where there are opportunities for growth and profitability. In this tough year, this result was also due to the ability of Italian deli meats to remain competitive on other markets”.

The European Currency (Euro) keeps losing ground to the US dollar and many other international currencies. What for some may sound as bad news is instead wonderful news for the worldwide industry that´s based on quality Italian cuisine, wine and beverages. Import of Italian products in many countries around the world has suddenly become more convenient than it was a few weeks ago. Coldiretti, the Italian association of agricultural producers said that, as a consequence of this new situation, the export of Italian wine towards the US had a 6% increase. Even more encouraging are the perspectives in other markets, more specifically in Asia (starting with Japan, China, Korea and Thailand), in the Middle East and in Brazil. In the next few months, it will likely be remarkably more convenient to open or manage a quality Italian Restaurant in any of these countries. The only exception is Argentina where the Government, as soon as it foresaw that foreign quality ingredients would be less expensive for the weak Euro, forbade the import of quality ingredients. The prohibition is officially presented as a way to protect the national industry although the imported goods represent only a mere 3% of the national food offer.

The 15th edition of Cibus, the international exhibition dedicate to food, will be held in Parma from May 10 to 13. This year, organizers expect more than 1.000 buyers from 55 countries, looking for the best food specialities and almost 900 journalists on the trail of the latest innovations, the most traditional, the most creative and above all, the best products. The successful Cibus formula gives space for professionals, concentrating in a few days the attention of the market’s protagonists.
Within the Cibus exhibition will be “Dolce Italia”, a space dedicated to the great confectionery products.
Parma market itself as the very centre of Europe’s food valley, near the research pole for Italian food, in the city seat of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority). In the last few years the fame of Cibus has been slightly overcast by Tuttofood, a new Italian Food Fair, based in Milan.

Picture by Alexander Lavrin

Marco Zampieri, 44, one of the most talented Italian chefs working abroad, has just passed away. He was the Executive Chef of Cantinetta Antinori in Moscow (Russia), a restaurant opened by the famous Italian wine producing family. Marco died from cancer after a long fight against his disease. His premature death left the international community of Italian chefs and culinary in shock. Many messages of condolence were sent by the members of the itchefs-gvci network, from all over the world. Some of them were sent by former work colleagues of his.

Alexander Lavrin

“In Moscow Marco was considered an icon of Italian Cuisine”, said Pietro Rongoni, chef Patron at La Serenata Restaurant in the Russian capital, who was among the first to meet with Marco, in 2004, when he went to work for Antinori.

“Not only Moscow lost one of its best chefs, but we lost a very good friend”, said Alexander Lavrin, one of the most respected Russian food writers.  “He was such a good man”, adds Anastasia Borisenkova, a food writer belonging to Argo (Association of Russian Gastronomy Observers). “We shared many meals together, I am very sad”, remembers  Rongoni, senior member of itchefs-GVCI. Born in the Piemonte Region, in Crusinallo, Marco received the Italian knighthood for culinary merits just last year. He had worked with some very talented Italian chefs as Claudio Zarenti and Paolo Viviani (Hotel san Rocco – Orta). Ciao Marco, we will miss you, may you rest in peace.

A view of the Cantinetta Antinori in Moscow