Italian cities ban foreign food

9 posts / 0 new

Sun, 2009-02-01 08:57

Doug

This is unbelievably lame!

The drive to make Italians eat Italian, which was described by the Left and leading chefs as gastronomic racism, began in the town of Lucca this week, where the council banned any new ethnic food outlets from opening within the ancient city walls.

Yesterday it spread to Lombardy and its regional capital, Milan, which is also run by the centre Right. The antiimmigrant Northern League party brought in the restrictions “to protect local specialities from the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article56...

Sun, 2009-02-01 09:27

George Victor

I seem to recall it all began with a ban against imported cheeses as Italy attempted to get rid of its surplus native products.

The thin edge of the wedge, as it were?

Sun, 2009-02-01 10:50

Hoodeet

Too bad. From the headline I thought they were banning the use of imported foods (e.g., products containing blood and sweat from third-world plantations and factories, or powdered milk from China) in Italian food.

That would be something. Try to produce enough pasta without importing durum semolina from North Africa or Canada or wherever.

The Northern League is as fascist as a party can get away with being in Europe, in league at various times with the Cavaliere Berlusconi, hence very useful goons.

They should all go drag racing like Haider and bash their own brains out instead of promoting hate crimes against southern Italians and economic refugees from countries which are still bearing the consequences of European colonialism.

Sun, 2009-02-01 12:06

lagatta

Northern League (racist towards "Saracen" southern Italians as well as Third-World and Eastern European furriners) and National Alliance (the direct heirs of Mussolini's party) are both outrightly fascist parties, and it is no surprise that they would enact xenophobic measures.

However the title of the article is misleading; Italy hasn't banned anything, and the ban in the article is only in one small part of a small, historic city.

I don't think a ban on further expansion of fast-food joints is necessarily racist or xenophobic, as long as it impacts Italian "pizza al taglio" (pizza by the square slice) places as much as kebabs and takeaway Chinese. As for restrictions on corporate fastfood, there are many people who aren't remotely racist who support that.

Having lived in Italy, I welcome the presence of other cuisines, delicious as authentic Italian food is. In Perugia, home to a university for the teaching of Italian language and culture, many former foreign students have stayed on and nowadays there is very good Maghrebi, Persian, Chinese, Indian and many other cuisines and shops selling international ingredients.

25 years ago monocultural Italy was a bit of a shock, after Montréal and Paris, where there are so many nationalities and ethnic groups.

Sun, 2009-02-01 14:30

Fidel

This thread is delicious! I almost wouldnt mind being forced to eat Italian food. Think I'll make a lasagna. All i need is a loaf of crusty and some vino.

Sun, 2009-02-01 14:45

lagatta

Those are staples in my house. Though you have to be able to drink uncle's vino.

I made roast chicken with lemon and rosemary today though, and something that is not typically Italian: red cabbage braised with a glass of same vino, caraway seeds, red onions, apple. More Germanic, though that kind of food is very much eaten in Northeastern Italy on the Austrian border.

I do also have rapini to sauté with garlic, and will have them with the chicken tonight. I had the red cabbage yesterday, and it will keep for a good while.

Trying to go somewhat easy on the carbs, so no lasagne for a while.

I love Italian food too, but I don't love fascists or xenophobes.
Another common Italian food that came with the Arabs in Sicily is the eggplant/aubergine.

Sun, 2009-02-01 15:01

Fidel

Drool-drool, lagatta. And lots of garlic like Emeril Lagasse. And I'ev had some of old Tony's red vino back home when I was a kid. Tony was our neighbour then. I swear it was brandy. Staggered home a few times after helping shovel snow from his driveway.

Sun, 2009-02-01 19:37

lagatta

Garlic goes without saying. I suppose there are a few desserts where it is uncalled for, but I'm not big on desserts.

As for kebabs, still remember a lovely shish taouk (chicken kebab) along the banks of the Rhine in Köln. Nice little place (also a "real" restaurant", but they did takeaway) run by Lebanese who naturally had family in Montréal and Ottawa...

Chatted with a nice young man from Morocco (who could have been my son), who was pleased to be able to speak French, though he had learnt German of course.

Had spent some days with someone dear to me (and my age group) but the harmless flirtation with the young lad was fun. :-)

Sun, 2009-02-01 20:38

Fidel

I think youve travelled more than I have, lagatta. Never been to Germany myself. Paris for a weekend is as far east as I've ever been.

And the last most Eastern dish ate was probably from Havelli's at Bell's Corners in Nepean. Or maybe it was a shawarma from a deli on Somerset. That's pretty exotic for someone coming from Northern Ontario.

Lots of Italians settled in my hometown. My great grandfather was a school teacher and land agent for the feds way back when. He sold newcomers a lot of the land in the west end of the city, our version of little Italy. All the older Italians know my family's Francophone surname, which is still more widely known at home by the mispronounced Italized version of it to this day. I think some of the locals' diets there would be pretty bland if it wasnt for the Italian influence over the years, and now other ethnic restaurants, delis and shops have opened and catering to a few more internationals.