SLOW FOOD SIZZLES
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS TERRA MADRE AND SALONE DEL GUSTO were moved from the enclosed Lingotto Ferre (similar to our convention centers) to the parks and castles of Torino, Italy. Much like a huge treasure hunt, one had to get familiar with the outdoor venues such as Piazza Castello,Valentino Park and Carignano Theater, besides checking the market-lined streets such as Via Roma and the food truck park near the Piazza Reale.
The summer heat was beach-hot in the afternoons but very cool in the early mornings and at sunset. Throughout the city, five days of the renowned Slow Food festival may have caused unusual tourist trafficbut it did bring a lot of income for the industrial town, better known as the birthplace of the auto brand Fiat. It also meant a lot of activity for the food merchants who came from all over Italy’s regions – Puglia, Sicily, Tuscany, Lazio and Piemonte, among others. For the Philippines, it is my third time to witness our little stand create so much buzz as we served bringhe, maja blanca, black rice arroz caldo and our classic adobo, prepared by volunteer chef Jam Melchor. The lines were epic as people of the world were curious to try our food, with some even tasting fruits and ingredients like tabon-tabon, a souring agent used in kinilaw (ceviche or raw fish) in Mindanao. The others found our Ilocos garlic cloves unusual – how one tiny bulb could pack so much strength. Calling it “piccolo aglio”(small garlic) they would ask to smell and taste it. The malunggay displayed on one shelf led many to ask “Posso tocare” (May I touch it)? And when they asked what it was I had to memorize a short explanation – “Come Fagioli” ( it’s like beans) was my standard answer and they would smile, with an “ahh “and “ooh” for our malunggay! Volunteers from Slow Food Negros and Slow Food Manila manned the stands during their free time and engaged the onlookers sampling Fresh Start and Quan’s piaya, calamansi liqueur from Disteleria Limtuaco, honey from Agtalon Farms, cocoa from Ritual, and, of course, coffee.
Every other year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has put up a modest stand or booth at Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto, two events which started being held together last 2012. This year DA Usec. Evelyn Laviña experienced having it held outdoors for the first time. End of summer and friendlier weather were the reasons it was pushed up to late September or a whole month earlier than usual. Turin is known for colder weather in October because it is so near the alps in northern Italy, close to the
Switzerland border. It was held Sept. 22-26 with most of the Italian and international stands around the huge Parco Valentino by the river Po.
Over at the nearby Torino Esposizioni, meeting rooms were devoted to Terra Madre sessions and fora on biodiversity, chefs’ alliances, food sustainability, indigenous Terra Madre networks. One can definitely find something of interest among backto-back sessions of anything and everything, from food security to appreciation of rare types of coffee and cacao. We were privileged to present our very own Barako or Liberica coffee and Benguet Arabica at this session. In several Terra Madre kitchens, every country had a chance to showcase a produce that has been listed in the Ark of Taste (www.arkoftaste.org) – a library of over 3,000 fruits, animals and other food that face extinction and are listed for all the world to take part in ensuring its protection and continued use. One such session allowed us to again present coffee along with Indonesia and East Timor at the Terra Madre Kitchen Asia/Oceania. Our Kapeng Barako (Liberica coffee) won the hearts of chefs and journalists from Italy who found its flavor different but quite a pleasure to drink. They appreciated its unusual flavor compared to the Arabica and Robusta that they are familiar with. The Philippines now has two varieties of coffee listed in the Ark of Taste and will soon be named as the first Slow Food coffee from Asia to become a Presidia product.
What’s a Presidia anyway? Presidia products consider the community of farmers that protect the species that may soon disappear – in this case Arabica from Benguet whose trees are aging past 80 years and are not as prolific. We also will protect the Barako from Cavite which has been replaced by Robusta in many family farms. Once these two products become Presidia, they will be in demand around the Slow Food network composed of advocates from over 150 countries and including over a million activists, as advocates are now known.
“We must move our advocacy into action,” says Elena Aniere, our coach and mentor in SF Asia and Oceania covering the Philippines.
On the last day of the Terra Madre sessions, we were privileged to present our Benguet Arabica at a special “Presidia only” coffee tasting. We were proud to have the Slow Food organizers, a master roaster from Italy and a coffee shop owner, brewing our coffee for a special crowd who signed up for the limited-seating event.
The coffee and ice cream ingredients were all part of a special session called Via del Gelato e Caffe (Ice Cream and Coffee Street) at the Alberto Marchetti Gelateria on Via Po, 35. The café was decked in banners and streamers and was
dedicated only to Presidia coffee and cacao throughout the week. For one euro, the café served coffees from Guatemala, Ethiopia and other Presidia-listed origins. It was such an honor to have been chosen for such an event.
It’s not just coffee and cacao though. There was a special place for our honey – called Let it Bee – also in a courtyard in Via Po, where our honey from the Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) community of Palawan was featured. Loreta Alsa of NTFP presented the Ark of Taste honey and joined honey producers from Africa, Latin America and Italy, of course.
These two products – coffee and honey – will create new buzz in the communities as we engage farmers to continue to protect these species of trees and bees. By allowing our farmers access to niche and specialty markets, these products will be sustainable. By allowing consumers to trace the source or origin of honey and coffee, we will be able to protect them from disappearing.
Through traceability we can help farmers become sustainable – and that is biodiversity. Preventing monocultures in farms and having as much variety of symbiotic plants and animals is the way to ensure environmental stability while we eat good food that come from natural sources.
We hope that the DA will continue to join these Slow Food events and help defend and protect our Ark of Taste products. These are now about 53 species which include kadyos, heirloom rice, Criollo cacao, kamias, duhat and just about everything you may no longer commonly taste or hear about anymore. There are more fruits you may come across in your hometown that may need this kind of protection from extinction.
And as Usec. Laviña intimated to us, the Slow Food direction is aligned with how the DA – especially High Value Crops (which is under her leadership) – plans to engage and help farmers. We hope the next Slow Food Terra Madre event will feature more of our heirloom varieties and species like our black pig, our yellow cattle, tawilis and more of our vegetables like garlic and even Lasona onions from Ilocos.
Biodiversity and having good, clean and fair food – that is Slow Food, not just eating slowly or cooking slowly.