The partnership between Eataly USA and Regione Calabria has started with a special event at the Flatiron Eataly store in New York. The goal is to promote the best of Calabrian food tradition and culture in the United States. The protagonists of the inauguration were Lidia Bastianich, ambassador of Calabrian gastronomy in the world, and chef Rocco Iannì, who prepared two recipes based on some renowned typical food products: filei with ‘nduja and swordfish rolls with grains of Torrone di Bagnara PGI, and an emulsion of extra virgin olive oil and Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria PDO.
An ancient gastronomic culture
In the coming months, more than 80 new food products from Calabria will be on the shelves of the temple of Italian food and wine. Moreover, for the duration of the partnership many events scheduled in Eataly stores throughout USA will spread the knowledge of Calabrian eno-gastronomy. Typical dishes will be proposed in rotation in Eataly restaurants and many recipes based on Calabrian products will be illustrated and realized during cooking shows and lessons that Eataly periodically organizes in its stores. Our presence in the Eataly spaces in New York – declared the President of the Calabria Region, Mario Oliverio – is part of the strategy to enhance our agri-food products and our food and wine offer. In New York our chefs will be able to exhibit their qualities accompanied by Lidia Bastianich, with whom we have already made important initiatives to promote the Mediterranean Diet in recent months. Our presence at FICO in Bologna is also part of this partnership.
Mediterranean Diet
Calabria, one of the lands where Mediterranean Diet comes from, has also been showcased at “The New York Times Travel Show” in an institutional booth, where sector operators promoted touristic tours that combine the discovery of the territory with Calabrian food. Some Calabrian chefs realized cooking shows and guided tastings of regional agri-food specialties. It is precisely in Calabria, in Nicòtera, that in 1957 Ancel Keys – the discoverer of a new nutrition style based on well being – identified the diet that would have been called “Mediterranean”, now Unesco Intangible Heritage. In this sector, Calabria has so much to offer with its ancient varieties of fruit, vegetables, and elsewhere lost vines, preserved for a long time in the internal areas of the region.
Typical products
During 2018, on the shelves of Eataly stores in the United States it will be possible to find new types of artisanal pasta – including filei, a traditional handmade pasta format with a perfect shape to better collect the sauce – the Cipolla Rossa (red onion) of Tropea PGI, the Caciocavallo silano PDO, the great wines of the Calabrian territory – like Cirò DOC in its red, white, and rosé variations, Lamezia DOC and Savuto DOC – and confectionery products such as the Calabria liquorice PDO, Torrone (nougat) of Bagnara PGI and fruit compotes based on figs of Cosenza PDO. Finally, there will be spicy creams and sauces made with chili pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and many other products that represent the best of Calabrian agri-food production.
A showcase for specialties
In five Eataly stores in four American cities – New York, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles – will be a special showcase to taste Calabrian delicacies in the markets, in the kitchens and through the lessons said Dino Borri, Vice President of Purchases at Eataly USA. Calabria is a region that is rich in beauty, and food, and wine products of excellence – said Lidia Bastianich. From ‘nduja to caciocavallo, from liquorice to bergamot. I am convinced that the main food trends of 2018 will be precisely based on those coming from Calabria. It is no coincidence that the extraordinary agricultural and food products from Calabria are increasingly appreciated by American cooking fans, for their being both healthy and incredibly tasty.