AUTHENTICITY OF FOOD AND WHY IT MATTERS, THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN CUISINE

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AUTHENTICITY OF ITALIAN FOOD AND WHY IT MATTERS
Italian restaurateurs believe that it should be a matter of national pride for Italians that they are seen to provide the best food and service in a uniquely Italian style those non-Italian restaurants cannot duplicate. A Jaguar commercial on British Television once read “You can imitate but you cannot duplicate a Jaguar”. Italian chefs are increasingly concerned and want to raise awareness about the concept of authenticity in the restaurant business and why it should matter to consumers.
Experts argue that although there are good "Italian style" restaurants almost in every country, only an authentic Italian Chef or an Italian trained chef can offer the diner the complete package of traditional Italian dining values together with exceptional freshness and quality of the food and drinks, which makes an authentic Italian meal such a special experience. It is not about knowing the cuisine but also the culture. To know when to serve what, how much and in what order reflects the true culture of Italian dining.
A well trained Chef gives you quality food, (depending on the ingredients available outside Italy) prepared with skills and knowledge, served in a uniquely atmosphere that represents the true Italian food culture based on years of history and authenticity. There is a way to become somewhat authentic and efficient in ethnic cuisines. For example, the Barolo Grill in Denver Colorado, closes for vacation every year and takes the kitchen staff to Italy for one week to update them on trends and authenticity of Italian food “http://www.barologrilldenver.com”. If many “inspired” Italian chefs would make at least one visit to Italy they would learn about the true Italian cuisine and that the repertoire of recipes exceeds well over 10,000. With the evolution of the internet we are now learning about the Italian national cuisine and local “micro cuisine” often not known to the nearby provinces.


In Calabria we have one of the most intriguing cuisines of Italy, one of my favorite dessert is “Soufflé’ of Eggplants and chocolate”, a true delicacy worth duplicating, visit the website: http://xoomer.virgilio.it/mimmocorrado/etwinning/Ricette.htm. Italy does not feature Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana) only but also thousands of interesting dishes still unknown to the outside world.
My friend Stefano, chef owner of the restaurant “Toscani Da Dempre” In Pontassieve near Florence has been training my students since 1998. He offers them “stage” opportunities for as long as they want to stay, with room and board. Many students come back with a total different approach to Italian cuisine “…it is so simple, yet so good”,…”Italian sauces are light, simple without the tens of ingredients as they are produced in the U.S.”. On his web site Stefano features a comprehensive list of recipes that could take years to learn how to cook them. It may also take years to taste all of them. Stefano’s recipe archive http://www.saporum.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 has over 12,000 recipes (admitting that some of them have been “fused” with foreign cuisine; yes even Italy believes in “globalization”. To learn even more about the true Tuscan heritage cuisine visit this unique place “La Parrina”: http://www.parrina.it/en/welcome.htm.
The question of "authenticity" is an arguable issue throughout the restaurant industry in the world and, no matter what the segment; the problems seem to be the same. There are restaurants calling themselves Indian, Thai, Mexican, and Asian which are not. It is not surprising, therefore, that the same question should rouse great passions in the most famous restaurant segment, the Italian.
Unfortunately for the Italian restaurant segment, more and more restaurants are not true Italian, cutting quality and professionalism. These non-authentic restaurants are creating a massive quality gap, and are giving the authentic Italian restaurants a bad image. Most of the food used in production of Italian meals is made in the U.S. The quality is inferior, the recipes are wrong, menu items misspelled and the overall experience leaves a lot to be desired. It is obvious that many proprietors and chefs alike may have never been to Italy nor have ever been exposed to the authentic Italian cuisine. This is more evident when analyzing the menu they present to patrons. Falsification of dishes, redundancy in the description, Italian ingredients are added to all dishes, such as “oregano” and… the list could on. The following example show the misrepresentation, bad spelling and falsification of dishes which are commonly featured in imitation Italian restaurants outside Italy.
Penne Pasta: (why not just penne, it is pasta? We don’t say spaghetti pasta?)
Shrimp Scampi: (Shrimp is a seafood product different than scampi)
Prosciutto ham: (Correctly translated this mean “ham ham”)
Cappacolla: (the correct spelling is capocollo or coppa)
Soprassatta: (the correct spelling is sopressata)
Fettuccini: (the correct spelling is fettuccine)
Osso bucco: (the correct spelling is osso buco)
Latte: (is milk, a caffe’ latte is hot milk with an espresso)
Pellegrino: (is a pilgrim, San Pellegrino is the true name of the water)
Meatballs: (are not found in any Italian menu in Italy)
Scalloppini: (the correct spelling is scaloppine)
Tuscany pasta: (does not exist in Italy)
Pizzone: (does not exist in Italy)
Muffaletta: (does not exist in Italy)
Ricotta: (means re-cooked, it is a product made from the whey and it is not made by adding acidity to the milk. Rocotta is a by-product of the cheese making process) click on this link to learn more: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ricotta/RICOTTA_00.HTM
Dipping oil: (does not exist in Italy)
Risotto: (it is never served al dente, raw starch does not taste good)
Expresso: (correctly is spelled espresso and it is never served with lemon peel)
….the list could on and on….
What is most concerning to the true Italians is the fact that many people have never tried the real Italian cuisine in Italy. Because they are not familiar with anything else and the “New World” Italian Cuisine positioned in their mind with the acquired taste, causes dislike should they try the real cuisine. This happens with tourist going to Italy on a regular basis. Some tourists visiting Italy argue that the Chicago style pizza is better than the one in Italy, other ask to be served bread with dipping oil and vinegar because “That’s Italian” only to be disappointed when they don’t receive it or if they do they get charged for it.
That is why the former Italian Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Alemmano came up with an idea to hopefully put a stop to the misrepresentation of Italian Food culture. In 2002 the Italian government, in cooperation with ARDI (the Association of Italian Restaurateurs Abroad http://www.ardi-italy.com) began certifying Italian Restaurants in Europe. The initiative called for the dispatch of Italian inspectors worldwide to thoroughly check out any Italian restaurant that wants to display the official certificate of authenticity in the window.
The Seal of Authentic Italian Restaurant

The Italian government recognized that Authentic Italian restaurants outside Italy were suffering unfair competition from low-quality impostors. "Hundreds of Italian restaurants continue to be opened and operated around the world, but in most cases the only thing Italian about them is the name or a tricolor flag on display outside.” The initiative also attempted to reduce the negative economic impact of Italian export products.
The seal of approval was administered in conjunction with Italy's restaurateurs' association. The Italian Ministry of Agriculture initiative was to continue to implement a system of quality control to guarantee the authenticity of Italian restaurants abroad, which intended to be run along similar line to that of which assures the quality of Italian wines.
The system of control included, among several other factors, compliance with the traditional methods of preparation, authentic ingredients imported from Italy; at least 60% of the wines had to be Italian import; about 80% of the dishes prepared had to be authentic Italian; one person on duty had to be able to speak Italian; the executive chef had to be trained in Italy or had to have worked at an authentic and certified Italian restaurant.
With this initiative the Italian Government strived to promote and preserve the true Italian eating culture which had been and continues to be the most popular in the world. To support this effort, many Italian agencies and organizations had joined forces; among them, the most popular with chapters all over the word, the Slow Food Movement: http://www.slowfood.com/ . On November 7, 2002, the Minister of Agricultural Politics made an attempt to certified “Italian Restaurants” in the U.S. however, that attempt found resistance and was unsuccessful, see article on ARDI’s web site: http://www.ardi-italy.com/new04.htm. It appears that the initiative has lost the interest of the players and the new Minister Luca Zaia does not appear to have the same interest as the previous Minister Mr. Alemmano. The ARDI web site had not posted any updates since of November of 2006. Nevertheless the current Italian Minister of Agriculture Mr. Zaia, seems to be taking a tough stand against agricultural and food manufacturing frauds that costs the Italian GDP Billions of Euro in loss of export revenue. On January 20, 2009, Italian Finance police seized 142 metric tons of contrafact canned “San Marzano” tomatoes, whose origin is protected by the Italian government under the designation of (DOP) Denominazione di Origine Protetta (Protected Denomination of Origin) Source Main page: http://www.politicheagricole.gov.it/Ministro/default or direct link: http://www.agricolturaitalianaonline.gov.it/. The Italian Government is in constant battle within the European Union and with other countries about falsifications’ of Italian products sold under Italian Names: primary target products are cheese and salami, prosciutto and wine. Same products constantly subject to imitation are Danish Grana, Reggianito made in Argentina, Parmesan cheese made in the U.S., Prosciutto made in Germany and in the U.S. and Canada, Austrian Cambonzola (an imitation of Gorgonzola) and the list goes on, Source: http://www.denaro.it/VisArticolo.aspx?IdArt=530440&KeyW=SARDONE.
While the battle for originality and authenticity of Italian cuisine and products continues, Italian chefs and Italian restaurateurs must strive for increased consumer education, better brand recognition and raise the awareness that paying more for getting les or nothing Italian is not the best way to be entertained in a restaurant.






Dispersion of Italian and Italian Style Restaurants in the World












Source: FIPE (Italian Federation of Bars and Catering)
http://www.fipe.it/fipe/English/index.htm

Angelo Camillo, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Food and Beverage Management in the School of Hotel Restaurant and Tourism in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
Recently he published a research paper in the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, titled “Success and Failure in Northern California”. Camillo A. A., Connolly D. J., , Kim W.G.,(2008), Critical Success Factors for Independent Restaurants in Northern California. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, May 28, (2008), http://cqx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1938965508317712v1.
On January 19, he was inducted in the Colorado Chef’s Hall of Fame by the Colorado Chapter of the American Culinary Federation. The Colorado chapter is the largest in the United States, with about 1,200 chef members. There only a handful of Chefs with a Ph.D. degree in the world and two of them are right here in Denver. One is Assistant Professor Angelo Camillo. Dr. Camillo has been a member of the national American Culinary Federation since 1987 and has served on many committees. He is a member of the board for the ACF Colorado chapter. For additional information on the Colorado Chefs Hall of Fame, visit: acfcoloradochefs.org or the national headquarter http://www.acfchefs.org .


For information please contact:
Angelo Camillo, Ph.D., CEC, CCE, CFE
Assistant Professor
2044 - E. Evans Avenue - Office # 330
Daniels College of Business - University of Denver - CO 80208 - USA
Phone: 303-871 7671 -- Fax: 303-871 4260 - email: acamillo@du.edu
Daniels Web Site: http://daniels.du.edu/
Profile: http://www.daniels.du.edu/FacultyCVsProfiles.aspx