This new series of webinars on the ilfuturocheciaspetta.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com portal starts from a question that is also the symbol of a lifestyle: Why is there always talk of cooking in Italy?

Maddalena Fossati Dondero, Director of La Cucina Italiana talked with Massimo Montanari, Professor of Medieval History and History of Food at the University of Bologna on the multiple identities of Italian cuisine, but also of seasonality, and of the cultural and historical value of our diet «everyone in the world has Italian cuisine and our symbolic dishes present. But in reality our cuisine is made up of different things. The Italian national identity is something that denotes belonging, but this identity is made up of a plurality. Example? There is a national archetype which is unquestionably pasta. But how many recipes does the pasta make and how many words and how many toppings are there for the pasta? There are 300 formats alone and more than 1700 different ways to call them: it is truly the triumph of cultural biodiversity ", commented the scholar with a fitting example.

Shopping? More and more Green

Here is one of the big questions of our time: "Is it possible to buy ethically in the supermarket?". We responded thanks to the invaluable help of Sergio Bertini, Director of Iper Arese and Valter Businaro, owner of the Azienda Agricola Businaro, addressing the question starting from the earth, from the seed.
We asked ourselves to find out what the role of time is in relation to the quality and variety of the products we eat (do we find the different types of vegetables in large distribution? Do we take into account the seasonality of the ingredients?) And sustainability (can we respect the environment when we shop?).
From the field to the supermarket counter, to the menu of the restaurants present in some stores, we have taken stock to understand where we are going and how consumers are behaving.

What will the weather be like? Ethical viticulture starts from the Prosecco Hills (Unesco Heritage)

What impact does climate change have on wine production and landscape protection? We talked about it with the doctor Diego Tomasi, just appointed director of the Prosecco Superiore Consortium of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene and with Piero Benvenuti, emeritus professor of Astrophysics at the University of Padua.
That of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene is among the few wine areas in the world protected by Unesco as a World Heritage Site; as the director Diego Tomasi recalled, it is characterized by a landscape "rich in steep hills and biodiversity, forged over the centuries by the skilful work of man who still practices many of the processes in the vineyard by hand, including the grape harvest".
To protect it, a viticultural protocol has been developed which, with the help of the most modern technologies, guides winegrowers in choosing the best practices to undertake and has the ambitious goal of making the entire grape production organic in the near future. The area has already banned for some years the use of glyphosate, a synthetic molecule for the management of grass, which is mechanically cut here, thus making Conegliano and Valdobbiadene the largest area in Europe where this chemical product harmful to the environment is banned. A commitment for the future that passes from the countryside to the bottle, in an indissoluble way.

Espresso and Milan: a story of love (and contemporaneity)

We retrace, between history and small legends, the history of espresso, the great pride of our tradition, known throughout the world and retrace its evolution in a short story. A story that intersects with the Gaggia company and begins in Milan in the 1930s. In the historic heart of the city, in viale Premuda, the brilliant bartender Achille Gaggia, The search for the perfect espresso begins in the warehouse of the family bar. After many attempts and experiments, on 5 September 1938 he filed a patent that will change its history and create a tradition that has evolved up to today. We also discuss with the company the issue of sustainability, of the virtuous recycling of coffee grounds to the 100% Italian production of the machines that have brought the pleasure of the "Italian way" cup around the world. Finally, we discuss the internationalization of bar coffee, typically Italian espresso, through professional home machines, which have made it possible to tailor the "cup" to customization.

Thanks to Iper La Grande I, the Consortium of Prosecco Superiore of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, Gaggia Milano for their collaboration.