If one thinks about Bologna and Emilia Romagna, after the two towers, the Aemilia road and various other architectonical treasures, one thinks about tortellini alla bolognese, lasagne, gnocco fritto and so on. The food and the recipes of a city and of a country tell the story and the mood of that place.
For many Italians the real taste of the place can only be discovered in an Italian dining room. But how can you taste real Italian food unless you are lucky enough to have Italian friends who will invite you over. Now, it’s possible thanks to Homefood.
Homefood is the Association for the Guardianship and Exploitation of the Traditional Culinary-Gastronomic Heritage of Italy, supported by the The Ministry of Agricultural Politics and in collaboration with the University of Bologna. The Homefood project has created the possibility for you to become guests of Italian families to revalue and to spread the culture of typical products and to taste typical foods cooked by those people who are the depositaries of traditional Italian cookery.
So, you can really enter Italian houses, smell while the food are being cooked, sit down and wait for the dinner prepared by the Cesarine. The mistresses or masters of the house have been affectionately named Cesarine as a compliment to all those grandmothers, carers, aunts, uncles etc that have influenced Italian tastes from infancy.
But, how does it work? Home Food organises gastronomic/cultural events not only in the homes of the Cesarine (these are Partners of the Association who, experienced in the art of typical/traditional cookery, have agreed to share their knowledge and culinary talents with other Partners) but also in other cultural places such as museums, historical buildings, castles, old farms etc.
During the Events a pre-defined journey is proposed which covers a narrative illustration of the specific recipes and of the typical dishes, the explanation of procedures of preparation and the eventual tasting of those dishes. Only Partners of the Association can participate in these Events, so you have to subscribe if you want to enter the circuit.
Watching Italy from inside the kitchens could be a different and interesting point of view for either Italians and strangers. In contrast to some decades ago, today there are few women that cook in the old way. Most of them, because of the various demands of modern life, can’t dedicate so much time to the art of cooking. Losing this very rich heritage would be a serious loss for all the country. So, welcome to this project which tries to build a network of places where you can rediscover the characteristic of the Region, the country and the city food.
