He has been hosting the food and wine section “Gusto” of TG 5 newscast, which everyday welcomes the best Italian gourmets, delighting the audience at home with recipes, curiosity and short culinary trips of the Bel Paese, for more than ten years. In 2010, he also published “The Best recipes of Gusto” for Mondadori. Born in Turin and living in Rome for years, his origins are Sicilian. We met him and it was nice finding out that there are people who believe that dreams come true.
Italy is still seen as undisputed quality queen in Europe. Do you think the gastronomical made in Italy can be a lifeline for our economy?
There is great demand for sustainability over the whole world at present. Globalization pushed production so hard in many areas of the planet, and such quick process undermined the intrinsic quality of what is produced. After the denunciation of the “Land of Fires”, consumers have a huge demand for foodstuffs that are really sustainable and healthy. I believe that Italy – and Sicilians even more – have to export the “born in Sicily” project. Thanks to its geographical position, its history and its innumerable richness, Sicily is one of the regions with highest potentiality to fulfil a big dream: a large island in the middle of the Mediterranean becoming paradise from an environmental as well as gastronomical point of view.
Talking of sustainability, consumers ask more and more for organic products. What do you think of “organic food”?
As long as organic is not speculative and does not turn into a system to extort money from state funding, it is a wonderful thing. Not only from an ethic point of view, but also a way to rediscover flavours – the real ones – the ones that the ground nicely offers us and that we unfortunately are not able to reward nowadays.
What are the instruments to spread such culture?
Starting from schools would be enough, introducing food education and safety as discipline. Explaining children (and their parents) how and what to eat is important. Paradoxically, there is a low consumption of fruit and vegetables in Italy, and we often let our children eat inedible pre-packaged crap, being victims of time.
Gioacchino Bonsignore and coffee.
Clearly Italian espresso. Coffee cannot miss, not even among ingredients of the best Chefs recipes. Moreover, if organic, we all feel better.
Recommended song for the reading of the present article: Mother Earth – Mario Biondi
