Pineapple pizza to go?
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| A culinary abomination? |
Those who criticise British food are in the wrong. I believe that many British dishes, when properly and freshly prepared with the correct ingredients, are quite delicious. In my role as ambassador, when I have entertained Italian guests in this country, I have often served British dishes so as to offer my guests the opportunity of tasting the best of Britain. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult even here to find the real thing. In many cases, Italian tourists visiting Britain tell me they too have difficulty in finding authentic British dishes and have to make do with pale imitations based on the wrong ingredients and poorly presented.
This same "perversion" is noticeable in all the different kinds of foreign food, including Italian food, available here. The result is that too often some masterpieces of Italian cuisine are unrecognisable. I do thus understand the interest generated by an interview I gave recently in which I deplored the very idea of a pineapple pizza. Everyone is entitled to eat whatever they wish. I do object, however, to such a dish being described as Italian. A pizza base covered with pineapple or with curry is no more Italian than a steak and kidney pie covered with chocolate is English.
How have we come to this? In a generation, all over Europe, we have witnessed a deep evolution of the ways of eating and indeed of our relationship with food. Nobody would have thought in the years after the second world war that olive oil or fettuccine or indeed paella Valenciana would become household names in the British Isles.
When I was a young boy, I was taught by my mother about the sacred value of food. A gift from God. When bread was made in my house, a sign of the cross would be made on the dough. You had to respect food because, among other reasons, it was so scarce. Since then, food has undergone a process of, if I may say so, secularisation and democratisation. Balsamic vinegar or prosciutto were in the past prepared by the poor for the rich. Fortunately, nowadays practically everybody in the western world can afford them. New methods of production and better systems of transport have made it possible to make foodstuffs from all over the world available in Europe. The production and trade of food, and all kinds of commerce related to food have become big business.
When I came to live in London, in the 60s, as a junior diplomat, only a very small shop in Soho sold Italian food. If we looked for olive oil outside of London, we had to go to a pharmacy where it was sold in very small bottles for health purposes.
In the past 20 years, we have witnessed an explosion of Italian food products in the UK. Nowadays, these can be purchased in almost every corner shop in the land, as well as in all supermarket chains. Exact figures are difficult to obtain, but there are more than 6,000 Italian restaurants in the UK and far more eating places serving some kind of "Italian" dish.
The reason for this revolution may be found in the appeal of the Italian way of life and of its culture. And let me say how happy I am, being an unrepentant Anglophile, that this revolution is still spreading at an ever faster pace. Of course, a love and an overwhelming interest in Italian culture have given many Britons the desire to know more about its food. On the other hand, Italian cuisine is not only good and, more important, healthy, but also easy to learn to cook - as many TV programmes and books have demonstrated. It is also understandable that British visitors to Italy love to relive the emotions of their trip through the taste of Italian food. When they are back home, food - for those who appreciate it - can vividly recreate the atmosphere and feelings associated with their holiday.
Naturally, this revolution has not taken place without problems. Ideally, Italian restaurants should use Italian ingredients, good chefs and good-humoured waiters. But as we know, this is not always the case.
Italian cuisine is based to a large extent on genuine and natural ingredients and these can be expensive. But it is not only the fault of the restaurateurs. Customers are also to blame, as they do not often understand why they should pay more for a simple dish presented in the right way. It is not essential that potatoes are grown in Italy. It is, however, essential that artichokes come from Rome, prosciutto from Parma and red radicchio from Treviso because they have no equivalent.
Too many people in the food industry are interested only in making a fast buck; and so sometimes the result is that some Italian restaurants are offering dishes that have no relation whatsoever to Italian food. And just as certain Indian dishes do not exist in Indian cuisine, "spaghetti bolognese" does not exist in Bologna at all. Good Italian cuisine is delicate and does not make use of great quantities of garlic and heavy spices so easily found in dishes served in so-called "Italian" establishments. I wish all the luck in the world to the food and pizza chains that use an Italian name; but I have to say that these products must be judged with a large pinch of salt.
What can each of us do to reverse this trend? I am not as nostalgic about the past as to believe that we should go back to the ways of my childhood when food had its sacred value. Of course, we must be thankful that the days of scarcity and penury are over. But I do think that we should have more respect for food which threatens our waistlines and of which we talk so much more about nowadays (but which is still a dream for so many human beings in poor countries).
The bottom line comes down to culture. I would strongly recommend introducing the study of food and its benefits in schools as part of an obligatory study programme for all European children. Both boys and girls should be taught extensively about food and made aware of its healthy benefit as well as how to prepare certain dishes. Enhanced cultural awareness would also compel restaurants to raise their standards. If one pays, and certainly prices are not going down, one is entitled to a good and healthy meal. The inexorable laws of the market would then compel everyone in the trade to increase their standards.
I have come a long way from pineapple pizza. I would, however, like to add a final thought. Increasing integration in our continent is in the interest of all European nations. But integration does not mean homogenisation. Our national cultures are our collective wealth and we must strive to preserve them in all their aspects. This includes food.
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