Food is PRESERVATION
Italians love to eat, no mystery about that. They do love to talk about food and we, at Certa, are no exception. But what we really talk about when we talk about #food? From pleasure and emotional participation, to identity, beliefs and cultural values, gastronomical conversations can reflect who we are, adding layers of meaning to what’s on the plate.
We’re here to talk about food through #preservation, from its most literal translation to the broadest mean.
Our heritage is often passed down and intimately bound up in the food we eat. The preservation of culinary traditions is an unspoken aspiration that bind generations with the land from which they sprang. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿 has been described in centuries-old Italian archives from the Middle Ages onwards. This art came about mostly in family attics, the hot top of the house. Here, a gradual fermentation takes place while the liquid reduces over a period of years. The result? 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀-𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. Multitasking at its finest.
Which is your big little “preserving food heritage” ritual?
🍇Our favorite ritual happens inside the ancient acetaia at @ilborgodelbalsamico. Here, it begins a years-long process of aging and reduction, as makers transfer the vinegar through a succession of increasingly smaller wooden barrels that infuse it with the essence of different woods, until it becomes a syrup of intense, complex flavours.