After almost a year after the first contacts between the Conad business partners in Grosseto and Slow Food and after the signing of the agreement reached that will allow to identify and implement in Maremma new Slow Food Presidency project, the project is already halfway through. The agreement in question is the result of continuous contacts and verifications between the two souls of the collaboration: the Conad entrepreneur Partners who have been operating for over 5 years in the Maremma area, have fully understood how much value exists in the varied agri-food productions of the Maremma, Slow Food that for 30 years (this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Slow Food Italy Association) is committed to giving a voice to small producers who, on sometimes marginal territories, are committed to preserving all the good practices and gastronomic culture of their families, handing down food knowledge and quality.
The first project to be codified was that of Traditional Fishing in the Lagoon of Orbetello (with the Fishermen of Orbetello, actions of collaboration since the immediate aftermath of the recent deaths last July by supporting the #iostoconipescididbetello path, has already seen the support of the Tuscan Cooks of the Slow Food Alliance with the 2nd Alliance Plate (file: // localhost / (https / :: www.facebook.com:Cuochi-dellAlleanza-Toscana-921866847854024:timeline 🙂 presented last October right in Orbetello. Today this synergy allows to propose “the catch of the day “of the Lagoon of Orbetello for the attention of those who want to enjoy it even better in the fish shops of the Conad stores in Grosseto, as well as at the point of sales of I Pescatori in Orbetello.
Traditional Fishing is the tool that allows you to monitor the environment and the state of the Lagoon daily. In this case, also to enhance the role of the fisherman, “environmentalist” and first to want to preserve the Lagoon at its best for fishing and for all residents and tourists.
Afterwards and with the hope of defining all the details by the end of March, the recognition of the second project Presidio supported by the agreement will also come, the one on Pecorino a Latte Crudo di Maremma. This action is the result of the desire to enhance and give credit to those who still today are committed to producing cheese in a genuine and original way, believing that it is possible to tell a territory and an ancient craft through every single taste.
In fact, the production of raw milk cheese is in short the truly traditional one: milk, fresh from the milk, is already at the ideal temperature (36-38 ° C) to be transformed into cheese with the addition of rennet only; this production is therefore directed from milking to the finished product, does not involve treatments and conditioning, therefore it generates a product that reflects the diversity of pastures and seasonality. The product that is obtained, whether fresh or aged, is therefore a true example of expression of the territory and of the experience of the producer. The ongoing route involves producers from all over the Maremma territory, understood in the widest sense possible, therefore, from the pastures in the metalliferous hills to the north, from the slopes of Amiata in the east, to the plain that descends to the sea.
So it is a project that enhances the production chain and the production method (from the Shepherd to the Casaro to the Affinator), the territory, the pastures and the tradition.
“The collaboration with Slow Food continues to prove invaluable” – affirms Paolo Degli Innocenti, CONAD partner and owner together with Daniele Chiella of the three supermarkets in Grosseto – “In the past we have been Slow Food partners in various initiatives related to the territory, for example with the taste laboratories, to learn to know and choose the food we buy and consume every day. The relationship was then strengthened with the agreement for the identification and implementation in Maremma of 4 Slow Food Presidium projects and after the presidium on the Traditional Fishing of the Orbetello Lagoon, the Maremma Raw Pecorino Presidium is about to be born. The sign Conad has been committed for many years to bringing many regional products of small and medium local producers to the table, making customers feel at home even inside the supermarket and offering them the gastronomic and artisan excellences of the land in which they live. Specific collaborations on the Orbetello Lagoon Catch and now on Maremma Raw Milk Pecorino “- adds Degli Innocenti – allow us to better communicate the value of a product of strategic importance in the area and the goal is not only to achieve these 4 projects of the agreement, but that of having the opportunity to be part of a process of valorisation that sees in these first 4 products the message that as a group we want to testify ”.
“The entire project of collaboration with Conad in Grosseto – says Massimo Bernacchini, Vice President of Slow Food Tuscany – has as its objective the enhancement of the typical products of the Maremma; for the Traditional Fishing in the Lagoon of Orbetello, the value is in the dissemination of a message of tradition and culture linked to a part of the Maremma territory that is in difficulty today, which touched everyone and which is right to face in the right way, informing available to citizens the value of the project, or the quality of the daily fishing product of the workers, of the martavelli and trammelters of the Fishermen of Orbetello ”.
“Bernacchini continues,” the action as a whole is important, the desire to give dignity to products of cultural excellence traditionally made in marginal areas of the Maremma: the production of Pecorino cheese with Raw Milk is the “original” one, this is kept alive by small companies that take care of their supply chain (from sheep to cheese to understand us) an action of perseverance and principle, a process that allows us to keep our attention high on territories “marginalized” by difficult access routes but by unique beauty. The project on Raw Milk then allows to bring to the attention of all without distinction a historical peculiarity of this land, the main place of breeding of milk and meat sheep but that in terms of recognition pays the price compared to more famous products and safe lower ethical and cultural value “.
The other projects that are being worked on to verify the possible feasibility of Slow Food Presidency are the Roccalbegna savory biscuit, known to many but which deserves a cultural and territorial revaluation precisely because of the possibility of revitalizing small local chains of excellence (grain flour). ancient, extra virgin olive oil) and the Pig of Macchiaiola Amiatina, a breed recovered by the Province of Grosseto thanks to the Vagal project and which could become, if properly exploited, another excellence that unequivocally distinguishes our territory.
The Maremma is rich in all this, and for this reason the support for the Slow Food Presidia project by virtuous entrepreneurs is very important. The completion of these projects, however, involves the reference territory, local institutions and producers, with whom the true alliance is achieved and gives life to that local network that strengthens Terra Madre.
If everything goes the right way – continues Bernacchini – we will have a large presence of the new Maremma Presidia at the next Terra Madre Salone del Gusto di Tornio, which this year will take place from September 22nd to 26th in the Parco del Valentino, then in the full city center.