Slow Food..Slow Living & a Sunflower Field

Guest Author: Daniel Dorr
copyright 2010, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc

Imagine sitting down to dinner in the warm Mediterranean air around a table with your extended family for hours, as the sun is setting on a filed of  sunflowers  A waiter comes to fill your already stained red wine glasses, while an accordion player is sounding their last heart throbbing note. This picturesque moment may seem dream-like, but it doesn’t have to be if you know where to go while travelling the Italian Peninsula.




The international Slow Food Movement was started in Italy to preserve this type of dining experience. Since then its recognition has spanned around the globe, and their establishments have even started to arrive in metropolitan areas of the US. Mediterranean life is described as being a much more laid back style of living compared to most Western societies. The organization’s intent was to protect Italy’s dining habits from expanding Western companies, such as McDonalds. To embody their message protestors armed with penne pasta pelted the first Roman fast-food establishment showing their disapproval. Now if you’re not feeling as radical as these food lovers, you can align yourself with their cause by enjoying a meal at a Slow Food restaurant.



The Slow Food manifesto was written to preserve the traditional values of Italian dining – urging people to literally slow down their lifestyles. Who wouldn’t love for your boss to say, ‘take two hours for lunch and relax about that up-coming deadline’? Founder Carlo Petrirni suggests in the official statement, “suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.” It is a proven anthropological fact that the best time of the day to create meaningful conversation is during a shared meal. Slow Food advocates are intending to prove this.



As well as creating a stimulating, relaxing environment for people to dine they are also very concerned with the type of foods they serve. Slow Food advocates are highly concerned that while food species have begun to be homogenized by agribusinesses that their local strains of vegetables and produce will be left extinct. In order to combat this, slow food restaurateurs have established relationships with environmentally conscious farmers (who use neither pesticides nor growth hormones), also trying to maintain their foot holes in the local produce market.



It’s all too easy while travelling in a new country, or any new place for that matter to fall back into your normal eating habits. You can “grab a quick bite” anywhere in the world, but to really experience a foreign land you must eat like an Egyptian – or however that old saying goes. No matter how many tourist attractions you see you can never really get a feel for a new culture without indulging in local cuisine and restaurants. One of the most prominent restaurateurs in Italy for Slow Food is Fabrio Picchi. His restaurants are world renowned and located in Florence, which I will characterize in my next article in this series, A Slow Stroll from Milano to Palermo.

Slow Food and eating healthy..

Slow food is really a healthy food concept that originated in Italy and now boasts chapters all over the world. It is what the original Mediterranean diet was based on. It is a concept of cooking food and eating food- slow. So as to promote the use of fresh foods and not processed foods when cooking and also to promote sitting down and taking time to eat your food in a slow manner.
I base most of my recipes on this since they follow the Mediterranean diet.
However, as far as low-cal slow food, here are some points to ponder:
*Slow food is recipes that are made in the original way using the original ingredients. So for instance you would not substitute fat free margarine for olive oil to make the recipe lower in calories. Fat free margarine has a lot of preservatives in it and the concept of slow food also promotes eating food in it’s' most original state. But you can use less olive oil in your recipe if it will still work. When I cook 'tomato sugo' (tomato sauce). I tend to use only a light touch of olive oil-1 tblsp. Most people tend to use 3 and 4 or more. This is not necessary as long as the other ingredients you use are first quality-fresh red ripe sweet tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh onions, and garlic. All the flavors complement one another and should be balanced and not be overdone.
*Slow food also promotes using artisan foods- foods that are literally handmade and not machine made or usually made in smaller production-not mass produced in a factory. So you couldn't use fat free mozzarella in a recipe and still consider it really slow food. You would have to use freshly made mozzarella and cut back the portion size or the amount you are using. You would not use fat free lower cal bread that is probably produced in a factory with loads of preservatives but a freshly made loaf of bread cut in thinner slices.
*Of course fresh fruits and vegetables are part of the slow food regimen and are all lower in calories than processed foods and healthy for you.

It is all about keeping true to the origin of the foods and even true to the traditional recipes that originated in the town the recipe originated from. So if you want to stay true to slow food and have lower cal foods- cut back on the ingredients like olive oil, cheeses and pump up the fruits and /or veggies. However you will be altering the recipes so it will not remain true to its origins. But it will give you a lower cal way to experience a version of it.

*Most cheeses in Italy are not extremely fat laden except for mascarpone which is absolutely delicious but loaded with calories and fat. Parmigiano-Reggiano is actually a naturally low fat cheese and is easier to digest because of the artisan way the milk is produced and the grasses that cows eat that produce the milk for this cheese.

*Also eating foods slower does force you to become fuller and you will generally not eat as much as you would if you ate fast. It also is healthier for digestion, so it does have an indirect effect on losing weight as well. Many diet programs teach you to eat slower.

However, also keep in mind that there have been studies done that show that eating less processed foods makes your metabolism work faster and people that do eat less processed foods burn calories quicker.
The slow food diet is a healthier diet not necessarily a low cal diet but natural foods are lower in calories in general than their processed counterparts.


If you would like more info or recipes, let me know. I have added one that is a lower cal version of Tiramisu. It is based on the classic version but lower in calories. Mascarpone cheese is so heavy in calories and fat that I thought it would be best to enjoy this dessert in a healthier way so I substituted fat free cream cheese and yogurt for the mascarpone cheese.

Tiramisu (light version)
(copyright, 2005,2006,2007, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, Maria Liberati)

*16 ounce package of savoiardi or ladyfingers
*1 cup espresso coffee with 1 tablespoon sugar
* ¼ cup powdered unsweetened cocoa
*1 tsp amaretto or anisette liqueur
*8 ounces of fat free coffee flavored yogurt
*8 ounces fat free cream cheese
*small piece of dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa)

Place espresso coffee with 1 tblsp of sugar or 2 packets of artificial sweetener in shallow bowl. Dip each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture for about 2 seconds. Then arrange biscotti-side by side to on a plate.
Place yogurt and cream cheese in bowl and whip together till well belndedwith hand mixer. Blend in liqueur.. Spread about 3/4 of yogurt mixture on top of ladyfingers. Repeat again and top with ladyfingers and then top with remaining yogurt mixture. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour. Right before serving, dust with powdered cocoa and shave some dark chocolate on top.

And of course for more recipes go to http://www.marialiberati.com/ and purhcase your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati. You will receive $5 off the retail price and free shipping and handling..

Ciao for now..

Maria

http://www.marialiberati.com/

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