Following the resounding success in the USA, Calabria proves to be the main 2017 trendsetter among Italian regions at the German event

Following the resounding success at the 2017 Summer Fancy Food Show held in New York last June, Calabria proves to be the main 2017 trendsetter among Italian regions at the Anuga Fair in Germany.
Anuga, the International trade fair for food and beverages, takes place every two years and it is the world’s most important event concerning food and farming. Calabria has a leading role in this field with its huge heritage of mainly certified organic produce.
2017 is the year of Calabria. “People in the United States have become fascinated by the excellent Calabrian food”, claimed Danielle Pergament from the New York Times. The journalist included Calabria among the 52 essential locations to visit in 2017, stating that she was seduced by the chefs whose recipe for success was based on Calabrian traditional dishes. Mastercard listed the region among the 10 top hidden treasures for 2017, “The Telegraph” and the French daily “Le Monde”, in an article by Jerome Gautheret, celebrate the “sublime” beauty of Calabrian beaches. Paradoxical as it may sound, the missed development and isolation of the region, that is the real homeland of the Mediterranean Diet, have finally turned into an added value. It was in Calabria, in the town of Nicotera, that in 1957 Professor Ancel Keys, the pioneer of new dietary pattern and psycho-physical well-being, found the nutrition habits on which the Mediterranean Diet, that was later added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, is based. Ancient varieties of fruits, vegetables and grapes, that were lost in most areas, have been grown in backward sites, preserving their original qualities. Valter Longo, the Italian scientist who wrote a revolutionary book entitled “The longevity diet”, is a researcher at the University of Southern California (Usc) and the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (Ifom) in Milan. He is originally from Molochio and his studies have been focused on the properties of the simple and wholesome foods he ate during his childhood in Calabria.
About 350 autochthonous grape varieties grow in the region. Grapes with their own history are spread all over Calabria and they produce wines with a strong character and unique flavor thanks to soil characteristics and a favorable climate.
Wine quality has been improved by passionated vine growers who continue to develop genetic varieties and promote autochthonous grapes, thus significantly increasing the production of organic wines. Local wines were awarded at several national and international competitions.
Eric Asimov of the New York Times celebrated the Gaglioppo wine from Cirò, in the province of Crotone, the legendary wine that was usually offered to the athletes who won the Olympic games two thousand five hundred years ago. He listed it among “the 12 Wine Grapes Worth Discovering” and described the Gaglioppo wines as “…rustic reds, with aromas of roses and smoke and grippy tannins”.
Robert Camuto wrote in Wine Spectator “Can Cirò be Italy’s next big thing?” In addition, several Calabria wines from thousand year-old grape varieties, the genuine symbol of the area, were selected by Wine Spectator for the Opera wine event.
But there is more. Lidia Bastanich, the leading ambassador for Italian Cuisine in the World, is convinced that “top trendy products in 2018 will come from Calabria” including ‘nduja, caciocavallo, liquorice and bergamot.
Few months ago, Lidia got to know better Calabria cuisine during a tour organized by the Regional Department of Agriculture and Food Farming, together with the Calabria Film Commission. Local food professionals could exchange views and experiences with the “queen” of American cooking shows. The ‘Slow Food’ spots spread all over the region were also included in the tour.