Snippets from the Italian Scene
Politics: G8 and Exciting News
about Olive Oil
Moving in another political direction, if the riots provoked by the antiglobalization people in Goteborg this week are any indication, the G8 summit in Genova at the end of June could become quite ugly. If you're going to be in Liguria, check the paper and avoid Genova during the meetings. No point in getting caught in the middle of things; in Sweden the demonstrators were throwing paving stones and the police were shooting back.
Also, some positive political food news: The EEU has closed the loophole that allowed unscrupulous olive oil producers to import cheap oil from elsewhere, mix it with local oil, and then sell the product as local oil. Now the labels have to say where the olives were pressed if the oil is to be identified as local or national, and since olives must be picked and pressed immediately, this closes the above loophole. The EEU has also reduced the allowable acidity for extravirgin oils. What does this mean for the consumer? That some of the cheap commercially produced extravirgin oils that are now labeled Italian will be relabeled Mediterranean, or simply extravirgin. With any luck their prices will come down as well.
A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine
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