A special edition of The Epoch Times, Taste Italy delves into the best of Italian food and heritage.
Letter From The Editor
Why I Love Italy
Everything in the world moves faster today, and everything is more convenient. That’s one reason I think people keep visiting Italy: to be reminded of the greatness that can be achieved with patience and passion—even if it is just one bottle of olive oil or wine at a time.Visiting the Hombre farm in Emilia-Romagna, I stepped into one of those big warehouses where Parmigiano-Reggiano wheels are aged, ever so patiently. Except for a bit of machinery to ease the regular turning of those heavy wheels, much of the cheese-making process is still done by hand today, as it was nine centuries ago. Hombre’s founder, Umberto Panini, was so taken by the singular vision of creating great Parmigiano-Reggiano—so dependent on the cows’ diet—that the farm produces all its own feed and raises its own herd. There’ll always be more efficient ways of doing this. But more delicious? I don’t think so. That excellence is perhaps why Italian products have so many imitators.
Which brings me to Italy’s beloved food legacy. In the following pages, you’ll find memories and stories of tradition and heritage, hard work and celebration—food festivals devoted to throwing wheels of cheese; water buffaloes subjected to massages and classical music, so that their milk (and the mozzarella made from it) might be the best; and honeys that are downright transcendent.
As you peruse the pages of Taste Italy, I invite you to pour yourself a glass of vino and celebrate Italy through one of its most enduring passions: food.
Cin cin!
Channaly Philipp
