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ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINAA CULTURAL INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ITALY

FOUNDED IN 1953 BY ORIO VERGANI

www.accademia1953.it

CIVILTÀDELLATAVOLAACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

INTERNATIONAL

EDITION

CdT_282_COVER_INGLESE_Acca 09/05/16 14:56 Pagina 1

FOCUS2 Carbonara: the imposter is served! (Paolo Petroni)

CULTURE AND RESEARCH3 Dining with Voltaire (Giuseppe Benelli)

5 If fish could talk… (Alfredo Pelle)

7 An indispensible and precious resource (Nicola Barbera)

9 Call them emotions, if you like (Roberto Dottarelli)

On the cover: Graphic reproduction of a detailfrom the painting “Still life with onions” (1881) byAuguste Renoir. Clark Art Institute, USA

PAGE 1

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

MAY 2016 / N. 282

EDITOR IN CHIEFPAOLO PETRONI

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LAYOUTSIMONA MONGIU

TRANSLATORNICOLA LEA FURLAN

THIS ISSUE INCLUDES ARTICLES BYNicola Barbera,Giuseppe Benelli,Roberto Dottarelli,Alfredo Pelle,Paolo Petroni.

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S O M M A R I OT A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Unquestionably, theevent of the monthwas the recipe of the

so-called “French style carbona-ra”, the invention that caused atorrent of indignation. The hor-rible recipe, as it appeared onthe website Demotivateur, sho-wed a pot filled with mincedonion, cubed pancetta and but-terfly pasta, all of it covered with water and boiled, follo-wed by cream, flaked parmesan, parsley and, finally, theyolk of a raw egg on top. At the end of the video, the logo ofthe pasta producer Barilla appears. It is superfluous to men-tion that the recipe does not even deserve a comment on ac-count of its disgusting nature. It must be added, however,that the apparent sponsor, Barilla, distanced itself fromsuch a disgraceful dish. The Parma pasta maker quickly puton its website the correct preparation of carbonara. The ca-se went viral on the social media and it was widely coveredby all newspapers and many television programs. The epi-sode allowed for a penetrating discussion of problems lin-ked to the Italian dish that is the most popular in the world,right after pizza. It is the most talked about case and Romanrestaurants are justifiably the masters of the dish, althoughit must be acknowledged that they too make some mistakes.Carbonara has a short history. It appeared at the close ofWWII; before then, no culinary text contains any mentionof it. Typical dishes were the gricia, amatriciana, cacio chee-se and pepper, cacio cheese and egg. In fact, carbonara isnothing more than griciawith the addition of an egg, or ca-cio cheese and egg with the addition of streaky bacon orpancetta; it certainly does not enjoy a specific reference. Itentails a certain freedom in preparing it, within the scope ofgood taste. Let us leave aside the fantasy driven theories about its ori-gin (coal sellers, shepherds, bacon and powdered eggsAmerican style and so forth); we will never know the truth.Instead, let us examine the debates that still remain. Strea-ky bacon or pancetta? Today’s experts favor streaky bacon.However, the majority of restaurants use flat pancetta andmany foodies prefer it as well, since it is less fat and oppres-

sive. Normal or smoked pancet-ta? Normal, but the smokedkind is also good while the cu-bed pancetta packing that isfound in supermarkets carrythe label “smoked” and “idealfor carbonara”. Should it besautéed with oil or without oil?The present trend is for sau-téing without oil but in past ti-

mes everybody used a little oil or even a little fat. Shouldthe eggs be whole or should only the yoke be used? Again,the experts say just the yoke, while in truth many use thewhite as well or mix up the eggs and the yokes. Shouldcheese be pecorino romano? Many use half pecorino and halfparmesan. Is any crushed garlic necessary? Today the an-swer is negative but in the past it was called for, just like therecipe of the Academy did. Let us not even talk about cre-am. Instead, let us talk about black pepper that must beground on the spot. What type of pasta? Surely not the but-terflies, but thick spaghetti are preferred. In Rome, all talkis about rigatoni and half sleeves. Now, for preparation: some people put the pasta in the sau-téed streaky bacon and then add the eggs mixed with peco-rino. Others put the pasta in the beaten eggs and then addthe bacon. There is also a strange recipe that must be men-tioned, coming from Gualtiero Marchesi, who mixes pastawith the eggs and then adds raw olive oil and finally, thesautéed streaky bacon. All is basically done with three in-gredients while preparations have varied through times un-til today (one should read the version by Anna Gosetti dellaSalda in Italian Regional Recipes). It is what is commonlycalled “a creeping innovation”, that is small variations thatin the end change the dish, making it more conforming topresent tastes and fashions (the trend is toward making it“creamy”, as in the case of cheese and pepper as well). A ru-stic dish - simple, fast, trattoria-like - becomes the object oflearned discussions, a “cult” dish, as they say. In practicalterms, it is quite rare to find a properly prepared carbonarain restaurants. A wise Academician should do extensive te-sting and ultimately will find the most satisfying solution.That is the right recipe.

Carbonara: the imposter is served!An appalling french recipe tries to trump our symbolic dish.

BY PAOLO PETRONIPresident of the Academy

F C U S

S O M M A R I OC U L T U R E & R E S E A R C H

T he fondest desire of the greatminds of the Enlightenmentwas to visit the town of Ferney,

just a few kilometers from the westernshore of the Geneva lake in the remotestcorner of southeastern France, to havean opportunity to meet Voltaire. Thepatriarch of Ferney appeared to be thevery symbol of the Enlightenment andthe incarnation of critical reason, spiritof tolerance, faith in progress and scien-ce and the defense of human rights. In1755, Voltaire established himself inGeneva, which he loved for its tolerantatmosphere. He remained there untilhe became displeased with “GenevianProtestantism” that often led him toflee from the Swiss guards. He resolvedthe issue in 1758 when he acquired a

large property in Ferney and Tourneyin France: It was comprised of a blockof 25 estates on the Swiss border, andthere he built an elegant castle righton the border itself, so that his homewas situated in France but his gardenlay in Switzerland. Thus his escape wasassured: all he had to do to avoid thecops was move into the garden throughthe back door, or remain in the house,depending on who was after him atthe moment and which way the windwas blowing. It was a wind that wasoften stormy, and he fanned the flameswith his struggle against “infamy”.James Boswel, who had visited Voltairein December of 1774, wrote: “he hasabout fifty people in his castle; his ser-vants marry and have children, and he

BY GIUSEPPE BENELLIAcademician, Lunigiana Delegation “Franco Marenghi” Study Center

The great Enlightenment philosopher defined himself as “the grand innkeeper of Europe”.

Dining with Voltaire

C U L T U R E A N D R E S E A R C HS O M M A R I OC U L T U R E & R E S E A R C H

is very involved in the village that hasgrown up around the castle”. At hisown expense, he transformed the smalltown that surrounded the castle intoan artisanal center filled with mills andclockmakers that rivaled Geneva. Froma town containing about 40 homes(150-200 people), by the time of Vol-taire’s death in 1778 the population ofFerney had grown to more than 800.Both the powerful and the unknown,and men of letters and aristocrats allmade the pilgrimage to the little townto meet the patriarch of the Enlighten-ment. The incessant influx of visitorsmade Voltaire, in his own words, “theinnkeeper of Europe”. A great conver-sationalist, curious, attentive and oc-casionally theatrical, Voltaire realizedat his banquets what the Siècle de LouisXIV called “the spirit of society” of theFrench culture of the times, where con-versation constituted “one of life’s grea-test pleasures”. Voltaire enjoyed bringingvarious personalities together aroundthe table, and described in detail theorder of service, the dishes and wines,always emphasizing their auspiciousnessand luxury. Yet the convivial meal wasrarely an end in itself: rather it was aplace for serene discussion and the freecirculation of ideas and tolerance.By this time rich and famous, Voltaireconstantly maintained a sumptuous ta-

ble. In a letter dated October 18,1760, D’Alembert wrote: “yourhome is becoming like the LondonStock Exchange: the Jesuit andthe Jansenist, the Catholic andthe Socinian, the convulsionaryand the encyclopedist are all em-bracing one another with affection,happier than anyone else”.His niece, Madame Denis, whowas 18 years younger than Voltaire,was in charge of organizing lifewithin the castle and entertainingvisitors. When he was 56, her unclebecame her tutor and her lover.Voltaire began an extremely inti-mate correspondence with her,sometimes very sentimental andoften deliciously indecent, filledwith lamentations and requests

for “consolation”. He deemed her to bea spirited and incisive woman, and anactress of great talent, while his friendsfound her insipid and loud-mouthed,unattractive and mediocre. MadameDenis was quite fat and her physicalaspect was the opposite of her uncle,who was skin and bones.The accounting books of the castle,maintained by Voltaire’s secretary, re-vealed the abundance and quality ofthe food served at the Patriarch’s table.The chef “Bonne sauce (good sauce),assisted by a pastry chef and femalecook” was one of the castle’s highestpaid domestics. Among the most fre-quently mentioned foods, meat occupiedthe top position, and wild game was afavorite. Voltaire loved to eat good meatand he made sure that his guests alsoappreciated it: “Oh my dear friend,how delicious this wild turkey is, buthow much work to digest it! My cookand my pharmacist are killing me”.Fish seldom appears in the report be-cause the castle had two “carp ponds”but there are frequent references tolake trout and whitefish; some sea fishare also mentioned in spite of the diffi-culty in transporting them. Little fruitwas acquired other than that furnishedby the park’s gardens and orchardsthroughout the various seasons: cher-ries, strawberries, raspberries, chestnuts,

figs and oranges. Lemons were used inlarge quantities to prepare sauces. Chee-se held an important place in the pantry:Gruyere, individual cheese forms called“tomme” produced in the Savoy regionand the Dauphinate, “Roquefort” andparmigiano. Acquisitions of pastriesand sweets were equally important.Sugar appeared in twelfth place on thelist of foods, demonstrating the impor-tance of desserts, sweets, and othertreats.During the final years of Voltaire’s lifemany of his visitors described him as“gaunt, livid, cadaverous” with sharppiercing eyes. He was anguished bythe problem of tooth loss, both becauseof the consequent difficulty in chewingas well as in reciting his comedies. Vol-taire ate very little, primarily eggs, ve-getables and lentils. He drank evenless, no more than a glass of Burgundywith dinner. He wrote to his niece Denisin Italian (the language of love) thathe could no longer digest anything andhe felt “close to death”. “I have beenvery ill, but I hope to recover my healthwith you. I will see you today, andtoday I will find the only consolationthat can sweeten the bitterness of mylife. Nature, which granted me the ten-derest of hearts, forgot to give me astomach. I cannot digest but I can love”.In order to keep up with the frenziedpace of work he imposed on himselfeven in old age, he drank liters of coffeeand chocolate, and allowed himself tobe tempted by a few sweets. It seemsthat he would consume a dozen cupsof chocolate by noon because he thoughtit not only delicious but also that itwas nutritious and stimulated the mind. With keenness and irony, the passionfor knowledge and a feeling of pity forhuman weaknesses, food became forVoltaire, not only a tool with which todismantle old prejudices or new resi-stance, but also to forge new links. Inthis way he found the “ ” or master keyto the heart of his guests: food as plea-sure for the body, medicine for the souland a sensual thaumaturgy to cure stu-pidity.

GIUSEPPE BENELLI


O ne of the greatest challengesof our times is to plan andmaintain sustainable com-

munities so that their lifestyles, econo-mies and technologies will not interferewith nature and its ability to sustainlife. First of all, we must become kno-wledgeable of the “ecological plan”that we should support in order to pro-gram the technologies. This forces usto look into the ways that nature usesto sustain life, into how the eco-systemsperform, into the steps that are calledfor to sustain the process that expertsdefine as “metabolism”. To grasp thisevolution, the knowledge of food isfundamental; by learning about itsfoundations we can begin to understandthose of life. There is no question that water is fun-damental for metabolism. The ancientphilosophers and scientists drew a closeconnection between water and life.

Thales stated that since we considerthe entire universe as a living thing,water is the original substance fromwhence all was made. Leonardo daVinci called water “the extension andthe nourishment of all living bodies”.The fish is mute but it does communicatea lot. Let us see why. The inhabitantsof water are named according to theircolor: we are familiar with “white fish”,belonging to the most valued speciesthat is served at home or in the restau-rant as if it were a great gift; and thenthe “blue” fish that in spite of all effortsto make it important retains a less thanappreciated status. It is true, however,that there are many lovers of a nicegrill of sardines and mackerels or afish fry of anchovies to die for. I countmyself among that number but I reco-gnize that those fish species are classi-fied as “poor” as if a social distinctioncould be applied to fish!

And even though since the most remoteancient times fish has provided a richnourishing food to those people wholived on the sea, it must be added aswell that following its great popularappeal with Greeks and Romans, fishconsumption was still quite high in theMiddle Ages. Religious beliefs praisedits eating quality on meatless days, du-ring Lent and vigils. It should also berecalled that the first Christians cele-brated the fish as a symbol of Christ onthe strength of the fact that its Greekname icthús contained the initials ofthe expression Jesus Christ Son of Godthe Savior and of the prominence thatit had in the iconography of the firstChristian era, including its link withthe miracle of the multiplication of loa-ves and fish. At those times, the use offreshwater fish was widespread sincethis kind of fishing required less inve-stment and elementary technologies.

BY ALFREDO PELLEAcademician, Vicenza Delegation

President of the “Franco Marenghi” Study Center

If water is the original substance from which everything originates, as Thales claims,the creatures that live within it must be respected because fishing resources are not renewable.

If fish could talk…

Many centuries later, theMaritime Republics, and Ve-nice in particular, treasuredits high nutritional content.The government of the Se-renissimaRepublic of Venicepracticed a strict surveillan-ce over the fish market inRialto and meted out heavypenalties to those who triedto sell fish that was not fresh.Later on, fish consumptionbegan to diminish openingup to the use of meats thatwere looked upon as a richerfood and thus appropriateto the tables of the wealthy and po-werful. No less important was the dif-ficulty of reducing the time that passedbetween fishing and bringing the fishto the kitchen in order to prevent thedeterioration of that food. This problemdoes not exist any longer on accountof the distribution of fresh and refrige-rated fish and the ability to choose aproduct that was not available in oldentimes. What is our relationship with fish?There is no doubt that the situation isimproving. Every Italian eats about fiftypounds of fish each year. This representsan increase, too little however if onerelates overall consumption to the thou-sand of miles of coastline at our disposal.Furthermore, which is the type of fishthat we prefer? Just 10 percent of thefish that we eat comes from the Medi-terranean. The preponderant quantitycomes from aquaculture, the Atlanticor the Pacific. The truth is that theMare Nostrum, “our sea”, is short offish, a true miser in this respect. Twentyyears ago, Braudel wrote that “the wa-ters of the Mediterranean are poor andproduce just a third of the fish that isharvested in Norway”. He went on todefine the Mediterranean “a sparingalimentary source”. In truth, there are many species of co-mestible fish, over 25,000 to be precise,but only a few hundred are utilized forculinary purposes. In the world offishing work is spread over variousfronts: the production of fish raised in

sea waters - the gilthead primarily - isincreasing as a consequence of effortsto cut down fishing by nets that arecausing disastrous forays and the de-struction of fishing grounds. Some fi-shing can reach down to depths of1,800 feet. Some success has been rea-ched in Italy with methods for raisingturbot. Since this species does not to-lerate temperatures above 16 degreesCelsius, it was impossible to cultivateit in the Mediterranean. The solutionwas to create fish tanks at a depth of150 feet where the water is always be-low the limit of temperature. In thelast analysis, while the product of fishingis just about stationary, consumptiontends to increase. On the other hand,the world’s total trade of fish and fishingproducts has increased drastically rea-ching huge figures of almost 90 billiondollars per year. The increased use of fish in the kitchenis due in good part to the fact that ourfamily cooks pay more attention to nu-trition and not just to alimentation,picking their foodstuffs based on betterprinciples that reflect the nutritionalfeatures. Surely, the development ofofferings almost everywhere (from thesupermarkets to the shops, to the streetvendors selling their products fromtheir pickups driven to town from coa-stal areas), in addition to the undeniableadvantage of frozen or pre-cooked pro-ducts, have made fish into a productthat appears with increasing frequencyon our tables. The restaurant business

involving fish, once circum-scribed to venues adjacent tothe sea (even today the stran-ge credence holds that freshfish can surely be found incoastal areas) follows the di-scovery that fish is an indi-spensible product on themenu, which accounts for theincreasing demand. The flip side of the story isthat fresh water fish has prac-tically disappeared from ourtables with the only exceptionof fish coming from pondsutilized for growing trout.

Carp, chub, catfish and pike can scarcelybe found. Something may still be foundin some restaurants specializing in lakecuisine but not in significant quantity.And for the future?A shout of alarm is coming from theoceans and rivers: some fish speciesare endangered. The fish reserves arenot renewable, and cannot be recon-structed forever. Industrial fishing isnot without fault because of undiffe-rentiated overfishing. Talking about water, of any kind, istantamount of talking about men andtheir behavior on land. All problemsrelevant to the health of the fish andtheir survival do not originate internallyin waters but are the consequence ofwhatever happens on land and humanpatterns of behavior. One can only hopethat man may become ever more re-sponsible for his “well being” in the fu-ture by respecting the world of thosesilent providers of good and countlesshealth qualities. Such is the world thatoccupies 70 percent of the Earth’s sur-face. Mankind should understand thatthe “regeneration of resources” appliesas well to the population of our watersand must become a responsible factor.We should go back to “sustainability”by creating marine sanctuaries, by esta-blishing and respecting harvesting quo-tas and not countenancing guilty tole-rance… It must be accomplished quicklybecause “he who sleeps does not catchfish!”

ALFREDO PELLE



A s Saint Francis wrote in his Fio -retti, water “is very useful, pre-cious and humble”. It is extra-

ordinary that one of animal and vegetablelife’s principal elements, indispensiblefor all forms of life on our planet, shouldbe defined in terms of characteristics itdoes not possess (other than transpa-rency): colorless, odorless, tasteless. Aswe shall see, this is not always the case. It is said that the origin of life on ourterrestrial globe began in a “puddle” ofwarm water: the so-called “primordialstew”. In 1954 two American Nobelprize winners tried to reproduce thesecircumstances by combining water, asimple gas, such as methane (the simplestof hydrocarbons) and ammonia (com-posed of nitrogen and hydrogen andwater soluble) in a spherical containerand subjecting it to electric impulses (tosimulate lightening). The result was thecreation of some organic compounds(amino acids) that could be consideredthe “building blocks” of protein, a fun-

damental element of cell formation andtherefore of the first forms of life.In Greek philosophy, Thales of Mileto(624-545 B.C.), founder of the IonicSchool and considered one of the sevenwise men of antiquity, declared that wa-ter, together with air, earth and fire,was one of the four elements that makeup the universe. It was only in the secondhalf of the 1700s that Lavoisier, one ofthe founders of modern chemistry, suc-ceeded in identifying water as a chemicalcompound (molecule) made up of twovolumes (atoms) of hydrogen and oneof oxygen (H2O =hydrogen oxide), andin separating them by a process of hy-drolysis. Water is also a sacred symbol: in Christianbaptism, it frees us from original sin; inthe ritual baths of Judaism and Islam ithas the power to purify, as it also doesin Buddhism for those who bathe in theGanges river (considered sacred becausefrom it sprang from the tresses of Shiva).For the Aztecs water represented fertility

BY NICOLA BARBERAAcademician, Milan Duomo Delegation

Water would seem to be an inexhaustible resource, but today we realize that is not the case.

An indispensible and precious resource

because they believed it was the seed ofTlaloc, god of storms. In addition, thedevelopment of Indo-European civili-zations all were centered around thegreat rivers: the Nile, the Tigris, the Eu-phrates and the Ganges.Water is a major component of natureand it covers over 70% of the surface ofthe Earth (thus the “dry land” accountsfor less than 30%). The volume of theEarth’s water is almost two billion cubickilometers. Water constitutes almost65% of the weight of the human body,with notable differences among the va-rious organs. Water constitutes 80% ofthe weight of a newborn baby. Unfortu-nately, however, fresh water only repre-sents 2.5% of the total, and what ismore, two-thirds of that is concentratedin the glaciers of the polar ice caps ofAntarctica and Greenland. Thus it is ourprincipal natural reserve of fresh water,but it is very difficult to obtain. Seawater,the most important and “complete” mi-neral water that exists, is not drinkableowing to its extremely high sodium chlo-ride content, with an average concen-tration of about 35 grams per liter (com-pared with 25-30 mg per liter of potablewater). Furthermore, seawater can onlybe utilized through a complicated andcostly process of desalinization. Before the Industrial Revolution waterseemed to be an inexhaustible resource.Then came “progress”, with its unde-niable benefits on quality of life, butwhich led to increasing pollution of ourrunning water and underground watertables. This crisis was exacerbated by aconcurrent population explosion. Finallytoday, a growing awareness of the im-portance of protecting the environmentand the promulgation of appropriatelaws and various controls is beginningto stem the impoverishment of this “bluegold” (the thicker the ice the more itholds onto red light waves, thus appea-ring blue).Italy is rich in potable water: our watertable contains 85% and surface wateraccounts for 15%. Altogether we haveavailable more than 400 cubic metersper inhabitant - ten times that of thesouthern Mediterranean countries. And

yet we waste far too much. One form ofwaste is that often pointed out by vege-tarians: it takes 15,000 liters of waterto produce 1 kilogram of beef; and 4,000liters for the same amount of chicken.In comparison, only 700 liters are ne-cessary to produce a kilo of apples and500 liters for oranges.To help raise awareness about preservingthis precious resource, starting in 1993we began celebrating World Water Dayon March 22.We should recall that one person in sixdoes not have regular or sufficient accessto water, and potable water is unavailableto 11% of the world’s population. It isodd that the tap water in our homes isconsidered potable, according to esta-blished standards, but apparently not“drinkable” given the widespread con-sumption of bottled mineral water thatis deemed to be “safer”. However it costsa great deal more and bears its ownecological problems related to its pro-duction, transport, and the disposal ofcontainers. Fortunately, after the verti-ginous growth in recent years that hasled Italy to be Europe’s largest, and theworld’s third largest, consumer of bottledwater with over 190 liters per personper year, we are finally seeing a slightinversion of the tendency (-0.5%) owingto the increased used of home waterpurification systems.Italy has an abundance of mineral waters,and they vary in type and quality: allbottled mineral water in Italy must meetthe qualitative and quantitative requi-rements imposed by the Ministry of Pu-blic Health. The information must beprovided on the label, especially the sa-linity (the amount of inorganic minerals

that remain after boiling a liter of waterat 180 degrees C until completely eva-porated). According to this parameter,mineral waters are classified as: minimalmineral content (salinity below 50 mgper liter) with a light flavor; low mineralcontent (salinity between 51 and 500mg per liter) with a delicate flavor ap-propriate for all tastes; moderate mineralcontent (salinity between 501 and 1,500mg per liter) with a full taste; and highmineral content (salinity over 1,500 mgper liter) with specific taste properties.Water is unquestionably the healthiestbeverage we have, and as it is closelyassociated with our wellbeing it is alsofundamentally important in cuisine be-cause we use water to begin to modifyfoods. Water is one of the principal in-gredients, directly or indirectly, in everyrecipe.Although the sensorial nuances of waterare not comparable to those of wine, anew profession is emerging: the watertaster, who understands and can distin-guish one kind of water from another.From the taste they can determine whatkind of rock the water originated from(lime, clay, etc.) and can suggest thebest pairings with different dishes. Thehydro-sommelier, or water sommelieris a profession that is more widespreadabroad (where one can even find waterbars) than in Italy. However we do havean Association of Mineral Water Tasters(ADAM) whose members are able toevaluate the unique characteristics ofdozens of labels/brands and determinewhich pairs best with certain foods. Infact, like a wine list, a “water list” isnow common in many restaurants. Theyprovide expert advice on the type ofglass, the best pairing with the selecteddish and temperature at which the watershould be served (for still water, about10 degrees C; for sparkling water, about7 degrees C).I think this is an excellent developmentfor all of us, not just the teetotalers, be-cause water is important for proper di-gestion, and it is advisable to drink ahalf liter of water during meals, parti-cularly between courses.

NICOLA BARBERA



I t is a common belief that instinctsare prevalent in other animal spe-cies while in a man rational be-

havior may succeed in controlling theinstinctive component and guide ouractions in an effective fashion. In tryingnot to start a train of thought that isfull of platitudes, I will limit myself totaking a stand by avoiding misunder-standings and ambiguities.Homo Sapiens is surely endowed withan intelligence that manifests itself,for example, in his attitude towardanalyzing all that surrounds him andhis ability to describe the emergingknowledge so that it may be sharedwith other individuals of his species.

It is such ability that allowed the de-velopment of behaviors that facilitatedthe adaptation of our species to themost diverse environmental conditions.This process is associated with the de-velopment of three superior corticalfunctions that are responsible for theevolutionary refinement of the cogni-tive activities of the species throughthe unification of sensorial data andthe exclusion of the limbic system(made up by neural structures thatare strictly kinked with emotions, par-ticularly in terms of the experience ofpleasure, pain or rage) and in particularin the case of immediate sensorial as-sociations (C.D. Laughlin, J. McManus,E.G. D’Aquili: The Spectrum of Ritual,N.Y. 1979).Nonetheless, if this is the half of theglass that is full, it is not necessary tobe a neuroscientist to know that ourbehavioral patterns cannot always bedefined as rational to their end. Someone has written that it is easierto believe than to reason. Since wejust mentioned the glass, it is worthyof mention that in January 2008 astory was reported by Daniela Ovadain her blog Mind and Psyche that waslittle publicized in the world of goodtable except for its connection withour discourse on the cognitive abilityof the human species. Antonio Rangel,an economist of Stanford University,together with a team of neurologists,devised a test of twenty volunteerswho submitted themselves to a fun-ctional magnetic resonance of theirbrains by tasting wines blindly, kno-wing only their price. This news itemappeared in Dario Bressanini’s blog

BY ROBERTO DOTTARELLIAcademician, Rome Castelli Delegation

Our opinions on consumer goods are often influenced by several emotional factors.

Call them emotions, if you like

Science in the Kitchen, where it wasreported that those volunteers whowere fond of red wines were led tobelieve that they would taste five va-rieties of Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact,they were served three wines, all withdifferent prices, one of them twice.“A wine that sold for $90 was presentedtwice, once with its real price, andthe other time at $10. Likewise, a winethat sold for $5 per bottle was presen-ted as if its cost were $45”. Were the twenty tasters able to detectthe deceit? Not a chance: they all toldof having liked best the wine with thehigher price even though it was thesame. Bressanini reports that “the interestingthing about this study is that for thefirst time the brain activity was mea-sured. There was no variance in thebrain zone responsible for the inter-pretation of the primary stimuli oftaste such as sweetness: that zone ofthe brain was not “deceived” by priceand taste was perceived in the samemanner. At a higher cognitive level,however, in the orbital-frontal cortex,which codifies the experiences of plea-sure deriving from smell, taste andeven listening to music, a higher price

corresponded with a higher blood cir-culation”. The experiment led us to concludethat our cognitive abilities, so importantin the evolution of Homo Sapiens, arein fact weak and unprotected in theface of marketing strategies that utilizethe formula “higher quality - higherprice”, to be read from right to left(thank you Bressanini!). At the same time, one must be con-scious of the fact that our judgmentson consumer goods are always in-fluenced by numerous “emotional”agents (price, location, our mood, thecompany and so forth) and that suchjudgments do not depend solely uponthe intrinsic quality of the goods butalso upon the elaboration of our brainin light of the absence of many ele-ments that inform our judgment. If they do indeed escape us, I believethat few of us can claim to be exemptfrom utilizing from time to time theopinion of some “expert”. It is necessarythen to cite another study done bet-ween 2005 and 2008, and brought upby Bressanini in his blog, conductedby Robert Hodgson who analyzed the“consistency”, that is to say the relia-bility, of a large group of professional

wine tasters (about 135 of them). Ineach session, each judge received 30blind tasting items. Some of them, ho-wever, were specimens in triple copypoured from the same bottle.The result was indeed discouraging:only 10 percent of the tasters cameup with judgments that were consistentwith the various tasting of the samewine while the higher reliability ofthe judgments (estimated to be 18%)was recorded for wines that receivednegative ratings. What were the reac-tions to such results? It appears thatthe best ones came from the area ofwine contests where the discussionfocused on how to improve the relia-bility of the judges. Needless to say, apolemical response came from theworld of the media and of people whowrite and talk about wines, accustomedto giving out points and medals. Once it has been ascertained that thepleasure of tasting wine is influencedby emotions, I will willingly leave tothe “experts” the satisfaction linkedwith the price and as for myself, I willcontinue to pay special attention toharmony, passion and sobriety (of theproducer).

ROBERTO DOTTARELLI


ECUMENICAL DINNER 2016

The Ecumenical Convivial Dinner that finds all Academicians in Italy and around the world gathe-red around the same virtual table will be held on October 20, 2016 at 8:30 pm, withthe theme “The cuisine of Reuse. Against Waste, the Family Tradition Offers Lefto-vers with Gusto and Imagination”. This theme was chosen by the “Franco Marenghi” Study Center and approvedby the President’s Council, with the purpose of retrieving, within the tradi-tional cuisine, those preparations that while originating from partially used

foodstuff go on to create new recipes and diverse tastes. The Delegates will take great care that the Ecumenical Dinner will be accompanied by an appro-priate report of cultural character to illustrate the important theme of the convivial whose menuwill offer and honor the chosen food.

m civi lt Àdell a tavola

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