Hello all, Here is a segment of my delayed Salone report. I've been struggling a bit with inserting pictures so I've put them up on a .Mac site. My Salone Pictures The first day was a complete sensory overload. It is still a bit of a blur. But there are many high lights for me. 1. Even after 4 days of handing out samples, sometimes talking about the uniqueness of their products, sometimes just trying to get something out for people to sample, the people that represented their products were truly passionate. This even held true for the league of Italian volunteers who translated for non-Italian speaking presenters. What struck me was the low production for most products. Most people talked about the impact of Slow Food in bringing consumer attention to their products. 2. The quality was so high that even products that I've had before were sublime in taste and mouth feel. The hundreds of salumi, jambon, and prosciutto I tried were so fresh and delicious - it took me three days to work through them all. One particular delicious product I had was a Salsicciotto del Vastese from Abruzzo that was so fresh it was spread between two slices of rustic bread. In front of the booth there were 10 people all slowly eating and reveling in the taste. 3. The enoteca was one of the best wine tasting experiences I have ever had. There were 2400 wines to sample - mostly Italian and Austrian. Most were one euro per healthy pour. The top Barolos were three euros per pour. If one wanted to, you could spend five days of tasting and not even try half of what was there. 4. The number of children struck me. Whole classes of kids were being led through the tasting areas and were given individual presentations. What a great opportunity for kids. I believe that Slow Foods provided a curiculum guide for schools. What a great way for kids to better understand the links between producer and consumer. 5. Sharing dinner with Ore. I got a chance to meet up with Ore at the Salone. This is a chef to watch. He truly loves food and shares that knowledge and interest with everyone. It doesn't hurt that he has movie star good looks and the energy of a perfectionist. After describing his use of a cryovac to encase a pork belly braise, I can't wait try his food. I hope to take a trip to Naples before he finishes his work at the restaurant there. What I would do differently next time: 1. Brush up on my Italian - very helpful. 2. Go on Thursday - the crowds are literally shoulder to shoulder 3. Go with at least two friends who share the intensity - you can split up and identify products for others to try. 4. Get the Slow Food Presidio products book and read up first to pick a few things you don't want to miss. 5. Sign up for more tasting seminars early! - the interesting ones fill up quickly 6. Make dinner reservations early! Most of the restaurants I wanted to try were already booked. That’s all for tonight. I'm making my list of memorable products and tastes for my next post.