Undervalued Italian artisanal products

[docsconz]

Pamela,

Many of the great artisanal products of Italy that you have written about were relatively unknown outside of their regions until relatively recently. It wasn't that long ago that balsamico, culatello, mozzarella di bufala and other products were in that boat. Do you see any great products still in that boat or are all the truly great ones already well known. Certainly Slow Food has done a lot to promote many of the lesser known traditional products.

[pamela in tuscany]

oooo, there are a zillion, and many I haven't tried, too. "In that boat" is an apt analogy. Many of these glorious foods will never make their way across the water to the states because of excessive regulations, cheese quotas (and raw milk/aging requirements), and politics. What a shame you can only get two prosciutti (Parma and San Daniele) when there are wonderful variations in many of the central and northern provinces. The costs of converting a plant to USDA standards are prohibitive for tiny artisanal producers....I guess you'll just have to come over here to try them!

Edited September 22, 2004 by pamela in tuscany (log)