Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014: a trip around flavours, biodiversity and cultures

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 event closed its doors a few days ago registering an attendance of 220,000 visitors. During this delicious four-day event it was possible to taste, learn about and buy food not just from all over Italy, but from all over the world.

This 10th edition was held in Turin and organized by Slow Food, local authorities, Co-ops and the Italian Ministryof Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.

A large number of activities were offered, assuring a "never be bored" time for all ages. Some examples concern sustainable farming classes for children and adults, cooking school,dinner dates with international well-known chefs, taste workshops and conferences.

Within the Salone, the Ark of Taste offered a catalogue of endangered food products from around 50 countries, which allowed the small-scale producers to tell the extraordinary stories about cultures, traditions and the heritage of both peoples and places.

An exciting new arrival was The Kiln: Bread & Pizza. Coming from all over Italy, the master pizza-makers and bakers taking part were those involved in the Advanced Apprenticeship course in bread making run by the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Bra, Piedmont). They revealed the secrets to make exquisite pizza dough, how to combine the ingredients, how to set the temperature of the oven and where to find a good yeast. But it was not all about food!

Great attention was devoted to drinks, firstly through Mixology. Some of the world's best bartenders taught about the art of mixing drinks for any occasion, from daily Italian aperitivo to after dinner drinks. Moreover, wine, beer and tea were core topics of many taste workshops.

To sum up, one among the useful lessons learnt? Definitely, how to make a delicious pizza from any part of the world!

Follow @castaritaHK