"Italian cities ban ethnic food"
ROME - KEBAB is being kicked out of Italian cities as it becomes the target of a campaign against ethnic food, backed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.
The drive to make Italians eat Italian was described by some critics and leading chefs as gastronomic racism, British newspaper Times reported over the weekend.
The campaign began in the Italian town of Lucca last week, where the council banned new ethnic food outlets from opening within the ancient city walls. On Friday, it spread to Lombardy and its regional capital, Milan.
The anti-immigrant Northern League party brought in the restrictions 'to protect local specialities from the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines'.
Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, a member of the Northern League, applauded the authorities in Lucca and Milan for cracking down on non-Italian food. 'We stand for tradition and the safeguarding of our culture,' he said.
Mr Zaia said those ethnic restaurants allowed to operate, 'whether they serve kebabs, sushi or Chinese food', should 'stop importing container loads of meat and fish from who knows where' and use only Italian ingredients, the Times reported.
Asked if he had ever eaten a kebab, he said: 'No, and I defy anyone to prove the contrary. I prefer the dishes of my native Veneto.'
The opposition in Lucca said the campaign was discrimination and amounted to 'culinary ethnic cleansing'.
Celebrity chef Vittorio Castellani said: 'There is no dish on earth that does not come from mixing techniques, products and tastes from cultures that have met and mingled over time.' He said many dishes thought of as Italian were, in fact, imported.
The San Marzano tomato, a staple ingredient of Italian pasta sauces, was a gift from Peru to Naples in the 18th century. Even spaghetti, it is thought, was brought back from China by Marco Polo.
There are 668 ethnic restaurants in Milan, a rise of nearly 30 per cent in one year.
ROME - KEBAB is being kicked out of Italian cities as it becomes the target of a campaign against ethnic food, backed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.
The drive to make Italians eat Italian was described by some critics and leading chefs as gastronomic racism, British newspaper Times reported over the weekend.
The campaign began in the Italian town of Lucca last week, where the council banned new ethnic food outlets from opening within the ancient city walls. On Friday, it spread to Lombardy and its regional capital, Milan.
The anti-immigrant Northern League party brought in the restrictions 'to protect local specialities from the growing popularity of ethnic cuisines'.
Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, a member of the Northern League, applauded the authorities in Lucca and Milan for cracking down on non-Italian food. 'We stand for tradition and the safeguarding of our culture,' he said.
Mr Zaia said those ethnic restaurants allowed to operate, 'whether they serve kebabs, sushi or Chinese food', should 'stop importing container loads of meat and fish from who knows where' and use only Italian ingredients, the Times reported.
Asked if he had ever eaten a kebab, he said: 'No, and I defy anyone to prove the contrary. I prefer the dishes of my native Veneto.'
The opposition in Lucca said the campaign was discrimination and amounted to 'culinary ethnic cleansing'.
Celebrity chef Vittorio Castellani said: 'There is no dish on earth that does not come from mixing techniques, products and tastes from cultures that have met and mingled over time.' He said many dishes thought of as Italian were, in fact, imported.
The San Marzano tomato, a staple ingredient of Italian pasta sauces, was a gift from Peru to Naples in the 18th century. Even spaghetti, it is thought, was brought back from China by Marco Polo.
There are 668 ethnic restaurants in Milan, a rise of nearly 30 per cent in one year.
Hmm...never knew terms such as gastronomic racism and culinary ethnic cleansing existed or even practised. Though I kinda admit kebabs are a tad bit too prevalent in Europe....hmm.......I'm pretty sure if this happens in Singapore everybody sure complain...how to deny us Singaporeans from what we simply love doing best; eating. And eating many different kinds of food of all cultures.
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