"The Secrets of the Cuisine of Emilia Romagna" tells, with the stye of a novel, the great epic of sitting at the dining table in a region where it is never just a necessity, but also a pleasure. In this collection, chefs, mayors, comedians, grandmothers and journalists describe the different facets of the food of Emilia Romagna. Within this collection is also the story of Bologna as a place that has been favourable to the pioneers of the green movement, triggering a proliferation of natural food stores and vegetarian and macrobiotic restaurants. Over the years this movement has expanded exponentially, so that today it has such a big influence it can change the menus in all of the city’s restaurants, even the more traditional ones.
Extract from the book
Pioneers of Tradition According to Nature, by Giuseppina Siotto
"[...] Today, looking at the menus of traditional restaurants that increasingly offer more dishes for vegetarians and vegans, I cannot forget the history that has allowed all this, the foundations laid by the pioneers who since the late ‘60s started the green movement in Bologna. This represented a special case, not only for Italy, but also for the international scene. Small groups of people gathered in associations and experimented with the knowledge of “Lebenreform” (Life Reform) that came from the late nineteenth century, recovering the Hippocratic concepts of care according to nature, but also the philosophical, energetic and spiritual principles that came from Japan through the teachings of George Ohsawa's macrobiotics. It was an experimentation that was expressed in concrete experiences, such as the importation and diffusion of integral and organic foods and a type of cuisine that takes care of wellbeing and health. It is thanks to these meetings, to these experiences, that I began to appreciate traditional cuisine more, but I wanted to transform it, adapting it to my new needs and the needs of other people, replacing the ingredients that did not correspond to my sense of well-being, saving those sensory experiences that keep us in touch with the richness of our history. […]”