L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano T he second stop of o u r r e s i l i e n c e series takes us to t h e s o c i a l m e d i a w o r l d a n d h o w t e c h n o l o g y h a s been connecting people, as w e l l a s a l l o w i n g t h e m t o explore new things and kick o f f s o m e f u n a c t i v i t i e s . Together with technology, what sets the Italian commu- nity apart from others, espe- cially in difficult times, is food. La cucina italiana is a symbol of community, quality food, unique ingredi- ents, and of course family traditions. From Instagram to Facebook, all social media h a v e b e c o m e t h e v i r t u a l place where Italians meet and - why not? - talk cook- ing, grocery shopping, local recipes, and much more. We discussed the topic with two Italians who have represented the social - food combo. They are gathering people online and allowing t h e m t o f e e l l e s s l o n e l y , w h i l e c o o k i n g t h e i r mamma's recipe or by sim- ply sharing photos of their meal of the day. S t a r t i n g o n A p r i l 1 s t , every Wednesday at 11:30 AM until the end of April, Viola Buitoni hosted a 30 minutes virtual class on the everyday art of Italian cook- ing. Viola is a renowned Bay Area cooking instructor, with a legendary ability to teach cooking as a full body senso- rial experience, while engag- ing her community of pas- sionate home cooks with sto- ries from six generations of family food tradition. Viola has been teaching in the Bay Area since 2009: a resident I t a l i a n i n s t r u c t o r a t 1 8 R e a s o n s a n d T h e C i v i c Kitchen in San Francisco, she was at schools around the country including the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, and Eataly in Chicago and New York. Viola, can you tell us a bit of your idea of the series "Lunchtime with Viola Buitoni"? My mission in the last 10 years has been to turn peo- p l e i n t o p a s s i o n a t e a n d engaged home cooks. When Shelter-in-Place started in March, my first thought was "Now, more than ever, peo- p l e a r e g o i n g t o n e e d t o know how to cook". I decid- e d t o l i v e - s t r e a m o n Instagram almost daily, I started with simple dishes that you can put together in 15 minutes or less. When Director Annamaria Di Giorgio shared the idea of a more in-depth experience, to encourage some active c o o k i n g , w e l a u n c h e d L u n c h t i m e w i t h V i o l a Buitoni. How did you come up with those recipe ideas? All recipes were crafted around ingredients that are either part of most standard pantries or are easy to find in local markets. My final intent was to have everyone cook healthy and delicious Italian food, while minimiz- ing shopping trips. It's very powerful to h a v e a c h e f i n y o u r k i t c h e n w h o t e a c h e s how to cook a certain m e a l a n d c a n f o l l o w each single step. How d i d y o u a d d r e s s t h i s issue, knowing follow- ers would have to do it all themselves? I t o o k t i m e a n d g o t helped by my husband John, who's a software engineer at Netflix and knows his way around tech. Together, we figured out the best way to s h o w w h a t I w a s d o i n g , when to focus on me, on the prepping, or on the cooking. We included close-ups of prepping techniques and transformation of the food on heat and detailed expla- n a t i o n o f h o w e a c h s t e p should engage the senses. In o t h e r w o r d s , w h e r e y o u r body should be and how it should feel in relation to food and its changes. This is what sets my teaching apart: it is never merely descriptive of the action, but it is a con- stant analysis of the sensori- al experience of cooking. Did attendees interact with you after the class- es? Many attendees reached out and kept in touch. Some attended my online classes, one viewer even sent me a Thank You gift. Everyone c a n s i g n u p f o r a v i r t u a l cooking class on my website violabuitoni.com and follow m e o n I n s t a g r a m @ v i o - labuitoni Are you planning to do more of this, also con- sidering that the SIP will p r o b a b l y s t a y l o n g e r than expected? I ' d l o v e t o d o m o r e L u n c h t i m e w i t h V i o l a Buitoni episodes. I am lucky to be in Italy at this time and I'd like to continue the series from here because I strongly believe it'd be a great oppor- t u n i t y t o k e e p e n g a g i n g viewers with recipes, as well as with a direct experience of Italian food culture. C I B A , a k a C u c i n a Italiana nella Bay Area, is a Facebook group with a clear goal: create a local net- work of fans of authentic Italian cuisine, while sharing tips on places to find quality r a w m a t e r i a l s i n t h e B a y Area or also meeting for din- ner in restaurants or private homes. We talked to Giuliano Manno, an Italian engineer working in the Bay Area with a special passion for food, wine, and design. In addition to his full time job, Giuliano is a sommelier, a music pro- ducer, and a photographer. H e g r a d u a t e d a t t h e A I S sommelier school in 2007 and has more than 10 years of experience as a wine edu- cator. Giuliano, can you talk a b o u t t h i s g r o u p a n d why it was launched? When an Italian TV show d e c i d e d t o f i l m i n S a n F r a n c i s c o , t h e y p i c k e d Italian residents to join a chef exploring Italian restau- rants and nominating the best one. I am a sommelier and, after many years in the food industry, I decided to attend the audition. When I talked to the show produc- e r s , I c o u l d n o t s t r e s s enough how important it is to save the Italian food culture, without necessarily falling for "nostalgia" and stereotypes. I did not get to j o i n t h e s h o w , y e t a f e w weeks later I launched CIBA, a place where we talk, cele- brate, and share all about Italian food. W h a t ' s t h e u l t i m a t e goal of this group? Our mission is to answer a simple question "What does it mean to be an Italian, liv- i n g o u t s i d e o f I t a l y , i n 2020?" History shows how previous waves of emigra- tion, in the early 1900s, in the '40s and '50s, had creat- ed a sort of cultural separa- tion between Italy and the Italians abroad, which ulti- mately turned into cultural distance. We want to lever- age the new technologies to be in contact with our moth- erland, while we move our c u l t u r e f o r w a r d . T h e s e advancements can happen on a global scale and Italy is at the core of it. How did you get peo- ple to join the group? We started talking about o u r g r o u p w i t h i n o t h e r Italian Facebook communi- ties. Hundreds of members joined in less than 24 hours a n d , i n t h e l a s t m o n t h s , because of the Shelter-in- Place, numbers went off the roof. We get requests to join the group on a daily basis and we try to get users on board only after they answer a set of questions. Which questions are you able to address as a group? Our motto is dal basso e dal posto: our food culture is born in kitchens around the world and our contributors are people who love to cook. We address topics like how to source ingredients, how to u s e t h e g r e a t C a l i f o r n i a n produce in the best way pos- s i b l e . W e o r g a n i z e G A S ( G r u p p i d i A c q u i s t o S o l i d a l e ) a n d w e s o u r c e ingredients collectively; we g e t t o g e t h e r f o r v i r t u a l events around recipes, like for example Carbonara Day, Risotto Week, or Sagra della Lasagna. Can you tell us a bit about the app you devel- oped? One of our rules does now allow businesses because we aren't a place for advertise- ment, at the same time we know it is crucial to support Italians who run restaurants around the Bay. During the early months of Covid-19, some restaurants asked to run ads in our group. We were concerned that not all b u s i n e s s e s w o u l d g e t t h e same exposure. Our idea was and is, especially in difficult times, to create networks, not blind competition. I then built a platform that enables b u s i n e s s o w n e r s t o e n t e r their information (type of service, delivery platforms, p h o n e , w e b s i t e , S o c i a l Media). The app collects the data and features businesses on a map. We currently have more than 50 map points and we also used the same system to map Black-owned restaurants to support the Black community in the Bay, reaching 250+ businesses. Why should people on FB join the group? W e e n c o u r a g e a l l Facebook users who want to challenge themselves cook- ing Italian recipes but are open and ready to discuss and improve. That's why we don't have celebrity chefs in our group, on the other hand we welcome all those with authentic love for food. SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY SERENA PERFETTO Resilience, teamwork, creativity series - #2 Food and social media: a talk with chef Viola Buitoni and C.I.B.A. founder, Giuliano Manno Chef Viola Buitoni at work in her k i t c h e n ( p h o t o : M o l l y D e C o u - dreaux

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