Slow Food Pop-Up Pizzeria To Showcase Real Artisanal Italian Pizza and Ark of Taste Products at Bristol Food Connections

From May 3-5, 2014, Slow Food International, along with Slow Food in the UK, will take part in the event Bristol Food Connections in the south west of England. For three days, a pop-up pizzeria will be set up in College Green Square in the city center to showcase both traditional Italian cuisine and locally produced British quality products listed in the Slow Food catalog of endangered foods, the Ark of Taste. Slow Food’s participation will form part of the 11-day festival dedicated to food traditions, education, diversity and taste.

The pop-up pizzeria will feature three of Italy’s finest pizza chefs: Lello Ravagnan and Giovanni Marchetto from Veneto (Pizzeria Grigoris in Venice) and Gianfranco Iervolino (Pizzeria Lucignolo in Naples). They will bring with them three ingredients essential to any good pizza – flour, tomatoes and mozzarella – in their finest forms: mozzarella di bufala Campana Dop, tomatoes from the family-run company, Mutti, and flour provided by Molino Quaglia (an Italian mill producing a line of stone ground flour grains with 100% Italian wheat). The chefs, together with Molino Quaglia’s Università della Pizza and Farina Petra, will hold a daily workshop (also in College Green Square) entitled: “What Makes the Perfect Italian Pizza?” It will enable a comparison of pizza dough and an evaluation of the range of tastes and textures that are the real strength of Italian pizza around the world. There will also be a chance to explore other forms of dough that you can eat comfortably with one hand, such as focaccia, including Roman and Venetian variants.

Guests will be able to choose from a range of pizza toppings including Artisanal Somerset Cheddar and pork from pure breed Welsh Pigs. These additional ingredients are designed to raise of awareness of the diverse range of British products that are currently at risk of extinction. The Slow Food Ark of Taste is a catalog of these forms of small-scale quality productions: an extraordinary heritage of fruits, vegetables, animal breeds, cheeses, breads, sweets and cured meats that belong to the cultures, history and traditions of the entire planet. Alongside the pop-up pizzeria, Slow Food will also host a market of many of the UK products listed on the Ark.

For further information, please contact the Slow Food International Press Office:

Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285 [email protected]

* Slow Food involves millions of people dedicated to and passionate about good, clean and fair food. This includes chefs, youth, activists, farmers, fishers, experts and academics in over 150 countries; a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide (known as convivia), contributing through their membership fee, as well as the events and campaigns they organize; and 2,000 Terra Madre food communities who practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality food around the world.

** Slow Food UK: In the UK, Slow Food has its own national association. In 2014 Slow Food UK endorsed a new structure including a transitional board of directors and a strong regional representation with separate bodies for Slow Food Scotland, Wales, England and eventually Northern Ireland, supported by Slow Food UK’s central office. Since its inception in 2005, Slow Food United Kingdom has rapidly expanded to over 40 convivia.