The USA at the Salone del Gusto 2010

Taste Workshops

The Taste Workshops, designed to make people aware of the outstanding quality of artisan food product, present tasting sessions guided by experts, producers, farmers, artisans and winegrowers.

• Thursday Oct 21, 1 pm – Bitter Pils
Sample the dizzying heights of extreme bitterness in beers, countered by the intense and fragrant aromas of the hops. A generous use of hops to bring both bitterness and aroma is traditional for central European and northern Anglo-Saxon brewing styles, now being rediscovered and often taken to extremes by microbreweries in the United States. Explore the appeal of bitterness with a tasting of three European and three American beers, accompanied by Italian products.

• Thursday Oct 21, 4 pm – Manhattan’s New Birreria
Birreria is the new brew pub inside Eataly New York, the result of the collaboration between two Italian brewers, Teo Musso (Birra Baladin) and Leonardo Di Vincenzo (Birra del Borgo), and one American, Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) and Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company). These undisputed champions of artisanal brewing, with different styles but the same tireless passion, will be presenting their beers. To conclude, you’ll have a chance to sample the beer they are making together in the Big Apple.

• Thursday Oct 21, 8 pm – TOSCANO® Selected Cigars
An unusual tasting of Italo-American Kentucky tobacco and beers from four living legends of Italian and American brewing: Teo Musso (Birra Baladin), Leonardo Di Vincenzo (Birra del Borgo), Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) and Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company). The cigar tasting will be led by Stefano Fanticelli of the Maledetto Toscano club. This workshop is only open to over-18s who are members of the Amici del Toscano® club.

• Saturday Oct 23, 1 pm – A Beer for Every Taste
Led by Charlie Papazian, president of the American Brewers Association, here you’ll find out how to choose beers to pair with food, whether its dominant flavor is sweet, savory, bitter, acidic or umami. Each of these tastes interacts differently with the characteristics of the beer, whether hoppy, malty, full-bodied, dry or fruity. Thanks to Charlie and a selection of beers from American and European artisan microbreweries served with different foods, you’ll no longer have any problem answering the waiter’s fateful question, ‘And what can I bring you to drink?’

• Saturday Oct 23, 7 pm – Chris McMillian: New Orleans in a Cocktail
Take a trip to New Orleans, the city of jazz, Cajun cooking and the gaudy colors of Mardi Gras, where an innate passion for partying has helped develop a strong cocktail culture. Chris McMillian, bartender at the UnCommon bar in the Renaissance Père Marquette Hotel, is that latest in line of a family that has been serving drinks for four generations. His great-grandfather ran a saloon and his uncles owned casinos and nightclubs in the 1930s and 40s. Sip a selection of mixed drinks as Chris talks you through the history of cocktails Made in Louisiana.

Presidia

Slow Food Presidia. Spread around the Marketplace and divided by geographic area, over 200 stands (identified by the orange color) will be displaying the cheeses, cured meats, breads, sweets, vegetables, fruits, grains and honeys protected by Slow Food.

Anishinaabeg Manoomin Wild Rice
For generations the Native American Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) harvested manoomin, or wild rice, by paddling among the plants in canoes and beating the seed into the bottom of their boats. The rice was then slowly dried over a wood fire. Now, wild rice has been domesticated and more than 95 percent of the crop is cultivated. The presidium promotes the Anishinaabeg who still hand-gather manoomin. Wild rice (Zizania palustris) is actually an aquatic grass, and is more closely related to corn than to rice. It has a rich and delicious flavor with notes of wood smoke and chestnuts. The presidium works with existing conservation and policy initiatives developed by the White Earth Land Recovery Project to promote consumption of traditionally harvested and prepared wild rice.
Production area: Anishinaabeg tribal lands, Great Lakes region

Navajo-Churro Sheep
The hardy churro sheep breed—with its multi-colored double fleece—was brought by the Spaniards to Mexico by 1540, and arrived overland in northern New Mexico by 1598. Over four hundred years, this multi-purpose breed has adapted to the arid conditions of the sagebrush steppe and pinyon-juniper pygmy woodlands of the mesas, buttes and desert canyons of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Now called the Navajo-Churro sheep, its carpet-quality wool has been used by Hispanic, Diné (Navajo) and Pueblo Indian weavers to produce world-renowned rugs, saddle blankets, coats and vests. Relying on native forage of the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau, the sheep also provided “sage-fed” lamb and mutton, central to their sustenance as well as religious ceremonies.
Production area: Navajo Nation lands, Colorado Plateau region, encompassing the four corners area of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah

Makah Ozette Potato
The Makah occupy the region around Neah Bay, Washington. In 2004 phylogenetic analysis conducted at Washington State University provided evidence that the Makah Ozette potato (Solanum Tuberosum) was certain to have been imported directly from South America by Spanish conquerors. In the spring of 1791 the Spanish had established a fort at Neah Bay and planted a kitchen garden that would have included potatoes from their previous bases in South America. Over the winter of 1791 the Spanish found the weather conditions in the harbor too severe to maintain their ships and they abandoned the fort and the garden whose resources were subsequently exploited by the neighboring tribes. Not until the late 1980’s was this potato grown outside the Makah Nation. The firm flesh and creamy texture of this thin-skinned knobby potato and its unique nutty, earthy flavor are appreciated by home cooks as well as chefs.
Production area: Northwest Washington State

Cape May Oyster
The American East Coast Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) of the Delaware Bay was one of the most prized and highly sought-after oysters in the world. In addition to being a mainstay of the economy of this isolated rural area of the State, the oyster industry also created a demand for a vast array of auxiliary commercial activities. Overfishing, pollution, increased water temperatures and species-specific diseases all led to a crisis that saw oysters decrease in both number and size. The Cape May Oyster Slow Food Presidium supports selected producers and harvesters as they begin to use an environmentally friendly system of cultivation, and promotes the work of the few remaining Cape May oyster fishermen by actively helping them to develop the local and international market for the Cape May Oysters. A first promotional initiative has been very successful at the Plaza Hotel in New York City which now regularly serves raw Cape May oysters in its Oyster Bar.
Production area: Cape May, Delaware Bay, New Jersey

Sebastopol Gravenstein Apple
The once-vast Gravenstein apple orchards in Sonoma County have suffered a serious decline, due to the more profitable vineyards, and the difficulties in growing the delicate fruit. Most of the Sebastopol growers farm land that has been in apple production for over a century. Among thousands of California apple varieties, the heirloom Gravenstein is widely regarded as one of the best eating and baking apples. A fine balance of sweet and tart, its full-bodied flavor intensifies when made into sauce, juice, cider or vinegar. The apples also hold their shape beautifully in pies and tarts. Despite the importance of this Danish apple variety – introduced to the county in 1811 by Russian trappers – only eight producers still grow them commercially. The Presidium works to promote and protect farmers who nurture their apples from tree to table.
Production area: Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California

American Raw Milk Cheeses
The first American cheeses were modeled on English and Dutch cheese and later German and Italian ones as immigrants brought their cheese-making skills and traditions to the New World. Over the past few decades, new American cheesemakers, often women, have created a wide spectrum of innovative artisan cheeses. The cheeses included in this Presidium project have a few common denominators: they are made with raw milk from either the cheesemaker’s or a local farm, and created by individuals with a strong commitment to sustainable agriculture and artisan production. Slow Food has created this presidium project – which includes 24 producers and 31 cheeses from across the United States – to promote the production of high quality raw milk cheeses in the USA.
Production area: United States

The Market

In Pavilion 1, a wide range of small-scale artisan producers will give life to the international Market. Beer plays a starring role here and the United States are represented by the Brewers Association (www.brewersassociation.org). The breweries taking part in this year’s event come from all over the United States: 21st Amendment Brewery (San Francisco, California), Allagash Brewing Co. (Portland, Maine), Ballast Point Brewing Co. (San Diego, California), The Bruery (Placentia, California), Buckbean Brewing Co. (Reno, Nevada), Caldera Brewing Co. (Ashland, Oregon), Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Oregon), Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, Delaware), F.X. Matt Brewing Co. (Utica, New York), Great Divide Brewing Co. (Denver, Colorado), Kona Brewing Co. (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii), Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Petaluma, California), Left Hand Brewing Co. (Longmont, Colorado), Maui Brewing Co. (Maui, Hawaii), Odell Brewing Co. (Fort Collins, Colorado), Rogue Ales (Newport, Oregon), Shipyard Brewing Co. (Portland, Maine), Smuttynose Brewing Co. (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, California), Uinta Brewing (Salt Lake City, Utah), Victory Brewing Co. (Downington, Pennsylvania).