News
HRH attends the Salone del Gusto in Turin
22nd October 2004
The Prince of Wales has kicked off his 2004 autumn tour with a series of engagements in Italy to promote the ‘diversity and depth' of British regional food.
His Royal Highness poured himself a pint of British real ale in a mock pub at the Salone Del Gusto in Turin, north-west Italy, which is the world‘s largest food market dedicated to delicacies from across the globe.
The massive festival of gastronomy was held at the old Fiat factory in Turin and hosted hundreds of speciality food producers from around the world, including 50 stalls representing the finest British regional products.
The Prince tasted the award-winning pale ale, Summer Lightning, from the Hop Back Brewery in Salisbury, Wiltshire, during a tour of the British producers' stalls.
Greig Futcher, the brewery‘s barman for the day, said that The Prince had mastered the art of serving a decent pint.
He said: “He pulled a fantastic pint. He was a bit nervous to start with and he was a little bit gentle, so I told him to pull it a bit more vigorously. He did very well.”
The Prince also talked to Mr Futcher about his own organic Duchy Originals beer which is made by hand using barley harvested at the Home Farm at Highgrove and hops sourced from England‘s only two organic hop growers in Kent and Worcestershire.
The Salone Del Gusto, which means ‘Hall of Taste' in Italian, is organised by the Slow Food Movement which campaigns for environmentally friendly and pleasurable gastronomy with a closer focus on the history and processes behind what we eat.
The Slow Food Movement was launched in 1986 in the small Italian town of Bra when food writer Carlo Petrini took exception to the opening of a McDonald's in Rome's Piazza di Spagna.Roberto Burdese, Vice-President of the campaign, described the organisation as striving to introduce “eco-gastronomy”. “You can't be a gourmet without placing attention on the environment,” he said.
Mr Burdese said The Prince‘s philosophy was close to that of Slow Food and that the Duchy Originals brand, created by His Royal Highness in 1990, embraced the ethos of the movement.
The day before he visited the Salone del Gusto, The Prince met British food producers at a reception organised by Food From Britain, and attended a rare breeds workshop.
Food for Britain is a government and industry-funded body which helps firms improve their international trade.
The Prince also gave a message of support for the Food for Britain exhibition catalogue, in which he wrote of his delight at the large contingent of British producers to attend the Salone Del Gusto.
His Royal Highness wrote: “Whilst each producer is an ambassador for his or her own community, together they represent British quality and embody our remarkable culinary heritage.
“This event will demonstrate to visitors from around the world, as well as to tens of thousands of Italian food lovers, the diversity and depth of our own regional food heritage.”
The Prince then attended a tasting workshop to help promote meat products from rare and pedigree British livestock.
His Royal Highness, who is Patron of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, breeds rare cattle at Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove.
During the event, The Prince and other guests were invited to try a variety of different meats from Britain including rolled roast saddleback pork.
On The Prince's last tour of Italy in 2002 he visited Florence, Rome and Naples. His Royal Highness is currently on an eight-day autumn tour of Italy, Turkey and Jordan.