Hello friends of the Smarties.bio World!
History teaches that the flavor and healthiness of foods are linked to the differences in the food traditions of various areas of the world. When Europeans colonized the New World in the 15th century, they discovered plant species that were then unknown, but which today are part of our traditional cuisine: the potato, the tomato, the chili pepper and many others. It was the beginning of a first form of food globalization and a slow culinary hybridization. The introduction of some vegetables into foreign food cultures encountered difficulties in becoming slowly integrated. Without having to imitate exotic cuisine, European cuisine maintained its basic grammar, demonstrating that unknown foods can enter foreign cultures, without distorting them, thanks to the invention of an appropriate cuisine, with new smells, colors and culinary flavours.
Just as today we cannot help but think of an Italian cuisine without tomatoes, it is natural to ask ourselves whether radicchio could one day become a fundamental ingredient (in terms of quality and flavour) of other culinary cultures.
It was not the search for gold and a new El Dorado that pushed Americans to travel to the Veneto and Chioggia, but the search for taste and healthy eating, to discover the roots and traditions of Venetian vegetables, local products of the land of the highest quality.
The international collaboration between the Venetian company Smaties.bio and the American Uprising Seeds, the connection between the “Gusto Italiano” and “Culinary Breeding” projects, was born from this search for taste that moves a large community of plant producers in America , seed growers, farmers, produce buyers, chefs and extension workers.
The interest also came to the attention of the prestigious New York Times, which in 2022 published an in-depth article on Venetian radicchio. And in the same year, a delegation of professors from Washington State University, together with farmers and journalists, all women and radicchio enthusiasts, also arrived in Chioggia for a "cu-cultural" academic tour. Thanks to the network, the study, the cultivation and the cooking of radicchio, Americans can thus be educated on the taste of bitterness, which does not really belong to their culture. To make the construction of this community possible, culinary explorations, conferences and fairs are organized.
In line with the philosophy of the company of origin, T&T PRODUCE of the Tiozzo Caenazzo Silvano family, Smarties.bio believes that a healthy community is built thanks to the sharing of common values, and is therefore oriented towards overcoming a radical form of protectionism . Globalization often brings with it the defect of standardizing differences, diversities, traditions and typicalities; yet, even in our historical era, some exceptions seem possible, undoubtedly when the objective is to create initiatives to bring out the profitable exchange of cultures, cultures and experiences. A happy reason to live!
The international collaboration between the Venetian company Smaties.bio and the American Uprising Seeds, the connection between the “Gusto Italiano” and “Culinary Breeding” projects, was born from this search for taste that moves a large community of plant producers in America , seed growers, farmers, produce buyers, chefs and extension workers.
The interest also came to the attention of the prestigious New York Times, which in 2022 published an in-depth article on Venetian radicchio. And in the same year, a delegation of professors from Washington State University, together with farmers and journalists, all women and radicchio enthusiasts, also arrived in Chioggia for a "cu-cultural" academic tour. Thanks to the network, the study, the cultivation and the cooking of radicchio, Americans can thus be educated on the taste of bitterness, which does not really belong to their culture. To make the construction of this community possible, culinary explorations, conferences and fairs are organized.
In line with the philosophy of the company of origin, T&T PRODUCE of the Tiozzo Caenazzo Silvano family, Smarties.bio believes that a healthy community is built thanks to the sharing of common values, and is therefore oriented towards overcoming a radical form of protectionism . Globalization often brings with it the defect of standardizing differences, diversities, traditions and typicalities; yet, even in our historical era, some exceptions seem possible, undoubtedly when the objective is to create initiatives to bring out the profitable exchange of cultures, cultures and experiences. A happy reason to live!
Thank you for being part of our community and for continuing to explore the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow's agriculture together!
See you soon, The Smarties.bio Team