The European unity can be built around the table, too. With the purpose of “making known the numerous gastronomic traditions of the Continent”, linked with as many “different nourishing models, social histories, cultural realities”, regional food processing and production systems, the Council of Europe has recently published the volume “Culinary Cultures of Europe. Identity, diversity and dialogue”. It is a text with five hundred pages, now available in English and being translated into French. The volume was awarded the prize as the best historical culinary book in English, within the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2005. “Culinary Cultures of Europe” will be the main topic of a debate during the Gourmet Media World Festival, scheduled on Friday, January 27th, in Cannes (France). From Strasbourg, the seat of the organization including 46 countries, the promoters of the Council of Europe explain that “the recent disputes about genetically modified food, globalization, organic farming, fast food, the mad cow disease syndrome, and the bird flu have taken nourishment right to the core of political and cultural interest. Therefore, the seminar will analyse to what extent nourishment contributes to identity formation and intercultural dialogue”. Among the speakers, there will be: Darra Goldstein, founder of the American magazine “Gastronomica”; Jean-Pierre Poulain, socio-anthropologist at Toulouse University; and Fabio Parasecoli, editor of the Italian magazine “Gambero Rosso”.
