WHILE our region’s towns do their best to promote artistic endeavour they would have a job on their hands to compete with the birthplace of the Renaissance.
Similarly, when it comes to the business of food, swapping Florence for Flintshire at first seems far-fetched.
But go deeper and there is more than a morsel of truth in claims other countries are better at selling Italy than Italy itself.
In an effort to find out why, a delegation of eight professional agriculturalists from Tuscany are this week touring the region to find out more about our use and marketing of locally sourced goods – and why we are so good at it.
The trip, arranged by the European Centre for Training and Regional Co-operation and Denbighshire Council, will showcase many examples of what our region has to offer.
The Tuscan party will take in sheepdog demonstrations in Corwen, cookery using local produce at Red Wharf Bay, a tour of Chester and a visit to North Wales Buffalo in Halkyn.
Tuscan food has its roots in simple dishes rather than lavish cooking and is renowned for the freshness and flavour of its ingredients.
But the delegation believe the traditional nature of Italy’s culinary invention can benefit from new ideas.
UK organic food sales increased from just over £100 million in 1993/94 to £1.21 billion in 2004. North Wales, a region built on traditional farming that is now moving more into organics, offers an excellent example of how that might be achieved.
“Our food culture is envied around the world, but our methods of capitalising on that and even improving it are some way behind yourselves,” explains Sharon O’Dwyer, an English-speaking member of the Tuscan party.
“When Italy has tried to export things in the past the smaller companies have found it hard-going up against European giants.
“Bertolli may have been started by an Italian but it hasn’t been an Italian company for a very long time. There isn’t much point in trying to compete with them.
“The ultimate aim of this visit is to explore other avenues that help us maintain the beauty of Italian culture without sacrificing quality.
“Italy often won’t look outside its own borders for inspiration and this is where problems can begin. For example, there is no real policy for tourism in Italy whereas the UK makes the best of what it has.”
British cuisine is famously stereotyped as a diet of roast dinners or fish and chips yet our multicultural heritage means adopted dishes such as curry have become part of the British national identity – something that is unlikely to happen in Italy.
Former Flintshire resident and Leader reader Alistair Dempsey has taught in Sardinia for two years, and sees the difference in cultures first-hand.
He says: “The reason Italians won’t go near British food is because they simply don’t need to.
“Their natural products have a reputation that precedes every product coming out of their country. If they knew how to exploit this better they might even become a driving force in the EU.
“You only have to look at the supermarket shelves in either country to understand what the situation is. British stores are full of Italian products, whereas you’ll be lucky to find more than a box of shortbread biscuits on their shelves.
“The fact is there are thousands of small-time producers putting out amazing products [in Italy] which never travel further than 20 or 30km.”
Nicola Galluzzo, representing Lazio, is clear about his reasons for the visit.“We have many things that you don’t have: 300 sunny days a year, for one thing.
"This means we can grow a wider range of fruits and vegetables; the taste of the fruit will naturally be better.
“But you have many things we don’t when it comes to making these products available to all: good ideas,” he says, tapping his head.
“A big difference between us, I think, is I buy everything I need in the morning, and by the evening it is gone.”
Go to any British superstore and you are unlikely to find many shoppers with the same mantra.
But with countless studies saying the Mediterranean diet is among the healthiest you can follow, maybe the Tuscans can teach us a thing or two after all.
Us and them: a lighthearted look at how our regions compare
Landmarks
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Pisa: The Leaning Tower
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Wrexham: Border Brewery Chimney
Art
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Florence: Michelangelo’s David
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Chester: Celebration Of Chester statue
Football
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Florence: ACF Fiorentina play in the top flight of Italian football, Serie A.
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Chester and Wrexham: Wrexham are currently mid-table in the Blue Square Premier – from which Chester have recently been expelled.
Famous names
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Florence: Dante, Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Catherine de’Medici, Guccio Gucci.
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North Wales: Tim Vincent, Mark Hughes, Aled Jones, Dawn French, Ian Rush, John Prescott, T E Lawrence.