The value of the typical products, their peculiarity, has been rediscovered in the latest few years in Italy.

Peculiarity means memories, tastes, hard work, feelings and emotions and business too… one after the other, developing all together.

The great enthusiasm linked to this discovery, and to a new awareness of the peculiarities of each area, has to keep in mind the many values of peculiarity itself. I think that protecting the peculiarities of one area means not only protecting the products, but also a source of income for that area. These products are due to special climatic and environmental conditions and are a truthful heritage, which has been let to the people living in the area by their ancestors. Genoa’s Pesto Sauce is a wonderful example and another example is the much more famous Lardo di Colonnata. Genoa’s Pesto sauce is the heritage, which has been left to those living in these areas; this is an ancient tradition benefiting the "heirs" of the ancient farmers.

These people are often unaware of the importance of what they did and have done: thanks to their efforts a unique production process has been passed on from generation to generation. Are we allowed to take everything away now?

Are we allowed to praise them for what they have done and send their products out into the world? I do not think so and this is not a matter of quality, since Genoa’s Pesto sauce is likely to keep or even improve its quality if produced on a largest scale.

From a legal point of view, a solution to this problem is the D.O.P. (denomination d’origine protegée); in the meantime, what is advisable is the experts working in this sector (or at least a number of them) not to mess things up too much.

Roberto Panizza