Obliging Italian restaurants abroad to seek licences from Rome was at best a marketing wheeze and at worst a case of gastronomic correctness, Australian business luminaries said Thursday.
They were responding to a call from Italian Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno for an international accreditation system to guarantee the authenticity of restaurants calling themselves Italian.
Aldo Crotti, the chairman of Australia’s San Remo pasta, described the idea of ”pasta police” as laughable because Italy imported pasta from Australia.
”Sending inspectors over here to test food in restaurants is the most laughable thing in the world,” he told Australia’s ABC Radio.
”We’ve got the best wheat in the world for spaghetti.”
Armando Percuoco, the proprietor of one of Sydney’s best Italian restaurants, said Alemanno’s licensing scheme was just a marketing ploy for Italian producers.
”They are trying to make more money for trade,” he said. ”I won’t be blackmailed to use more Italian products.” – Sapa-DPA