I don’t think we nibbled it here, but I did post on Facebook a news story about how Italy is thinking of banning ethnic restaurants. This elicited more comments than I usually get. One friend said he’d send me a kebab in the mail. I politely declined, citing health concerns. Another suggested such a ban would be a good idea, as most ethnic restaurants in Italy are terrible, even when — or is it because — they absorb local ingredients and ways of doing things. ((As dissected so admirably for Chinese restaurants by the writer Jennifer 8. Lee (æŽç«¶) in a recent, wonderful, TED talk.)) My wife wondered whether the move might set off tit-for-tat bans on Italian restaurants — including pizzerias ((Talking about absorbing local ingredients, is there a more spongiferous food than the pizza?)) — around the world. And another commenter wondered what Italian cuisine would be like if pasta sauces featured only indigenous agrobiodiversity. That means no tomatoes. One sauce that I could think of that is composed solely of ingredients that could be said to be native to Italy — whatever that might mean — is pesto. Anyway, one thing is for certain, such a cuisine would probably drive me to kebabs.
Nibbles: Cheese, Seed squared, Nutrition journal, Wild boar, Bees, Local breeds, Pest, Wild goat
- Mozzarella madness.
- Homegrown Evolutionist spreads his seed.
- There’s an International Seed Swap Day of Action? And we missed it?
- The new AJFAND is out.
- Brits belatedly bring back boars, but bumble bee buggered.
- Improving local livestock breeds in Zambia: VOA tells us how and why.
- Not armyworm after all.
- Cloning the ibex: close, but no cigar.
The Tale of the Bizzarria
I totally agree with the Evil Fruit Lord that the story of the periclinal citrus chimera known as Bizzarria is both fascinating and very well told over at Home Citrus Growers. I know what I’ll be doing the next time I’m in Florence.
Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award
Don’t forget to vote!
Nibbles: Cotton, Citrus, Fig, Permaculture, Turtles, Wine, Cacao, Fish
- Wild cotton use lands prize for boffin trio.
- Unesco to protect wild Citrus in India. And read the discussion.
- IV International Symposium on Fig.
- Permaculture: The Podcast.
- The NY Times thinks Americans should eat fewer turtles. And drink more South African wine.
- Meanwile, the WSJ gets into single-source chocolate.
- Nice map of freshwater fish diversity. But will it last? WWF has a plan.