In article >,
pure kona > wrote:

> On Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:52:35 -0800, Don Martinich >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> >I love the Italians. They're so human! Despite all DOP's and DOC's and
> >other bureaucratic attempts to codify wine and food products and,
> >amazingly, recipes, they manage to circumvent regulation. The following
> >article is typical of those I've seen coming out of Italy for decades
> >describing dilutions and "sophistications" of wine and food.
> >
> >'Latest Italian Food Fraud Charge Involves Mozzarella
> >By NICK FOX
> >Italy¹s agriculture minister ³said he had disbanded the consortium of
> >producers which guarantees buffalo mozzarella quality after routine
> >inspections had shown that even mozzarella produced by Luigi Chianese,
> >the consortium¹s president, had been Œwatered down¹ with cow¹s milk,²
> >The Times of London reports.
> >
> >The minister, Luca Zaia, said, ³In November, checks in major
> >supermarkets in Italy found that 25 percent of the cheese sold as
> >buffalo mozzarella was fake because it contained 30 percent cow milk.²
> >
> >It¹s not the first scandal involving buffalo mozzarella. In 2008, some
> >was found to be contaminated with dioxin.' -from the New York Times
> >
> >Another aspect of this kind of regulation is well expressed by Daziano
> >of the Italialicious food blog-
> >
> >"In Italy, now there¹s a tendency to define the original and true recipe
> >of Italian staples: the original recipe of pesto Genovese, the true and
> >only one ragù alla Bolognese recipe, the ultimate Neapolitan pizza, and
> >so on. In its very conception, this search is a contradiction with the
> >soul of Italian cuisine. In fact, it¹s impossible to choose only one
> >recipe because in Italy each region, each town, each village and each
> >mamma has their very own recipes."
> >
> >There is a possible plus side to this but it will never be seen here in
> >the U.S. And that is consistency of menu terminology. For example, the
> >term 'Bolognese' is currently used for almost any pasta dish with sauce
> >containing tomatoes and meat. No, there's too much emphasis on novelty
> >and fashion in today's restaurants to be so banal as to serve truly
> >traditional dish.
> >
> >D.M.
> FYI, we are trying to get the same exact thing for real & 100% Kona
> Coffee. There is a International group Origin which wants the
> geographic identity to be the name of the subject. Not as easy as you
> may think!!
>
> For Example----As posted in alt.coffee this morning: "A tea blend
> can become the signature of one's style, or that of an entire
> restaurant chain, in the same fashion as one might favor Kona coffee
> over French Roast."
>
> Egads, as another poster in a.c. said: "That's pretty sad.
> (Favoring strawberries over bad copywriters)".
>
> aloha,
> Cea
> PS In case you were not aware, French Roast is NOT a geographical
> coffee- it's a roast profile and could be made with Kona...

Micro environments, or terroir as the snobs might say, is very important
for agricultural products. When I was working in the winery biz I was
witness to some of the haggling with the BATF in trying to designate
AVAs. I wish you the best of luck.
D.M.