Abstract:
Wild vegetables (WVs) have been an essential source of human nutrition since ancient times. Foraging is a millennia-old practice that has gained more attention recently and is becoming fashionable, especially in restaurants in urban areas, as they attract customers who see WVs as an innovative sensory element and specialty food. Some cooks have used very few WVs for decades, but most chefs have only recently introduced them in their modern restaurants. Our study aims to have a deeper understanding of the diversity of WVs used by restaurants in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy and to know how they are introduced onto different menus, as well as the source of knowledge and the innovation paths related to the use/introduction of WVs in the selected sample of restaurants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 restaurant managers, chefs, and their professional foragers in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy in 2022; fifty-four wild plant taxa were recorded to be used in the considered restaurants. The collected data were analyzed to understand the current situation and the potential developments of this practice by exploring the reasons/motivations that underpin the inclusion of WVs in restaurants. A broad spectrum of restaurants was considered to evaluate the potential differences in handling and sourcing these ingredients. The results demonstrated that this trend has mainly been driven by attempts to revitalize traditional cuisines and to generate a positive impact on health, but the actual culinary preparations based upon WVs are often original and remarkably diverge from the Italian food ethnobotanical heritage. Moreover, concerns related to the environmental sustainability of these practices have been addressed.
摘要:
野菜自古以来就是人类营养的重要来源。觅食是一种有千年历史的做法,最近获得了更多的关注,并正在成为时尚,尤其是在城市地区的餐馆,因为他们吸引了将水车视为创新感官元素和特色食品的客户。一些厨师几十年来使用很少的水车,但是大多数厨师最近才在他们的现代餐馆里介绍他们。我们的研究旨在更深入地了解意大利北部伦巴第地区餐馆使用的越野车的多样性,并了解它们如何被引入不同的菜单,以及在选定的餐馆样本中使用/引入WV相关的知识来源和创新路径。对15名餐厅经理进行了半结构化访谈,厨师,和他们在2022年在意大利北部的伦巴第地区的专业觅食者;记录了54个野生植物类群,用于考虑的餐馆。对收集到的数据进行了分析,以了解现状和这种做法的潜在发展,探索了支持在餐馆中纳入WV的原因/动机。考虑了广泛的餐馆来评估处理和采购这些成分的潜在差异。结果表明,这一趋势主要是由于试图振兴传统美食并对健康产生积极影响,但是基于WV的实际烹饪准备通常是原始的,并且与意大利的民族植物学遗产截然不同。此外,与这些做法的环境可持续性有关的问题已经得到解决。