We meet Riccardo Felicetti of Pastificio Felicetti – among the protagonists of the Sofi Awards- that will answer questions from our editorial staff and some of our food bloggers.
1) What is the event that triggered your love and passion for food?
I do not think there is a specific event: a lot of contributing factors – even as a child – gave me the opportunity to appreciate raw ingredients, recipes and food. My father was a pasta-maker and my grandmother was an hotel keeper: they both had a great importance in my nutrition education and in the development of my food passion.
2) If you have to take a friend out for dinner on his first night in Italy, which dish would you recommend him?
There’s not only one recipe to identify the “made in italy”. I could cook a spaghetti recipe, meanwhile I would tell him about the italian menu I’m going to prepare for next evenings.
3) In your opinion, which Italian product is still not well known abroad?
The “made in Italy” products are well known and reputed, I believe there is a lack on how to use them properly.
4) In regards to the Italian Sounding phenomenon: what could be the right way to “fight” against it?
This issue is no longer governable. We should affirm the Italian know-how and the ability to offer the real genuine taste to the final consumer. This difficult exercise is a long term one, but it is the only useful investment against the production conformation.
Here the questions by our food blogger:
5) Felicetti purpose has been for over a century to produce quality food by accepting new challenges. How much new raw materials and technologies R&D affect new “pasta products”? Rosalia Imperato
For sure the impact is very high: agricultural R&D is Felicetti first investment. The raw materials characteristics have to satisfy the final consumers while the high tech agricultural methods should not be a mean to overcome limitations but an instrument to increase existing features.
6) What are the Felicetti main features, what is unique about the brand? Ale Gambini
The durum wheat flour, the Alpine water and air, the high tech and familiar tradition company. This could be similar to competitors, but not really the same.
7) What are the booming markets for next years? In other words: which countries are more interesting for “made in Italy” products? Rosalia Imperato
There are no boundaries if we can properly transmit the value of Italian products. The North of Europe and the North of America markets are surely fundamental: the key to the international markets is to teach, especially in the far east, the excitement of eating Italian food.
8) In your opinion, why pasta became such a great social and cultural factor in Italy? Irene Prandi
The pasta is a cheap, healthy, sustainable, fast cooked food. The pasta recipes are global and local, simple but refined: at the end the pasta is “Italy in a food”.
Thanks to Rosalia Imperato, Ale Gambini, Irene Prandi and Francesca Antonucci for the translation.
