This is one of the topics that often comes up in discussions among those of us who work in the field of gastronomy: respect for tradition in the kitchen. Is it a value? If so to what extent? And does the market really need this obsessive respect for the rules, or is there room for innovation?
We know, this is a delicate subject. But we have our own idea. And it’s an idea that combines two perspectives, tradition and innovation. But there’s no hurry, we don’t want to rush things: for the Italians, cuisine is sacred and we need to get the concepts right. Such as respect for tradition.
Tradition in the kitchen is sacred
This is a point we cannot ignore: every region has its own cuisine. A powerful and proud cuisine that stems from an important historical evolution, as in the regions of Veneto and Friuli. From Turin to Palermo, from Rome to Ancona, every ingredient has its reason, every dish tells a story.
And every change to the original recipe has an explanation. Perhaps it refers to an anecdote, an idea, an intuition of a simple cookery enthusiast that has been passed down from generation to generation, from the wrinkled hands of grandmothers to the young ones of their children.
Innovation on our table
Think about it, what is Italian cuisine? A happy and tasty meeting, a perpetual cross-referencing of different ideas and influences from different places. Cooking is not a point of arrival but a continuous evolution of individual and collective stories that we manage to encapsulate in our dishes.
Just like the spoken language, the dialect of a place, local gastronomy is also evolution, history and sharing. In short, eating well respects tradition but looks towards evolution. And it always welcomes great ideas, just as we at Cucina di Paola 1985 do with our customers.
In the markets we listen to the opinions of the people who buy our dishes every day, we try to understand what to change and why to change it. We don’t risk changing a traditional recipe at random or just for fashion: that would be the way to disrespect tradition in the kitchen.
Tradition in the kitchen is innovation
This is the decisive concept for us: focusing on tradition is important, but you can also respect the key principles of local cuisine by changing the dishes. Maybe to improve them. Or simply to make them meet different flavours or to offer a certain lightness. Not completely different, that’s not the aim.
Cucina di Paola 1985 has always focused on a careful selection of raw ingredients and cutting-edge cooking processes, but this is our strength: on the one hand there are parents, the pillars of tradition, and on the other there are children, future generations who know how to listen to people who love to eat well. When ingredients meet, great things are born. And also tasty dishes.
