If you were told that extra virgin olive oil is not simply a condiment, but a real cultural passport, you would probably think the exaggeration of some enthusiast. And yet, if you had been there on Monday evening, 1 June, in the beating heart of Bitonto, you would have realised that this is the pure truth. There was a crisp air, typical of Puglia's early summer evenings, and the majestic façade of Piazza Cattedrale was the backdrop to something extraordinary: a grand celebration of our cuisinerecently consecrated UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
When stone meets art and Michele Placido
The event, born from the alliance between the Association Oil Leaf e Euro-Toques ItalyIt was not the classic gala dinner set. It was a community experience. Walking among the tables set up under the stars, one breathed the deep pride of an area that knows it has a treasure in its hands.
Making the atmosphere even more magnetic was a special guest of honour: the director and actor Michele Placido. His presence traced an invisible but powerful thread between cinema, theatre and the art of the earth, reminding us that Italian food is, first and foremost, a human and cultural story.
Between one glass and another, I had the opportunity to listen to the words of two giants of the industry: Chef Emanuele Natalizio (soul of the Foglia d'Olio Association) and the president of Euro-Toques Italy, Enrico Derflingher. Feel Derflingher Telling the behind-the-scenes story of the path that led Italian cuisine to UNESCO makes you realise how much passion, how much politics of the land and how much effort there is behind that dish we often take for granted.
The EVO orchestra: a menu sewn into the earth
But let us come to the real, undisputed protagonist: extra virgin olive oil. Forget the concept of a 'trickle of raw oil' added at the end out of duty. In this menu, every single Apulian cultivar has been treated as a solo instrument within a complex symphony. Five chefs from Bitonto (Natalizio, Amato, Scarlato, Piperis and Rocco Natalizio) literally painted the flavours of the region.
The gastronomic journey of the evening literally won me over, dish after dish:
The opening of tradition: A Pizza Regina Margheritathe perfect, universal homage to Italian simplicity.
The Apulian Symphony: An appetiser that combined a cold Regina tomato soup, marinated cherries in raspberry vinegar, the crunch of Altamura bread, the creaminess of stracciatella DOP and the purity of raw red prawns. All enhanced by the fresh notes of the monocultivar Peranzana. A crazy balance of acidity, sweetness and savouriness.
Mediterranean Night: Here one dared, and with success. Cuttlefish tagliatelle marinated in their blackness on a bramata polenta with friggitello alla scapece and Acquaviva onion. An intense dish, where the strong and spicy character of the Coratina has found its ideal stage.
Sea Rose and Field Green: A Carnaroli Riserva San Massimo risotto whipped to perfection with baby broad beans, white crustacean bisque and Molfetta pink prawn flesh, caressed by the elegance of the cultivar Beauty of Cerignola.
Il Dorato di San Pietro alla Cicoria Puntarella IGP: A fillet of San Pietro cooked masterfully in oil, accompanied by creamy and crunchy chicory puntarella, potato millefeuille and smoked provola cheese. Elevating it, the vegetal freshness of the monocultivar Fabulous.
The Grand Finale: The master pastry chef Giuseppe Salierno closed the evening with a round-up of traditional desserts - bocconotto, sospiro, pasticciotto and the ever-present Passionate - surprising us with a monocultivar EVO oil cream Oliarola. Yes, the oil in the dessert. And yes, it was magnificent.
More than chefs, the keepers of a supply chain
"Behind every great dish there are not just recipes, but people, landscapes, gnarled hands and communities that guard the invaluable knowledge."
This phrase, captured during the evening's institutional speeches (which were also attended by the President of Italia Olivicola, Gennaro Sicolo), perfectly sums up the spirit of the event. The strength of this dinner was the ability to put the creative people of the kitchen and the custodians of the land at the same table.
Seeing local mills celebrated - as Mimi, Corleto, The Three Columns, Cultivated Love e Gold of Rufolo - together with historical partners such as Levante o Finolivashowed that when the supply chain unites in a choral manner, the message comes through loud, clear and above all good.
Bitonto capital of green gold
While the lights of Cathedral Square sslowly fading away and the echo of the chatter fading into the night, I realised that Bitonto was not just a beautiful showcase for one evening. This city has lived in symbiosis with the olive tree for centuries, and is the ideal place to remind the world that UNESCO recognition is not a point of arrival, but a starting point.
There is an Italy that does not just produce excellence, but wants to tell, excite and create culture. And as long as we have evenings like this one, our gastronomic heritage will continue to be a wonderful story to be written, experienced and, above all, tasted.
The visionary of green gold: special kudos to Emanuele Natalizio
Special and sincere applause can only go to the one who was the true conductor of this extraordinary culinary symphony: the Chef Emanuele Natalizio.
If extra virgin olive oil is finally emerging from the anonymity of the 'shelf condiment' to take the place of honour it deserves in the great international cuisines, credit is due to visionaries like him. As president of the Association Oil Leaf, Christmas proved that cooking is not just a sequence of excellent dishes, but a powerful vehicle of identity and culture.
There are three particular reasons why the commitment of Emanuele Natalizio deserves to be celebrated. He has the rare gift of being able to translate the technical complexity of EVO oil (made up of acidity, peroxides, polyphenols and fruity notes) into an emotional language, capable of enthusing both the great chef and the guest sitting at the table. For him, each monocultivar is a voice, a personality to be respected and enhanced. Moreover, organising an event of this magnitude, managing to bring together the giants of Euro-Toques Italia with small local millers and institutions, requires leadership moved by genuine passion. Natalizio did not seek the stage for himself, but built a stage for the whole territory. It was Natalizio himself who strongly wanted Bitonto to be the centre of this cultural redemption. Bringing UNESCO cuisine to Cathedral Square means telling the world that the roots of our gastronomic transition lie here, among the centuries-old olive trees in Apulia.
This chef deserves credit for having taken the oil out of the garb of a simple ingredient and sewn on to it the very elegant one of cultural asset. A true ambassador of green gold to which the Apulian gastronomy - and Italian - must say a big thank you.
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