“The Simple Gesture of a Never-Ending Story” is a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the University of Parma, and ALMA – The International School of Italian Cuisine, for the 2025 edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World.
The initiative is based on the scientific analysis of over 1,500 recipes from a 1970s Italian cookery book, evaluating their environmental impact and nutritional value.
The study has brought back to light gastronomic ideas that are still relevant today: many dishes naturally feature a high vegetable component, a good fibre content, and a strong focus on seasonality. In other cases, simple adjustments allow recipes to be updated, making them healthier, more inclusive, and more environmentally friendly, without losing their cultural identity.
Italian cuisine thrives on shared gestures, rituals, and practices. The narrative has therefore been created around five emblematic gestures – kneading, mixing, pinching, adding, reusing – that recall ingredients and methods typical of our tradition. These simple, everyday gestures capture the very essence of Italian cuisine and its way of interpreting the relationship between culture, territory, and sustainability.
The project provides new ways of interpreting Italian regional recipes, focusing in particular on their nutritional profile and environmental sustainability. Through a journey that enhances the products and gestures that characterize our gastronomic culture, the path begins with a scientific analysis of a 1970s recipe book. Hence a narrative unfolds around five simple gestures, each linked to ingredients and fundamental values of Italian cuisine.
The project is curated by ALMA – a centre of excellence in the advanced training of restaurant and hospitality professionals – in collaboration with the University of Parma.
As part of the project, Italian embassies and consulates will be able to organize culinary and academic masterclasses, cooking competitions, and gala events with ALMA chefs and experts.
