"Taste. In viaggio con le diversità del gusto" will be back at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence from 10 to 12 March, 2012: 3 days of tasting, excellence, shopping, events and lifestyle experiences dedicated to taste, plus the Fuoriditaste events around town.
This is the seventh edition of this national food fair: the place where the world’s best members of the haute gastronomie community gather, along with the ever-growing number of foodies, the people who seek out quality foods and new taste trends. The 2011 edition of TASTE welcomed 12,000 visitors (a 20% increase over the previous year), and enjoyed fantastic media coverage.
“Beekeepers, master brewers, fisherman, experts in cooking equipment, sommeliers, food bloggers and many more are the ‘taste protagonists’, the people at the fulcrum of this year’s edition of TASTE,” says Agostino Poletto, deputy general manager of Pitti Immagine. "It is true,” he goes on to conclude, “that chefs are still the key figures in the more media-driven world of wines-and-foods, but new figures are coming forward – like the foodies who are enthusiastic about niche products and are creating new and unexpected interpretations for the industry.”
This edition of TASTE will feature about 250 firms selected among niche producers of excellence from nearly all the regions in Italy. They will present their products and latest creations in Florence. Over the years, TASTE has become an enjoyable and enthusing experience for members of the food and food service industries and the general public. It is a multi-sensory journey of discovery aimed at finding and defining the many ways we express and experiment tastes today.
- Taste Tour an itinerary that will allow you to sample the products presented by the 250 exhibitors to become acquainted with – and learn more about – Italy’s gastronomic riches; there will be lots of things, old and new, to discover, from the concentrated white truffle cream to ground dried capers, from salami to wine, from aged cow cheese to mild pecorino, from handmade pasta from Italy’s major pasta factories to figs preserved in balsamic vinegar, to saffron liqueur, to chocolates filled with Limoncello cream to red eggplant jam to….!
- Taste Tools is the area dedicated to designer food and kitchen items, tools for chefs and for those who love to cook – from kitchenwear to professional kitchenware.
- Taste Shop is the “department store” for exclusive foods – with over 1,500 items in the catalogue and sales exceeding 21,000 pieces last season. This is where to buy what you see and taste around the fair;
- Taste Ring, is the cultural-gastronomic arena orchestrated by Gastronaut Davide Paolini who was recently elected “Person of the Year” in the poll conducted by the online daily Italia a Tavola. In this area devoted to debates and ideas, the leading players on the food stage challenge each other on the most interesting topics related to contemporary eating, from foods to flavors, interpreting what is happening today and anticipating the trends of tomorrow.
The many events around the city, under the FuoriDiTaste banner were also a huge success with the public and the press. Here is a taste of some of the special projects at TASTE 2012:
- King of Catering: the competition among the best catering and banqueting firms of 2011, is organized by Bisol, who have been making wine in the Valdobbiadene area since 1542, and is sponsored by Mondadori. The theme for finalists in this second edition, and a very important topic for all catering companies is the “Wedding Reception”. The competition will be held on Friday, 9 March at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence; a prestigious panel will judge, the first and main courses, the dessert, the entire menu and the service.
- The Casaviva Vintage Table: the magazine Casaviva will be participating in this edition of TASTE. Is vintage a real trend? Martina Liverani, the editorial staff foodie, will be at TASTE in the Casaviva stand to talk about recipes, tables, curiosities and anecdotes – and strictly nostalgia colored.
- The genie in the pot: tasty recipes at TASTE 7! Pitti Immagine decided to involve a dozen talented food bloggers to celebrate the contemporary foodie spirit of TASTE 7 and highlight a spreading phenomenon. They will be busy preparing tasty dishes made with ingredients provided by some of the exhibitors. And then, the recipes will be published on dedicated page on the Pitti Immagine website, buon appetito!
… and flavors spread around Florence with FuoriDiTaste
FuoriDiTaste is the calendar of “outside the fair” events that brings Florence into the heart of TASTE and features the city’s restaurants, gourmet shops, boutiques, art galleries, theaters and museums. FuoriDiTaste will light up the city and its places of excellence with theme tasting sessions and dinners, entertainment and new ways of presenting quality foods. The last edition of FuoriDiTaste met with huge public and critical acclaim. The roughly 100 events held in just as many venues transformed Florence in a festival of quality foods and excellent cooking.
TASTE. IN VIAGGIO CON LE DIVERSITÀ’ DEL GUSTO
10-12 March 2012
Florence, Stazione Leopolda - V.le Fratelli Rosselli, 5
Hours:
9:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon (members of the trade only)
12:00 noon – 7:30 p.m. also open to the public
Monday: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Admission:
€ 15 day ticket for the general public
€ 8 for registered members of the trade (one ticket is valid for all 3 days)
