Italian cuisine sustainably – farmers markets, panzanella bread salad, and using coffee grounds

The market, inspiration for Italian cuisine

In Italy, it's almost impossible to find a city without a farmers market. It's much more widespread here, even at the urban level, for people to buy their lunch and dinner ingredients from local producers at the market, and even larger distributors take this into account. For example, Coop follows a completely different strategy than we do – it strives to support Italian producers and Italian brands, so as many products as possible come from within the country.

The situation is similar at the already mentioned markets, and even in restaurants. The Florence market, also known as Mercato Centrale, although one of the most famous tourist attractions in the city, is frequently visited by Florentines themselves to source traditional ingredients. This is also reflected in the prices, as the prices found at the market are not higher than in supermarkets, and in many cases much lower.

The difference in the relationship between catering and small producers compared to the situation at home is that most restaurants buy only from Italian producers and seasonal ingredients, and strive to prepare "zero kilometer" dishes. This way, they not only keep the producers and culture alive (literally), but also the environment.

Panzanella, the Italian bread salad

Ingredients:

• Stale bread
• Vegetables to taste (usually tomato, onion, and cucumber are always included)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Spices (basil, salt, oregano, pepper)

Preparation:

1. Cut the bread into cubes.
2. Place it in a large bowl, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar and as much water as the bread can absorb.
3. Cut the vegetables into cubes as well.
4. First mix the non-watery vegetables (onion, cucumber, bell pepper...) with the bread, then the watery vegetables.
5. Add the spices and olive oil.
6. Voilà, it's ready.

+1 tip: If you want to drink wine with it, a dry white wine like Chardonnay is an excellent choice.

Espresso, macchiato, affogato, in Italy even coffee becomes blood

What's the first thing you think of when you hear Italy? Pizza, ice cream, the seaside, dolce vita...coffee?

Even if it's not first, it's certainly high on the list, in every quantity! Espresso, macchiato, affogato, leccese and we could go on endlessly. Whether you're of Italian descent or not, if you've lived in the country for any length of time, coffee will surely become part of your blood. But let's not forget that coffee has an exceptionally high ecological footprint. Producing one kilogram of coffee burdens the environment with more than 16 kilograms of greenhouse gas. That's why it's very important that we use coffee as efficiently as possible. As inspiration, in the next section we'll share a few great tricks for using coffee grounds.

Creative use of coffee grounds

Preparation:

1. Nutrients for plants: Whether it's houseplants or a small garden, a little coffee grounds can be very beneficial in potting soil, as for certain plants, the decomposition of the grounds releases nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are important for plant development. Coffee grounds make the soil slightly acidic, which some plants really love, but it's not suitable for all plants. A few flowers that particularly like it: geraniums, lilies, hydrangeas, azaleas, ornamental onions.
2. Coffee body scrub: Caffeine can have beneficial effects on our day not just in coffee itself, but also on the skin! The high antioxidant content of coffee is also useful for skincare. It's worth using the homemade scrub on your face a few times a week in the evenings to remove dead skin cells. You can find numerous recipes depending on what skin type you want to use it for.
3. Natural scrubbing sponge: The texture of coffee grounds is very rough, making it perfect for removing stuck-on food and other residue. Plus, it can be very helpful in disinfecting, as coffee has antibacterial properties. For this reason, it can be safely used to clean drains, stoves, or grills.

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