Across Italy, ceremonial brotherhoods are sworn to protect historic dishes – from salted cod stew to prized cured meats – using medieval rituals, velvet robes and fierce culinary devotion. I met the vice-president of the confraternity of salted cod stew over dinner at a risotto festival in Verona. I couldn’t help imagining him at secret candle-lit tastings and initiation ceremonies involving unusual uses of fish.
Instead, he spent the first course intoning the perils facing the dish's ancient recipe: climate change, globalisation, modernity. His tirade left me feeling rather glum – until he draped himself in a golden velvet robe, donned a society medallion and took to the stage. With pomp and passion, he enthralled the room with the wonders and secrets of Vicenza's humble dish.
