In the past few years, as you may or may not know by reading my writings, I have successfully fulfilled my dream of being able to split my time between Portugal and the Dolomites.
I am carefully carving out free time in my schedule to hike in the mountains in both countries, eat and be merry.
Some aim to become boss babes, but I want a quiet, Hobbit-like life. I want to mind my business, write, and have time to think, write, breathe, eat, run, rinse, and repeat.
I never dreamed of being locked into an office, with a 9 to 5 routine and four weeks holiday.
If anything, I dreamt of working from home - and home is plural for me. I love my days in Lisbon, squeezed between the Atlantic and its remote interior, and my days in the Dolomites, going up and down beautiful mountains, valleys and lakes. I miss Lisbon and its buzz when I’m in the alpine woods, the freedom of nature, and my Trentino when I’m in Portugal.
I would be unable to choose, and I am fortunate not to. But I do strive for a closer connection with mountain foodways.
As I delved into my gastronomic journey, building my gastronomic self, I began exploring mountain food and gastronomies.
I was fascinated.
I published an article about mountain food in the Iron Age, one about a pasta dish that is to be found only in the Swiss mountains but that is probably one of the most ancient pasta recipes in the world.
Then, I published a combination of articles that ignited it all: about mountain gastronomies and foodways.
Here, you can read part one, and there is part two.
Admittedly, this is a very niche topic, and you may not want to hear about it while I am discussing gastronomy in a broader sense here. I thought of creating a new, standalone blog and giving it the rightful identity it deserves.
There is another reason: while The Other Gourmand is my own gastronomic space, I am developing my journey as a gastronome here, free from any conditioning. I believe the new blog will need a stronger sense of community.
Mountain dwellings rely on networks - formal and informal - and mountain communities are the key to survival in harsh ecosystems. This is why I will be an echo chamber, a megaphone, for people and ideas rather than a soloist in this new adventure.
Finally, I needed to avoid writing in just English or Italian.
The most significant limitation of my blog about gastronomy in Portugal is that it is written in Italian for Italians, who are not a very good group of readers and are a bit averse to subscriptions.
So, this time, I wanted to give myself the freedom to write in either language and then translate myself into the other. Double work, I know. This is why there will only be 12 posts per year.
And therefore, I structured a publication plan—something I do not have for this blog, for instance, where I give free rein to my gastronomic self.
Instead, Mountain Foodways has a plan and various dedicated sections:
Defining Mountain Gastronomy: we will study"foodways." a word that stands for many factors, including food preparation methods, ingredient choices, social customs related to eating, and the symbolic meanings attached to certain foods.
Studying foodways provides a deeper understanding of how food reflects and shapes cultural identities and social structures. The first article tomorrow will define the topics we will discuss henceforth.
Worldwide Mountain Foodways: from the Appalachian Trail - from the US to Portugal!- to the Alps, from the most remote locations in Asia to Africa. Elevations matter, and so do their unique foodways. I have a beautiful article in the pipeline about Appalachian food in the US. Just stay tuned!
History of Mountain Foodways: We will travel in the past, a bit like we did when we studied mountain food in the Iron Age. The future may be an oyster, but there are pearls in our past. One of them is undoubtedly porridge, oats, and gruels: they were staple foods in the Iron Age and may be for a healthy life in this Internet age.
Contemporary Mountain Foodways: We will read about the mountains as they evolve, squeezed between desertification and overtourism, mass productions and small producers.
Gastronomy and the Mountains: Restaurants. Of course, we will visit restaurants, but we are not here for gastronomic criticism. We will find deeper meanings in plates and connect chefs, ideas, products, and techniques. Our first article in this section will be about the most meaningful salad in the Alps, in two beautiful declinations by talented mountain-bound chefs: Norbert Niederkoefler and Alessandro Gilmozzi.
Mountain Gastronomy Literature Review: We will read journals, articles, and books together. We start in September with (spoiler alert!) a beautiful reading about famous anthropologist Malinowski and his unique relations with the Dolomites.
I am proud of the plan and the ideas I will develop through this blog.
I am pleased about this little logo I created for it! It’s a mountain hut, inhabited—there is a light in the house, a tree, and a mountain somewhere around it.
The links for the very first article, “Going to the Press”, are the following, and they will be published tomorrow at nine and so on every first Saturday of the month, in the morning:
The articles will define mountain foodways and the publication's focus. Have a look, and be tempted to take a gastronomic hike with me.
Remember, you will be able to receive the article in your preferred language - choose the correct option in your profile, and you will be set. One section will carry all English language articles, the other will feature the same articles, but in Italian.
Congratulations and good luck with the new project! The plan looks promising.