Italy should aim to become the haute couture of food: maintaining current production and quantities, but raising prices. Like Hermès does, which in fact has a waiting list for Birkins: it increases prices, not the circulation.” It’s the idea of haute couture cuisinesold dearly because it was Italian – as happened in the days of the big fashion brands – the one proposed by Max Mariola, social star and owner of the restaurant that bears his name in MilanWhere a carbonara costs 28 euros. «It’s a show», says Mariola to Corriere della Sera about his carbonara. It is not just a dish, given that it is prepared at the table, not to mention that the costs of a Milanese rental in the Brera area contribute to the retail price.
And it is here that we notice a small stumble in Mariola’s logic – apparently very correct – which she would like Italian cuisine returns to the Olympus of excellence, sought after and appreciated like a catwalk dress. Because in justifying the – very justifiable, all things considered – price of his carbonara, Mariola makes no mention of the quality of the products. And this is what should make the difference in the narrative of Made in Italy: excellence, rather than price.
A Birkin, on the other hand, does not cost expensive just because it is a status symbol: a Birkin is a bag of enormous value, handmade by a single craftsman who takes up to 48 hours of work, with a rare leather resulting from a tanning entirely vegetal which becomes more beautiful over time and which lasts a lifetime, and even more than just one lifetime.
Cuisine like haute couture: the key is quality
The question, following Mariola’s reasoning, arises spontaneously: what made Italian high fashion, at a certain point in history, the most coveted in the world? The competence and experience of our tailors and stylists, the quality of our fabrics, the craftsmanship of the proposed creations. The immense work that was behind a dress, a guarantee of absolute excellence, of a product that could not have equaled elsewhere. All these factors put together justified the price that people from all over the world were willing to pay for an authentically Italian dress.
If we need to take inspiration from high fashion to elevate Italian cuisine, this is what we need to keep in mind. If we want to sell Italian cuisine and raw materials at a higher price, as Mariola suggests, we must work on their quality, even before their image. Protecting artisanal preparations and those who keep them, enhancing regional specificities, helping the best productions to the detriment of everything that does not honor a concept of “tailor made”, sartorial food.
Because a great truth, which we should all have in mind, is that Made in Italy does not mean better regardlessUnfortunately. Even in Italy there are intensive farming, crops that do not take the environment into account and the biodiversity of the land, industrial production. But that’s not what we should focus on if we really want to enhance our products and try to sell them more expensively. To justify a higher cost, to follow in the footsteps of the highest Italian sartorial fashion, it is necessary to help those who care about preserving the raw material, but also the territory. Small farmers who work hard following the rhythm of the seasons, rather than the demands of the market. The virtuous breeders and cheesemakers who preserve the ancient traditions of the mountains and valleys, protecting animal welfare and the quality of the final product. They are the ones who can make the difference, truly building an excellent Made in Italy, tailor-made for the final consumer.
And it is then, by insisting on quality, that the world will actually be willing to pay more for an Italian product.
