Slow Food makes for tastier, healthier meals (Marketing newsletter for Casa Oliver subscribers)
I want to talk to you about an important movement in the culinary world called “Slow Food”. The idea behind the Slow Food Movement is that real, healthy, natural foods take time to grow to their full potential, and that meals take time to come together naturally. Plants need to soak up sunlight and extract nutrients from the soil and battle the elements on their own, and animals need to graze and wander and grow at a normal speed. So many companies today inundate their crops with harsh fertilizers and pesticides, and so many animals are pumped full of hormones and force-fed so they grow too quickly – this leads to foods that are not only unhappy, but that are not as nutritious or delicious.
It’s important, too, that we remember that true cooking is cooking with a slow food mentality – fewer shortcuts mean better meals! For example, simmering a locally grown rice with herbs and spices instead of processed “minute rice” makes for a much healthier and more natural meal, not to mention the flavor. Slow food relies on time-honored culinary traditions from artisan methods, and the result is food that tastes better, wiser, and richer.
The foods I sell at Casa Oliver reflect this tradition of connecting with the roots of the nutrition and culture behind our diet - it's not just counting carbs or hitting the drive-thru; but rather, appreciating the journey that food has taken. Every slow food has a story, like the Redondo Iglesias jamón serrano that's salt-cured naturally and aged to perfection, or the Matiz Navarro piquillo peppers that are slow-roasted over a wood fire to bring out their fullest natural flavor. At Casa Oliver we work closely with vendors from all over Spain who specialize in their own traditional, natural, time-honored products, and who can attest to the power of slow food firsthand. Give them a try and I’m sure you’ll agree about the difference it makes!