Pasta-making grandmothers in the Italian city of Bari have staged angry protests this weekend after being accused of passing off factory products for hand-made delicacies.
Famous for the ‘orecchiette’ or ‘little ears’ they sell, a type of pasta traditionally shaped by hand, an army of women line the streets of the city’s old quarter, making the food as tourists watch.
The city has seen a boom in tourism thanks to via dell’Arco Basso, known as ‘orecchiette alley’, where pasta is made in people’s kitchens, dried and displayed on wooden trays outside their homes.
But the tables where the local nonnas usually work the dough and sell their wares stood empty on Saturday, with production stopped as part of a joint ‘revolt’ against criticism of their practices.
Italian news site Quinto Potere has led a campaign against what it labels the ‘fraud’ of the orecchiette, claiming mass-produced pasta is sold alongside artisanal food to unsuspecting visitors.
Dramatic scenes even showed furious pasta makers and their families squaring up to a journalist who confronted an old lady over what he claimed were industrial pasta, with the altercation turning physical as locals passionately defended their produce.
Nunzia Caputo (centre) was among the pasta makers who refused to make and sell their wares this weekend
The stalls were empty this weekend as pasta makers staged a protest
Reporter Antonio Loconte was approached by locals who tried to physically push him out of the street
Food bloggers and tourists have also shared their dismay at being sold what they claimed was dry, pale industrial pasta, while others have raised concerns over hygiene in the womens’ kitchens.
The ‘pastaie’ have hit out at the claims as ‘nonsense’, and have called on local authorities to intervene to help preserve their tradition and support their livelihoods.
Heading up the protests is Nunzia Caputo, a social media star with tens of thousands of followers who has become the face of the town’s pasta makers.
Caputo met the Pope at the Vatican last week and gave him a packet of orecchiette – an apt gift after the Pontiff recently wrote that AI would never replace ‘the fork [used] to seal the edges of those panzerotti made at home with our mothers or grandmothers’.
Speaking to Italian news agency ANSA, she insisted: ‘There is no scam, they are artisanally dried orecchiette, they are all handmade but we have to dry them for hygiene reasons.
‘Tourists take them to Paris, to America, and they need them to be very dry, […] so they do not spoil during transport’.
Journalist Antonio Loconte has made it his mission to expose what he claims is malpractice on the part of the sellers, turning up to stalls and identifying bags of pasta as factory-made.
A woman emerged from the house behind the stall and came to the defense of her elderly relative
Loconte confronted one elderly pasta seller in at her stall with a box he said the produce came from, and was met with fury from her neighbours and family members.
A woman emerged from the house behind the stall and came to the defense of her elderly relative, telling the reporter: ‘Our children are unemployed, we have to feed them!’
The reporter was then approached by other locals who tried to physically push him out of the street as bemused tourists watched the commotion unfold.
The ‘pastaie’ have hit out at the claims as ‘nonsense’, and have called on local authorities to intervene
‘Orecchiette’ or ‘little ears’ are a type of pasta traditionally shaped by hand
Caputo and other pasta makers stood by their stalls this weekend decrying the criticism as ‘unjust’ and defending their tradition and the provenance of their food.
Addressing the authorities in Bari, the 61-year-old asked: ‘What should we do, give up this work, this long-standing tradition?
‘Give us instructions, we are ready to welcome them because we want to work in a peaceful manner’.
Bari’s mayor Vito Leccese has urged pasta sellers to be responsible with the goods they’re selling for the sake of the city’s reputation.
‘Authenticity is what has given Bari extraordinary appeal,’ he said. ‘We aren’t a cultural mecca like Florence or Rome. It is the traditional activity in the historic centre that gives this place allure.’
