Lambs trucked in from Eastern Europe without food or water

Rome, March 21 - As Italians get shopping for the traditional Easter lunch on Sunday, animal rights associations have launched their annual plea for people to leave lamb and goat off the menu and stick to sheep made of marzipan instead.

According to the Anti-Vivisection League (LAV), over 536,000 lambs, 72,000 adult sheep and 56,000 goats were sent to the slaughter to end up on Italian tables over Easter last year.

LAV president Gianluca Felicetti noted that this was a slight decrease on the number of animals killed during Easter 2006, when Italians were tightening their belts due to rising prices.

Italy’s leadership in the home-made ice-cream market – in terms of finished product manufacturers as well as processing machinery producers – is well recognised.

There is however another niche in this sector in which Italian manufacturers have been able to rise to leadership levels: the production of ice-cream ingredients and bases. This is a highly specialized sector: there are few large players who are not represented by a single trade association who could potentially collect reliable statistics to help draw a picture of the sector.

The only set of data which gives an indication – source: Aidi, Italian Confectioners’ Association – is the export trend for cocoa-based products, which includes products such as chocolate frostings, industrial-use cocoa powder, surrogate frostings and cocoa butter. In 2006 (latest available statistics from Aidi based on data from the Italian national statistics office) the value of the sector’s exports increased by 15% (to 408,1 million euros) and also increased by 11,5% in volume (to 101.656 tons).

Tried by the lingering evils of unfortunate events involving their meat, British people no longer know what to safely put on the dinner table. So they have turned to Italy for help. At least, one would be justified in getting this impression from Safeway's initiative of offering one month of Italian products in view of Pavarotti's concert in Hyde Park on the 14th of July.

The other celebrities involved in the Safeway Italian Job are olive oil, wine, cheese, ham, sauces and desserts from all over Italy, which will reign supreme on Safeway's shelves in June.

Coloured in red, white and green, 470 supermarkets across Britain will be offering Italian food, drinks, culture and spirit to 7 million weekly shoppers through a celebration of the country's gastronomic delights in collaboration with the English ICE bureau.

The High Langa has a terrain on which it is difficult to cultivate, hence the woods have had the upper hand, giving rise to a much greater production of mushrooms and truffles than in other areas", Renato says.

Accompanied by his faithful truffle hound, Renato proceeds to display the treasures of his kitchen - black and white truffles, religiously conserved in chequered cotton bags. At 10 euros per 100 grams and 100 euros per 100 grams respectively, such valued products of the earth are the pride of the region and constitute an elegant touch to dishes served.