And what struck me during my time there was the immense pride Italian people take in connecting land with people and culture, and how each individual region celebrates its own distinct local produce via the food on the plate.
That's evident in Lazio and Rome in particular, famed for its carbonara, cacio e pepe and amatriciana; orecchiette con cime di rapa in Puglia; and the amazing rocciata from Umbria which was just delicious.
Everyone I spoke to about local food was keen to impress on visitors the value and importance, and the pride, they have in their local food and its cultural value. And it has made me reflect on whether we have that same passion about food across the UK.
I think the answer to that is, yes, we do have an element of it you can see where we celebrate smokies from Arbroath, pasties from Cornwall and scouse from Liverpool to name a few.
But I did wonder whether we capitalise on it as much as we could, or whether we have that same innate sense of pride in the value of local dishes. Also, is this something that is as connected to our identity as it is elsewhere?
Something to ponder as winter draws in, and we rely on the produce that our farmers have harvested for us to consume, and enjoy, in the coming weeks and months.
We find ourselves heading into November already, which marks a full year of me having the privilege of being chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance.
It has been a quick year, and whilst we have achieved a number of the aims we have set ourselves, one that remains a challenge is the establishment of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Public Food.
We are still actively working on this in the background and trying to secure political support. I will keep you updated as this work continues to make slow progress.
In the meantime, I hope you have booked your tickets for the Public Sector Catering Expo which takes place on 18th and 19th November at the NAEC Stoneleigh in Warwickshire. We have two days packed with public food activities, including a keynote speech from Gareth Wyn-Jones, an outline of the future of protein and a State of the Nation discussion panel.
We also have the amazing Si King and the equally impressive public food competition winners undertaking a range of cooking demonstrations, as well as hosting the military’s showpiece culinary event Exercise Joint Caterer (EJC).
And of course, we have a fantastic array of exhibitors sharing the best of produce, innovation and catering solutions for us to see and sample. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope to see you there. It's not too late to get your free registration here: Public Sector Catering Expo.
