There are dishes that tell a life story: the stories of food and memory awarded by Coop
A Turkish ragù that arrived in Emilia, a rice cake made with the help of an entire village, and a simple fried egg that holds the memory of a grandfather's love.
Nearly 700 stories were submitted from all over Italy: the winners were Orkide Izci, Federico Barli, and Annapaola Tondo, chosen by the jury for their ability to use food to convey not only personal memories, but also family, community, integration, and healing.
The awarded stories
From nearly 700 entries from across Italy, the jury selected three stories that, through food, convey memories, family ties, and encounters between different cultures. Three dishes that are very different from each other, yet share the ability to transform a flavor into an important part of one's life.
A Turkish ragù that meets Emilia
The first award-winning story is that of Orkide Izci and her kıymalı makarna, a pasta dish topped with a traditional Turkish spicy ragù. A recipe that, in Orkide's story, becomes above all a meeting point between two gastronomic cultures: the ragù from Turkey arrives in Emilia, a region where ragù is itself one of the most powerful symbols of family cooking and conviviality.
Two different traditions converge around the same gesture: preparing a meat sauce and sharing it at the table. A story that shows how food can become a tool for integration, capable of preserving one's origins while simultaneously building new senses of belonging.
Rice cake prepared by an entire village
The second story, by Ligurian Federico Barli, revolves around a very special rice cake: more than the recipe itself, what makes it special is the way it's prepared, thanks to the contribution of an entire community. The dish thus becomes the story of a town and its people, demonstrating how certain preparations can transcend the family dimension and become a true collective heritage: ingredients, gestures, and traditions passed down over time become part of a community's identity, reminding us that a recipe can hide much more than what ends up on the plate.
A simple fried egg that tells of a grandfather's love
Elaborate recipes aren't necessarily necessary to create a lasting memory: the third winning story, by Annapaola Tondo of Brindisi, demonstrates this. At its heart is a seemingly simple, everyday food: a fried egg. In her story, however, that dish becomes a symbol of the relationship between a grandfather and grandchild and of a caring gesture that remains etched in the memory. It's perhaps the most immediate example of the spirit of the competition: a common food can take on a completely different meaning when associated with a person, a moment in one's life, or a family bond.
The three special mentions
Alongside the three winners, the jury—composed of writer, communicator, and agronomist Antonio Pascale, Coop Italia Communications Director Sara Taschera, and Slow Food External Relations and Partnerships Manager Carla Coccolo—also awarded three special mentions.
The awards went to Karim Hachani, from Emilia-Romagna; Simonetta Baldo, from Trentino, with a story dedicated to her father Gino; and Maria Albertina Salazar Suarez, from Emilia-Romagna. Here too, food becomes the starting point for recounting much larger experiences: a child with limited financial means who, during a school trip, tastes meat sauce for the first time; a person who finds the courage to leave a toxic relationship; a grandmother who can no longer fully distinguish reality from a nonexistent meal that is shared with her nonetheless.
Recipes become dishes at the Salone del Gusto
The winners' awards ceremony was held on September 26th at Fiorfood, in the Galleria San Federico in Turin, during Coop's participation in Salone del Gusto – Terra Madre. For the occasion, the recipes featured in the winning stories were transformed into actual dishes: Alessandro Uccheddu and Piero Pulli, chefs at Fiorfood, reinterpreted and prepared them live for those in attendance to sample.
The goal of "Stories at the Table," however, doesn't end with the awards ceremony. The collected stories represent the starting point for building a historical and "sentimental" archive dedicated to Italian food culture and dishes, bringing together family memories, social transformations, and shifts in eating habits.
"The Table of Time": Italy's History Told Through Food
The competition is part of a larger project promoted by Coop, "La tavola del tempo," created to reflect on Italians' relationship with food and how it has changed over the decades. The project also includes a six-part vodcast that traces Italian history from the post-World War II period to the present day through the changes on our tables. Radio journalist Chiara Galeazzi will lead the conversations, along with guests from the worlds of culture, journalism, and gastronomy: Antonio Pascale, Camilla Baresani, Tessa Gelisio, chef Chiara Pavan, Paolo Vizzari, and anthropologist Marino Niola.
From the role of essential foods like pasta and olive oil in the post-war period to the growing focus on traceability, health, and sustainability, food thus becomes a lens through which to observe the evolution of Italian society. And the nearly 700 stories submitted to the competition reveal something even more personal: behind what we eat, there are more than just ingredients and recipes. Often, there are people, places, and moments in our lives that a simple scent or flavor can evoke even after many years.
