Market of Taste 2020 in Puglia presented the twenty-first edition

No stalls to comply with the anti Covid-19 rules but great attention to the pleasure of the banquet and opportunities for reflection.

Angelo Inglese , the VIP tailor who designed William of England's wedding shirt; Nicola Marino, co-founder of a startup that develops advanced surgical training systems; Daniele Manni, the teacher of the "Costa Galilei" in Lecce who teaches self-entrepreneurship to students; Floriano Pellegrino, the chef who brought the first Michelin Star to Salento del gusto; Pamela Raeli, Asti publisher of Salento origins of the magazine "Food and Travel Italia" and of "Wine and Travel".

On August 5th, these will be the winners of the 2020 edition - the twenty-first - of the Mercatino del Gusto, the highlight of the Apulian summer which will be held as usual in Maglie from 1 to 5 August, starting from its origins - from "Francesca Capece" high school - but which this year will be staged in a reduced version to be in tune with the health rules regarding the preparation of post Covid-19 public appointments, which have imposed an organizational rethinking of the event. However, it will not give up its true essence, that of the creative engine of new ways of thinking about food, wine and the whole universe of values connected to them.

The leitmotif of the 2020 Market, created with the support of Puglia Promotions, the Puglia Region (Department of Tourism and Cultural Industry) and the Municipality of Maglie, and with the patronage of the Province of Lecce - Salento d'Amare, will in fact be TOP & POP LIFE : a theme launched at the Bit in Milan last February, when few imagined what would happen shortly thereafter with the pandemic and the lockdown. "A complex period that will leave deep marks on all of us, but also fundamental lessons for the future. Because the challenge of change and innovation has always been the guiding light of the Mercatino del Gusto project: we were the first to talk about beauty marketing , of care, of bartering of ideas and of the immense strategic value represented by reputation ", explain in a single voice the journalist and design thinking expert Giacomo Mojoli , the gastronome doctor Michele Bruno and the president of the" Mercatino del Gusto "association Salvatore Santese, creators and organizers of the initiative. "This is why we decided not to stop, and while aware of the attention that the situation requires, we thought of a" limited edition "of the MDG, with initiatives capable of giving shape to our desire to restart, to rebirth, to quality of life. , of a sense of general beauty. And of hope ".

In short, Top & Pop LIFE is the synthesis of a future project for the promotion and marketing of beauty that is based on a unique and territorial model, which thinks and acts locally, but designs and reasons with a global vision . "This is why we imagined a series of Top events that could hybridize with a Pop experience in the way of being together, a light but intelligent and absolutely inclusive way of thinking about food, wine, music, beer, the sea and the 'hospitality, art and culture ", adds Giacomo Mojoli. "A new model to look at the tourism to come, at the catering offer, at leisure time, through the colored lenses of Top & Pop Life: always letting ourselves be guided by good taste and a sense of inclusion, to do things well and to make future ideas "happen".

And in absolute compliance with the anti Covid-19 regulations: the 2020 program of the MDG exclusively provides for appointments organized in limited and at the same time spacious places, in which it will be easy to quota the public and strictly control entrances and exits. Therefore this year the Piazza del Vino , the two closed agora dedicated to the Apulian street food and the breweries, the Literary Café, the Dinners in the Villa, and then the great " Lab del Gusto" that will take place in the historic courtyard of the "Capece" high school "- returning therefore to the old - in strict compliance with government provisions on the protection of safety and, as usual, using the banquet as an opportunity for" high "reflections.

The Labs of the Mercatino will in fact address various themes - from food waste to the simplicity of ingredients such as eggs, from cheeses to wine and beers, from artisanal pasta to the extraordinary Apulian meats, up to the culture of Japanese raw fish that is confronted with the long , analogous Apulian tradition - with the great protagonists of the regional gastronomic, wine and production scene. Becoming an opportunity for cultural study, reflection on taste and taste, with a wide-ranging sensory involvement where even the music and the architectural context will become content.

"We had to reluctantly give up the stalls of artisan producers in the name of respect for the current anti-pandemic health provisions, but this edition of the Market will be an opportunity to lay the foundations for next year: in fact we will have time to devise a new limelight for market actors », Mojoli, Bruno and Santese explain again. "We are sure, however, that this edition will also be able to project Maglie, Salento and Puglia of taste in a dimension of great quality, confirming the profile of a historic event that takes the opportunity to renew itself and to give a signal of hope".

The twenty-first edition of the market was presented in the conference room of the Lecce Chamber of Commerce. Here, in order, are the statements of the speakers who attended the press conference:

"We believe that in this moment of great difficulty for our territory the Market represents a message of hope for the restart", so the new president of the Chamber of Commerce, Vincenzo Benisi , who remarked his applause "to the courage and determination of the organizers in confirming this event which represents not only a reference point for the agri-food sector, but also an experimental laboratory that launches new companies and is committed to the rediscovery of many forgotten products in our territory ".

Salvatore Santese , president of the Mercatino del Gusto association, wanted to thank the Municipality of Maglie and the Region for the great support to the event as an opportunity for the growth and rebirth of the territory: "Puglia and Salento have become famous on the international scene, and therefore we could not have been there again this year. We are always there, even in times of difficulty and we are ready to leave all together ". Santese then explained that the appointments will take place in compliance with the directives thanks to the collaboration of the Italian Red Cross, Civil Protection and the police.

The mayor of Maglie Ernesto Toma : "Il Mercatino was born in Maglie, and we are proud to collaborate for the success of an initiative that this year is certainly facing a difficult emergency. But in these twenty years we have had to face and solve several difficulties, and we were able to do it thanks to the seriousness of the organizers. I am confident that with all the measures that are respected we will achieve the result ".

Michele Bruno : "We decided to leave late, as we were waiting to know the regional regulations. When we decided to proceed on July 15, we had the confirmation that the companies were very hopeful. And in fact we will have the same number of wineries, of companies of street food and breweries. Of course, we had to give up the producers' stalls, which are the distinguishing feature of the Market, because we would not have been able to guarantee safety conditions for operators and the public ".

Giacomo Mojoli: "In recent years five key words have been recurring in the Mercatino del Gusto that today have become essential for the rebirth. The" cure ", for example, which never before has to be an element of every project concerning the territories. then "joy", the theme of a few editions ago, which today dozens of international studies indicate as the general desire of communities; "beauty" not only as an aesthetic quality but as a pragmatic element: what is sustainable and done with care cannot what to be beautiful; The "barter": in recent months we have understood that confrontation, the exchange of skills and experiences, is necessary to resolve the emergency. Finally, "reputation", a fundamental aspect for every activity, is one of the key words : skills are essential and only these can give reputation. All this not only guarantees the durability of each event but flows into this year's theme: TOP and POP Life. All that is TOP, that is the result of excellence must bring something POP inside, easily usable as well as everything POP must learn from the TOP to be unique. Il Mercatino has always thought locally but acted globally by leveraging on uniqueness. Gastronomic uniqueness, product, business. Puglia has an indefinable wealth of uniqueness, so much so that it can speak the Esperanto of good taste. Tourists in these years of Mercatino have grasped the intrinsic qualities of a dish, a wine or a beer, but they have also grasped the thought that generated those products ".

Loredana Capone, who announced the presence of President Michele Emiliano at the ribbon cutting on Saturday August 1st (piazza Aldo Moro, 8.30 pm) : "We have chosen to do the Market again this year because, as we are used to rolling up our sleeves, we could not have done otherwise. The point, if anything, was how to do it. Certainly with great sense of responsibility, so as not to endanger anyone's health, with all the necessary precautions and measures. This led us to seek compromise and the idea of the great laboratories seemed beautiful and adequate to the extraordinary needs of this edition. We will not have the numbers of the other years as an audience, because we aim at the Apulians who will come from all over the region and the Italian tourists who have chosen Puglia, but I believe that this period it will also be a way to reflect on the future of the market. The durability of an event is also built with the determination to always find new formulas, always new forms of involvement, guaranteeing quality: all aspects that the Region recognizes in the Market. Which is a great event, and which I always take as an example in major international fairs when it comes to territory, community, identity ".