"The cardboard suitcases"

In the early 1900s, the cardboard suitcase for thousands of Italians was not a simple suitcase, but it was a small piece of Italy, a small house, which traveled to get to the most disparate places in the world that offered hope for a better future. On my side of the family Uncle Peppino emigrated to Brazil, “Zi Rafaele”, my great-grandfather, emigrated to New York and then returned to Italy.

In those cardboard suitcases (few could afford leather ones) in addition to personal belongings, there were dreams, hopes, memories, photographs, and above all, the food that was needed to face the long journey and the first days of acclimatization. They were simple, genuine, delicious products, with a flavor and aroma that brought our grandparents back to Italy with their minds and felt less alone. Once settled, the women carried on making homemade pasta and tomato preserves, while intoxicating the streets of the neighborhoods with new scents from the Mediterranean regions.

Without knowing it, they were the first ambassadors of Italian food and that shortly thereafter would have been appreciated and recognized all over the world up to the present day. Most of the people that leave Italy today have a suitcase on rollers or a backpack, they have a degree, they are on demand, they have less challenges. Distances have also shortened; internet allows them to be virtually with the remotefamily whenever they want. But food doesn’t travel so easily anymore, and probably even less in the future, so the desire to for flavor fulI italian food remains.

Hence our new initiative:… return to fill the "cardboard suitcase". Fill it with the delicacies of our tradition and our peasant culture, so that everyone can keep alive the link and the memory of this wonderful territory rich in history, nature, delicious dishes and home of the Mediterranean Diet.

The cardboard suitcase will be your time machine: it will accompany you on an emotional journey through the memories of your most recent Italian experiences, as well as moments of Italian cooking traditions of the past, but connected by the genuine and flavorful dishes offered with the passion of the present. Treat yourself during family meals, on special occasions, or even as a personal pleasure. The cardboard suitcase is ready to go. An assorted shop is online, for the sale and shipping service of products, in particular those typical of the slow-food presidium of Cilento. Choose and order the experience you want to receive.