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knowing its journey from the soil to when

you're drinking it. Having that connection to

where something is grown is vital: you can

understand its quality and understand

where it's come from.'

The Rosewood London's restaurant, the

Holborn Dining Room, has a short menu

based on the market's ingredients to run

alongside its Sunday brunch o£ ering. It's the

best form of marketing there is: after eating

the gently smoked,  rmly   eshed salmon

served with poached egg and potato cake

from Stoke Newington smokehouse Hansen š

Lydersen, I bought some more to take home.

Traditional foods

It's this quality of ingredients from Slow

Food producers that is the biggest attraction

for Rosewood's executive chef, Amandine

Chaignot. 'As a chef, I am always looking for

the best quality ingredients, which have been

responsibly and lovingly harvested. Slow Food

o£ ers just that - produce which is unrivalled

in quality and is ethically produced to take

into account people and planet.'

Chaignot isn't the only chef to be signed up

to the Slow Food philosophy. In 2011, Richard

Corrigan set up Slow Food's Chef Alliance.

In four years, it has grown to include 125 UK

chefs, including L'Anima's Francesco Mazzei,

The Hand š Flowers's Tom Kerridge, Jeremy

Lee of Quo Vadis, Xavier Boyer of L'Atelier de

Joël Robuchon and Sartoria's Lukas Pfa£ .

The chefs are committed to championing

the Ark of Taste, a programme dedicated

to protecting traditional foods from smallscale

producers who, without Slow Food,

would be at risk of going out of business.

Pfa£ , for instance, serves roveja, a variety

of pea imported to Europe from the Middle

East, which has been known since Neolithic

times but recently almost disappeared.

Mazzei imports his extra virgin olive oil from

small producers who practise sustainable

agriculture, while Corrigan is full of praise for a

nut oil produced near Reading that he found

through Slow Food. During Slow Food Week in

June, Boyer creates a special menu using Ark

of Taste ingredients to promote the Slow Food

ethos. The Alliance is sponsored by Lavazza,

the family-owned co£ ee brand that is based

in Turin and which has supported Slow Food

since the inaugural Salone del Gusto in 1986.

For chefs such as Corrigan and Mazzei, Slow

Food o£ ers the chance to reconnect with the

rural food culture of their upbringing. 'I was

lucky enough to grow up with locally sourced

food,' Mazzei says. 'We got our bread from the

baker and our meat from our own slaughtered

animals and the local butcher. When I moved

to the UK, I noticed how privileged I had been,

and how di£ erent the vegetables tasted.

I've been a fan of the Slow Food movement

in Italy for many years and I wanted to get

involved to help promote the positive aspects

of enjoying locally produced food.'

Regional awareness

Mazzei acknowledges that Italy's food

culture makes it easier to champion regional

food, but feels that with Slow Food's help,

things are changing in the UK. It's a view

echoed by Tom Kerridge. 'We're fast becoming

more aware of regional produce in the UK

and developing an understanding of what

'AS A CHEF, I AM LOOKING FOR

THE BEST INGREDIENTS, WHICH

HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLY

AND LOVINGLY HARVESTED'

AMANDINE CHAIGNOT, ROSEWOOD LONDON