Of Snails and Slow Food

by Barbara J. Avery

(Originally published in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)

We all have a vivid picture of slow food.  To some, it is grandma’s Sunday pot roast cooking in the oven, filling the house with rich, wonderful smells.  To others, it is the soothing bubbling sound and homey scent of soup simmering on the stove top or in the crock pot.  To Carlin Petrini, slow food conjures up the image of a snail.  

In 1989, as a backlash against fast-food and the opening of a well-known fast-food restaurant in Rome ’s Piazza di Spagna, Petrini founded the Slow Food Movement, choosing the humble snail as its symbol.  The guiding principal of the Movement?  To “reinstate the importance of material pleasures, intelligence, and lack of haste.”  That same year, Slow Food delegates from around the world signed the Slow Food Manifesto in Paris .  The Movement revived the idea that food should be celebrated, from beginning to end.  70,000 members in 50 countries on five continents agree.  

According to the American Dietetic Association, the slow food trend debuted on the American dinner table at least 3 years ago, and has become a trend that expands the definition of the dining experience.  “In a face-paced ‘do things faster, get things quicker’ society, slow food brings people back to the joy of eating,” says the Association.  

Bring the warmth of a slow cooked meal into to your home with Aunt Leone’s Meatloaf, served with green beans and a heap of mashed potatoes smothered with your favorite brown or mushroom gravy.

Aunt Leone’s Meatloaf

an old Avery Family recipe

Ingredients:  

2 pounds ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup milk

1 cup tomato sauce

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup cracker crumbs*

Method:

Mix all together and make into two loaves.  Place the loaves into well greased loaf pans or a cake pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.  Or, make one large loaf, and bake for 1 ½ hours.

*Note: May be crushed in blender