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| 40.000 bottles a day. Not a thing you do in the centre of the city thinking of all the logistics and space needed |
Remember that some years ago I wrote a blog about the food industry and its relation with the city? If you need a reminder, follow this link (for English) or this one (for Italian). It is an issue which has always took my intention, since the interest for the subject was born during my studies for architecture. But at this moment it has my particular attention since I am starting a research on it, planning to make a real Food Tour Milano.
The idea of
a Food Tour isn’t mine but came from a
great organization
based in Amsterdam. This group started a few years ago and has always had food and
its’ relation with the city as its main topic. To some extend their actions are
inspired by the book Hungry city
written by the British architect Carolyn Steel. In this book she explains ‘how
food shapes our cities’ thereby influenced by certain external factors like the
Industrial Revolution (trains allowing to transport over longer distances) and
the after WWII economic boom which allowed everyone to have a freezer and thus
store over longer periods (and go for weekly shopping in the big supermarkets
in the outskirts of town). When you want to know more about it, read the book.
My task is
now to do this research for a big North Italian city. The research still needs
to start (funding is really welcome) but a first investigation helped me
already to get an idea of where I need to look for. And the enthusiasm for the
first results made me really curious. So last Sunday I headed of to the western
parts of the town to visit the famous Fernet-Branca factories.
Fernet-Branca
is a liquor which originally was created as a medicine for people suffering
from cholera. Some of the visitors told us that – when they were younger -
their mom gave them some of the drink when they had problems with their
intestines or stomach. It helps you to digest and that is how it finally got
popular all over the world.
The tour
yesterday directed us from the invention of the drink in the mid eighteen
hundreds to todays’ production process. In 1845 Bernardino Branca set-up the
first branch near Porta Nuova, one of the cities entrances. At that time the
location was strategic in the sense that is used to be well connected to other
parts of the country thanks to the closeness of the Navigli Martesana (Martesana canal) and the city’s first railway
station going from Milano to Monza. (info found here)
In 1910 -
the drink had still mainly a medicinal function - the company moved its production
process further out of town. I haven’t found out yet why they decided to move
(one of the jobs to be done later) but I guess it had something to do with the
size of the factory needed in relation with the sizes of the plots available,
its price and the security requirements.
Slowly bits
and pieces of the influence of food in the development of the city are found.
Fernet-Branca’s story is just one of many. In a few months I hope to have the
puzzle completed and to be able to tell you a consistent story. Stay in touch
by following this blog and the facebook page to find the
first tour dates!
