Rome - Italians often start to look very glum indeed when they ponder the image of "Bella Italia" abroad: They are troubled by the travails of President Silvio Berlusconi and all those affairs, rampant corruption and last but not least the Mafia. Ask them about what makes Italy great around the world and the scowls will soon turn to smiles: At the White House in Washington US President Barack Obama and his first lady Michelle Obama delight in tucking into a meal of spaghetti and mozzarella. They love some "gusto" on their plates. A bottle of Prosecco, especially if it hails from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, is another essential ingredient. In fact in international circles this beverage is poised to oust French champagne.
All this helped to swell the chests of recession-bound Italians, especially at times when even the country's international football team is in the doldrums.
The excellence of traditional Italian food is mythical around the world and there is every justification for it. And since good food nurtures the soul, the "Made in Italy" label on pasta, pizza and Parmesan cheese gives the still very disparate parts of Italy a sense of national pride.
The powers that be are keen to support this fact and they recently passed a new law which stipulates that such seals of quality must not be taken in vain. This means that the "Made in Italy" moniker can no longer be legally applied to products from beyond Italy even if only a tiny proportion of their ingredients comes from beyond the border.
Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia is at the vanguard of the campaign and one who knows what he is fighting for when he battles against "forged" products and urges trustworthy labels of origin.
Examples of this include cold-pressed "Campanian" olive oil from Maryland on the US East Coast, Parmesan from north-east Brazil or tiny Pachino tomato cultivated in China. "They all want our delicacies but only buy the things which sound Italian," was how the Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica summed up the state of affairs.
The sense of Italian worth is accentuated when the "unauthorised designations of origin" abroad are revealed, such as a cheese called "Mozzarina" which can be found in Canadian supermarkets and whose name is simply designed to sound similar to the southern Italian speciality made from buffalo milk.
According to La Repubblica, even if only a quarter of the delicacies sold abroad as "Italian" were actually of "authentic" origin, it proves beyond doubt that everyone loves good things from the Bel Paese (beautiful country).
The Neapolitan pizza has taken the world by storm and it must be remembered that next to pizza, pasta means far more to the average Italian than a humble foodstuff. It is the expression of an attitude to life, a symbol of identity and tradition.
The endless supermarket shelves are piled high with all manner of pasta variations from thick Roman Bucatini through to cylinder-shaped Penne which is renowned for its compatibility with fine sauces. Italy's reputation has benefited from the trend towards healthy living and the much-praised virtues of "Mediterranean cuisine." Now the country is cashing in on the global appetite for what was once looked down upon as food fit only for paupers.
