Pasta-making grandmothers in the Italian city of Bari have staged angry protests this weekend after being accused of passing off factory products for hand-made delicacies.
Famous for the ‘orecchiette’ or ‘little ears’ they sell, a type of pasta traditionally shaped by hand, an army of women line the streets of the city’s old quarter, making the food as tourists watch.
The city has seen a boom in tourism thanks to via dell’Arco Basso, known as ‘orecchiette alley’, where pasta is made in people’s kitchens, dried and displayed on wooden trays outside their homes.
But the tables where the local nonnas usually work the dough and sell their wares stood empty on Saturday, with production stopped as part of a joint ‘revolt’ against criticism of their practices.
Italian news site Quinto Potere has led a campaign against what it labels the orecchiette ‘fraud’, claiming mass-produced pasta is sold alongside artisanal food to unsuspecting visitors.
Dramatic scenes even showed furious pasta makers and their families squaring up to a journalist who confronted an old lady over what he claimed was industrial pasta, with the altercation turning physical as locals passionately defended their produce.
Food bloggers and tourists have also shared their dismay at being sold what they claimed was dry, pale industrial pasta, while others have raised concerns over hygiene in the women’s’ kitchens.
The ‘pastaie’ have hit out at the claims as ‘nonsense’, and have called on local authorities to intervene to help preserve their tradition and protect legitimate sellers from the attacks.
Heading up the protests is Nunzia Caputo, a social media star with tens of thousands of followers who has become the face of the town’s pasta makers.
Caputo met the Pope at the Vatican last week and gave him a packet of orecchiette – an apt gift after the Pontiff recently wrote that AI would never replace ‘the fork [used] to seal the edges of those panzerotti made at home with our mothers or grandmothers’.
Speaking to Italian news agency ANSA, she insisted: ‘There is no scam, they are artisanal dried orecchiette, they are all handmade but we have to dry them for hygiene reasons.
‘Tourists take them to Paris, to America, and they need them to be very dry […] so they do not spoil during transport’.
Journalist Antonio Loconte has made it his mission to expose what he claims is malpractice on the part of some sellers, turning up to stalls and identifying bags of pasta as factory-made.
‘In the last few weeks, I found boxes of factory orecchiette in the rubbish bins. It all started from there,’ he told MailOnline.
‘So when I arrived in the area, the ladies first hid and then came out, they were prepared to fight.’
‘The ladies unpack the factory-made orecchiette and put them in bags to sell them as if they were handmade.’
In dramatic footage of the confrontation, a woman emerged from the house behind the stall and came to the defense of her elderly relative, telling the reporter: ‘Our children are unemployed, we have to feed them!’
Loconte challenged one elderly pasta seller at her stall with a box he said the produce came from, and was met with fury from her neighbours and family members.
He was then approached by other locals who tried to physically push him out of the street as bemused tourists watched the commotion unfold.
The Apulian journalist said he has been working to expose the practice for six years, and continues the ‘battle’ because of his ‘love’ for the pasta makers and the local tradition.
‘There are two problems here: the ladies fake hand made orecchiette. And then they dodge taxes and [hygiene, hazard awareness] is non-existent.
‘In addition, the stalls were initially set up to sell orecchiette, but lately they have also been selling other products such as biscuits and baked goods and drinks.’
He added that the problem had a become worse due to the promotion of the town and its tradition on social media.
‘The ladies felt overwhelmed. Tourists flocked to the city to visit and take selfies and reels with these women,’ he said.
‘As a goodwill gesture, they bought orecchiette, but often they didn’t care if they were factory made or handmade. This created an issue for other consumers.’
Caputo and other pasta makers stood by their stalls this weekend decrying the criticism the news reports and social media posts have attracted as ‘unjust’, defending their tradition and the provenance of their food.
Addressing the authorities in Bari, the 61-year-old asked: ‘What should we do, give up this work, this long-standing tradition?
‘Give us instructions, we are ready to welcome them because we want to work in a peaceful manner’.
Lilla Simone, another pasta maker and head of Il Club delle Orecchiette in nearby Altamura, also supports bringing in stricter rules to guarantee authenticity and protect the industry.
‘What has happened there has undermined our work and undermined our reputation,’ she reportedly said.
Loconte said rogue pasta sellers ‘felt justified by the previous municipal assembly, which never did anything to control the trade.’
‘I believe that creating a regulation can benefit the ladies and also the tourists, the consumers will be sure of the food they buy,’ he said.
Bari’s council has said it is currently looking into bringing in regulations to ensure produce is made in the traditional way while also protecting pasta makers.
‘We are examining a series of regulations on the matter, to try to find a path that involves everyone, including the operators,’ said city councillor Pietro Petruzzelli, who added that it is crucial that tourists can trust the products they buy.
Bari’s mayor Vito Leccese has urged pasta sellers to be honest and responsible with the goods they are selling for the sake of the city’s reputation.
‘Authenticity is what has given Bari extraordinary appeal,’ he said. ‘We aren’t a cultural mecca like Florence or Rome. It is the traditional activity in the historic centre that gives this place allure.’
