Every year the International Institute for Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, IGCAT, embraces two to three European regions and award them the title European Region of Gastronomy. Winners are chosen based on their approach and attitude to food following ingredients from the first shoots in the field to the family or restaurant table. So IGCAT look at everything from a region’s agriculture, local produce, food production customs, culinary culture, hospitality and traditional eating, and they celebrate and promote regions that have a better quality of life thanks to their distinctive gastronomic culture. But it’s not just about the history of food. The award also encompasses cities and regions that incorporate environmental sustainability, healthy living and gastronomic innovation and development within their culinary world, pushing the boundaries for the future.
This year Mantua, Mantova in Italian, is one of a number of towns and cities benefiting from East Lombardy being declared European Region of Gastronomy 2017.
