Bologna, August 8, 2024 – Cesarine, the oldest network of home cooks in Italy, is proud to announce its intention to apply as chefs for the White House, following the announcement of the historic Chef Cris Comerford's decision to retire. Cesarine's proposal includes the quarterly rotation of cooks from different Italian regions, bringing with them the authentic culinary traditions of our peninsula.
Founded in 2004, Cesarine now counts over 1,500 cooks throughout Italy, combining a passion for home cooking with the desire to share traditional recipes passed down through generations with the world. With 50,000 international and national guests welcomed each year into their homes, the community gathered around the cesarine.com platform once again demonstrates its commitment to preserving and spreading the Italian gastronomic heritage.
The initiative of the community, now widespread throughout the national territory, involves a quarterly rotation of amateur cooks, each representing a specific Italian region. This would offer the future residents of the White House an authentic and varied culinary experience, from fresh pasta of Emilia-Romagna to the Mediterranean flavors of Sicily, including rich regional dishes of Italian tradition with a particular focus on the Mediterranean diet and its undeniable benefits. This candidacy not only celebrates Italian home cooking but also proposes itself as a cultural bridge, fostering an exchange of ideas and traditions through the universal language of food.
There are over a thousand different regional recipes that could be proposed to the White House during a year of quarterly rotations, along with stories, anecdotes, and culinary traditions to enrich the White House experience.
Cesarine.com is the first online platform in Italy for food experiences with a community of 1,500 amateur cooks who in 2023 opened the doors of their homes and territories to 50,000 guests, predominantly international (+65% compared to 2022) to offer cooking classes, dining experiences, and food, wine, market tours. Born in 2004 in Bologna as the Association for the Protection and Valorization of Typical Italian Culinary Gastronomic Heritage, in 2014 the community became a platform under the guidance of tech entrepreneur Davide Maggi - creator of some of Italy's first digital startups and executive director of the Digital Marketing & Communication Executive Program at Bologna Business School. Slow Food Community since 2019, at its 20th anniversary, Cesarine receives dozens of spontaneous applications every week. In the first quarter of 2024, Cesarine-branded food experiences recorded a 20% increase, with Bologna leading the travelers' choices for the first time, up 25% compared to 2023, and a notable increase in Sicily, with Palermo +60% and Messina +130% and the Cinque Terre doubling the presences compared to the same period in 2023.