"SLOW FOOD" MAKES A COMEBACK - Leo Nunez, owner of the Albuquerque-based El Norteno Restaurant believes that Americans should take time from their busy schedules to appreciate "ma and pa dining" rather than the gobble-gulp-and-go fare offered at Fast Food stations. Chef Nunez isn't alone. Members of the burgeoning Slow Food Movement are actively campaigning for the return of pleasure dining - enjoying carefully prepared, home-style food in a relaxed atmosphere.

Leo Nunez, owner of the Albuquerque-based El Norteno Restaurant believes that Americans should take time from their busy schedules to appreciate "ma and pa dining" rather than the gobble-gulp-and-go fare offered at Fast Food stations. Chef Nunez isn't alone. Members of the burgeoning Slow Food Movement are actively campaigning for the return of pleasure dining - enjoying carefully prepared, home-style food in a relaxed atmosphere.

"...food and wine are more than mere sustenance. They are a way of life and a philosophical statement...The idea is to focus on the historical and cultural impact of food on society, and to explore such topics as why Fast Food has become popular and why it leads to a destruction of our cultural heritage. Dan Berger, Los Angeles Times

"People should be more conscious of what they're eating," says Leo Nunez.  Nunez, owner of El Norteño, a small, family-operated Mexican café in Albuquerque (6416 Zunie Rd. SE), believes that fast-paced Americans have become lazy in their eating habits. "Few people take the time to appreciate good meals like the ones offered by ma and pa diners.  They're settling for less and it's disappointing and discouraging."

"Less" to Nunez is code for fast food joints and chain restaurants where generally uninteresting and unimaginative industrial-style meals are served within minutes of being ordered. Most of us are aware that "ma and pa" not only own the business but they often serve as the sole chefs, who use traditional recipes and, when possible, locally produced food products.  Such home-style dishes often demand laborious preparation.  "It may take longer for customers to be served," says Nunez, "but the wait is going to be worth it. People need to slow down and enjoy good food."  The chef himself uses family recipes (two are shared below) in his quaint restaurant where delicious mole reigns. Son Leo, Jr. and daughters Gabriella and Yvette are cooks and waiters.

But Nunez isn't the only one who subscribes to the "slow down and enjoy good food" philosophy. When the Golden Arches opened for business in Rome's revered Piazza Spagna in 1986, a group of gastronomes protested, albeit quietly, by establishing the "Slow Food Movement." Formally founded in Paris three years later, the non-profit, international organization is devoted to "developing taste rather than demeaning it...We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods...Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food."

Charter members include French historian Jacques Le Goff, British wine expert Hugh Johnson and Italian playwright-actor Dario Fo, who was the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature.

"Fast food is killing off the social aspect of food," says Slow Food leader Carlo Petrini, who was interviewed recently for an Internet article that appears at the On the Rail professional food site (http://www.ontherail.com).  "It strips people of their food wealth and culture."
 
Civilization magazine writer David Auerbach (March 1998) quotes Petrini,  "It (the movement) started almost as a joke.  We said, there's fast food, so why not slow food?...worldwide homogenization is actually wiping out traditional types of produce, each with its distinctive flavor and history...Our movement is, above all, a movement for cultural dignity. It's a battle against a way of life based solely on speed and convenience... we have the obligation, considering what's going on in the world, to think of ourselves as warriors, like Greenpeace."

Obviously, there is a level of blandness and mushiness some restaurant patrons will not tolerate: Membership in the Slow Food Movement is burgeoning. There are now 300 chapters in 35 countries worldwide, 40,000 members and nearly 400 Convivia - organized groups that gather in their local areas to educate themselves and others about the foods and wines available in their respective markets and to learn about and understand other cultures. Ambitious Convivium host food and wine tasting parties, enroll in cooking classes and participate in travel-food tours. Slow Food, whose logo is the slow-moving gastropod snail, also publishes Slow magazine, a quarterly printed in English, German and Italian. Topics include gastronomy, art and history and travel.

"Preparing good meals is like creating music," says Chef Nunez. "Different notes make different tones just like different flavors create different tastes. It takes practice and a lot of time to be a good musician, as it does to be a good cook."
And customers need to take time to appreciate their efforts.
[For more information on the Slow Food Movement, visit (http://www.slow-food.com) or email info@slow-food.com.].

THE HEAT'S ON AT THE CHILE PEPPER INSTITUTE

The Chile Pepper Institute, headquartered at NMSU, is seeking hand tools, harvest equipment, contemporary production equipment, historical photos, and oral biographies, among other items, to create hot! chile exhibits at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. If you can help, or need more information, please contact the Chile Pepper Institute at 646-3028.

GUISADO NORTEÑO (Northern Stew)

• 4 center cup pork chops, cut thin
• prepared mustard
• Tomatillo Salsa (see recipe below)
Heat a skillet or griddle and while it is coming to temperature, slather mustard on one side of the chops and the salsa on the other. Sauté until juicy, turning once.  Do not overcook. The trick is to get the meat chewy and juicy, but not dry. Serve with the Tomatillo Salsa side up and with a side of the same salsa.
Serves: 2
Heat Scale: Mild
Serve with beans, rice, and hot corn tortillas.

TOMATILLA SALSA

This simple salsa can be served with tostada chips, or as an ingredient in the Guisado Norteño (see recipe).
• 5 serrano chiles, or more to taste, chopped
• 1/2 pound tomatillos, husks removed, chopped
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree, adding just enough water to make a "gravy".
Serves: 4
Heat Scale: Medium
Note: Recipes are from the El Norteno website (http://www.newmexicom.com/elnorteno/html.Reviews.html).