The Dark Side of the European Quality Schemes: The Ambiguous Life of the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed

In Europe, the food products are enhanced through different quality systems that can be applied according to the Regulation (EU) No. 1151/2012, known also as “quality package”. This Regulation defines three different tools of foodstuff enhancement i.e. the Geographical Indications (IG), the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG) and the Optional Quality Term (OQT). These quality systems have played an important role in the recovery of a large and diverse quantity of traditional agricultural products and foodstuff as well as preventing their disappearance through their economic and social development. In fact, without this policy, many of these products would be lost or, at least, would not be marketed outside their regional and national borders. One of these schemes is mainly dedicated to the traditional foods and recipes and defines the meaning of “traditional” in the European gastronomy. Furthermore, the different definitions of “traditional product” identified in literature emphasize how it is given a direct link with the territory. Could the European tool dedicated to traditional foodstuffs define a simple way to success? The scope of this paper is to analyse the evolution and dissemination of the European Union instrument dedicated to culinary traditions, i.e. Traditional Specialities Guaranteed. Moreover, a first consideration on the concept of traditional recipe has been made; in fact, sometimes, the recipes considered traditional are composed by ingredients that are not linked to the region itself. This is a controversial phenomenon that could be analysed more in depth.