There were coffee carts, homemade crafts, jams and locally grown vegetables — the usual suspects that make up a farmers market. But the market set up in the parking lot of Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre just off Grandview Highway was the first of its kind in this city as it was an “Italian” farmer’s market or Il Mercato.
As one would expect from an Italian-hosted event, food was the main draw as indicated by a white board listing the meals (rotini pasta with zucchini, olive oil, onion, garlic and tomato sauce; arancini; Italian sausage on a bun with peppers; or pulled pork on a ciabatta bun) each under $10). In a nice departure from the street food scene where meals are self-consciously devoured while standing in watchful range of urban vermin, Il Centro provided round dining tables for eating in a civilized manner while strains of Luigi Tallarico’s acoustic guitar filtered through the crowd visiting Il Mercato.
Il Centro’s executive director Mauro Vescera milled about the Italian Cultural Centre’s second market (the first was last month with two more planned for the third Fridays of each month) in a navy casual suit that looked decidedly European, especially so when he sat on a white Vespa on display to pose for a photograph.
“My mandate is to take the legacy of the centre, which is a 37-year-old organization, with the idea to reflect the past, engage the present and build a legacy for the Italian community in Vancouver,” he said. “It’s a very vibrant community and the centre was built as a place for Italians to meet, an Italian home outside of Italy.”
The plan is a lively one. In addition to the market, which will be a regular part of the centre’s programing from here on in, Vescera said there are plans to add a free outdoor movie screening during the summer market days as well as broaden the centre’s culinary programming. A community garden on the centre’s property is also planned with an outdoor bake oven to be built this April — another first for the city. The garden will be grown in partnership with the Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society.
“We promote language, heritage and culture and, if you’re Italian, food is part of your culture,” said Vescera. “We see it as an art form.”
Film is also a part of Il Centro’s programming; Il Centro works along with the Italian Cultural Institute in Vancouver, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West as part of the Italian Film Festival. Vescera enthusiastically confirmed this April’s appearance of Italian actress/model/filmmaker Isabella Rossellini’s one-woman play, Green Porno, at the Vancouver Playhouse.
With equal enthusiasm five tent stalls down from Il Centro’s information booth, Orazio Scaldaferri was talking about another staple in the Italian diet — olive oil. Samples of bread and bowls of his oil were on offer as Scaldaferri told his story about his passion for oil-production on his family olive grove in the rural town of Piana di Cerchiara, Italy, after he realized there was a missing connection between people in his adult home of Vancouver and their food.
Editor and publisher of Vancouver’s Italian newspaper Il Marco Polo, Rino Vultaggio vouched for Scaldaferri’s olive oil. “If it sings in your mouth, the oil is good. You don’t have to be a connoisseur, right. This is very good. It’s taken from the tree and then taken to the press.”
Vultaggio’s newspaper helped raise funds to build the centre four decades ago and he gave the thumbs up to expanding its cultural activities, to prove Vescera’s assertion that the older Italian community is eager to share its heritage with Italians and non-Italians alike.
“It’s a very beautiful idea. I think it’s going to work very well.”
