Finishing cooking a dish without keeping the stove on is one of the tips dictated by the surge in gas costs, but there is an ancient method made possible by a particular tool used by our ancestors: the cooking box. A method that is based on the exploitation of the heat accumulated during the first phase of cooking by placing the pot in a container made of wood or felt and filled with materials capable of retaining heat: the cooking box. A rediscovery that is combined with the dictates of the circular economy thanks to the project of the community cooperative “Filo & Fibra” of San Casciano dei Bagni (Siena) which provides for the replacement of straw with the fleece deriving from the shearing of the local sheep, considered a by-product, with the consequent disposal problems.
“Wool is an insulating material par excellence and retains heat for a long time, but it does not conduct it for this reason it is necessary to bring the dish to temperature before placing it in the cooking box, where its process will end”, explain Sara Selmi and Gloria Lucchesi of cooperative Filo & Fibra, a cooperative born to women.
It gains the taste thanks to the lack of steam dispersion, the domestic economy gains thanks to energy savings, the environment benefits from it because it gives a destination to the fleece that otherwise would have to be disposed of. Elements in line with Slow Food values: “Looking back is not an operation of nostalgia but in this moment, where we reflect on the regeneration of resources and energy saving, this traditional cooking method can be a first good practice for environmental and economic sustainability of families and more “, commented Gianrico Fabbri of Slow Food Tuscany.
In addition to wood, coming from neighboring areas, the boxes can also be “gnude”, that is covered in felt or cotton, and require the same simple procedure: The basic principle lies in the thermal inertia of the wool: the pot retains heat and allows slow and constant cooking. Then, after starting the cooking on the stove, just cover the saucepan with the lid and wrap it in a cloth before placing it in the box.
Then it closes and waits. It is also suitable for storing the cold, excellent for fermentation and the preparation of yogurt.
The proof was given directly at the end of the presentation with the tasting of a “slow beans”, a bean soup cooked in a cooking box by Chiusi’s chef Tiziana Tacchi.