Curry and couscous is replacing traditional prosciutto in Italy’s new Muslim-friendly school meals
Chicken curry and couscous are set to replace staples in Italian cuisine as some of the country’s schools seek to accommodate Muslim pupils.
Air-dried San Daniele prosciutto and pasta all’amatriciana, a dish where pork jowl is a key ingredient, and porchetta will be axed from school meals in Friuli-Venezi Giulia, in Pordenone.
Parts of the plan say the initiative aims to be inclusive, with a large proportion of pupils unable to eat the meat due to their religious beliefs.
The province has a high percentage of second-generation and foreign-born children, accounting for 21 per cent of pupils in the region – double the national average.
As such, the proposals say it doesn’t make sense to offer pork dishes if many students cannot eat them.
Regional guidelines in the region, governed by the centre-Right, say school menus should favour white meat over red. Beef continues to be served.
However, pork products will be available in certain schools while in others, the meat will be cut out altogether.
And in a bizarre twist, one primary school in Spilimbergo, in Friuli-Venezi Giulia, allows pupils to add ham to their pizzas.
The move has sparked a furious debate in Italy, whose demographic has shifted in recent decades to a multicultural society similar to Britain or France.
Chicken curry and couscous are set to replace pork dishes in some Italian schools. A stock image of antipasti meats – including prosciutto crudo.
Marco Dreosto, a politician of the conservative League Party, lambasted the move, saying: ‘Respect for other cultures and religions cannot and must not mean giving up our traditions.’
Meanwhile, three European Parliament members from The League, Anna Maria Cisint, Silvia Sardone and Susanna Ceccardi, described the decision to replace pork on the menu as ‘absurd’.
‘Encouraging coexistence is a good thing, but our cuisine cannot take a step backwards,’ said Emanuele Loperfido, the Pordenone leader of Brothers of Italy, the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Fausto Tomasello, a member of the centre-Left Democratic Party, said everyone’s first concern ‘should be making sure that our kids eat healthy foods’.
Alessandro Basso, the province’s mayor, said it was important to ‘offer alternative dishes to respect different religious beliefs’, adding that regional traditional dishes would be preserved where possible.
It comes after the Italian government introduced a 30 per cent cap on the number of pupils in schools who have a limited level of Italian.
The move is set to affect around 1,000 classrooms across the country, which accounts for 0.3 per cent of the national total.
A ban on burqas and niqabs in classrooms was also part of the decree, with parents facing fines of up to €1,000 (£870) if they choose to break it.
Prime Minister Ms Meloni said new measures were part of a drive to prevent ‘ghetto classes’ and encourage integration.
In a social media post, she described the new legislation as ‘common-sense measures that do not divide but help foster genuine integration, avoiding “ghetto#2 classrooms and giving all students equal opportunities’.
However, the opposition accused the coalition, made up of the Brothers of Italy, The League and Forza Italia, of weaponising immigration ahead of a possible General Election in the upcoming year.
It comes as National Future, a new far-Right party led by former army general Roberto Vannacci, is fast becoming a political headache for Ms Meloni, polling with 7 per cent of the vote.
