'A Spasso con Gusto' is the untranslatable name of the culminating event of the week-long Slow Food festival that has taken place in the medieval Umbrian town of Orvieto every autumn since 1996. Spasso is an Italian noun that more or less corresponds to the English 'leisure'. Andare a spasso is 'to go for a walk'; essere a spasso is 'to be out of work': mandare qualcuno a spasso is 'to give someone the sack', not to send them out for a stroll. Gusto means 'taste' or 'flavour', but also 'enjoyment'. The phrase, then, has connotations of walking, leisure, flavour and enjoyment, but what it boils down to is spending a very long time over lunch.

LRB 1 November 2007 | PDF Download