This Italian Life

LIFE: Valentine's Day

2012-02-12T08:05:00.000+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. It’s a rosy hearts and flowers kind of day where women expect a romantic card and gift from their significant others, and guys know they’d better not knock on the door empty handed.

The Birth of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love by Sandro Botticelli

Valentine’s Day wasn’t always called Valentine’s Day though. In the beginning, around the 4^th century, it was a pagan rite of passage, a tribute to the Roman God Lupercus. Every spring the names of teenage girls were placed in a box and randomly drawn out by teenage boys. The girls would then become the “companion” of the boys who drew their name, and they would be together for mutual entertainment and pleasure, until the next spring when another the process would be repeated and everyone would change partners.

As Christianity began to spread, the Church was determined to put an end to this eight hundred year fertility rite, and started researching for a “lovers” saint to replace the Roman God Lupercus. They settled on Valentino, a bishop who had been clubbed to death and had his head cut off two hundred years earlier.

Valentino had made the mistake of enraging the mad emperor Claudius II by protesting Claudius’ edict forbidding marriage. Claudius believed that married men made poor soldiers because they were reluctant to leave their families for battle. Since the empire needed soldiers, Claudius, never afraid to do what he thought was best for the empire, outlawed marriage.

As the Bishop of Interamma, Valentine, (Valentino), invited couples to wanted to marry to come to him in secret. When Claudius learned about this ‘friend of lovers”, he had the bishop brought to Rome and gave him a choice: convert to paganism and worship the Roman Gods, or have his head cut off.

Saint Valentino

Valentino turned down the Emperor’s offer and was soon thrown in prison to await his fate. While he was waiting to be executed he fell in love with the jailer’s blind daughter and, it was said, miraculously restored her sight. Just before he was taken away to be clubbed, stoned and decapitated, he wrote her a farewell note and signed it, “from your Valentino.”

From the Church’s point of view, Valentine was the ideal candidate as a replacement for Lupercus, so in 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius outlawed the mid-February Lupercian festival. But because he knew how Roman’s loved games of chance, he kept the lottery, substituting the girl’s names for the names of saints. For the Church’s celebration, both girls and boys could draw the name of a saint and then they were to emulate the life of that saint for a year.

Admittedly it took a long time for the Romans to give up a year of free sex for a year of piety, but in the end Christianity won out. Actually the only part of the Lupercian festival that remained was the tradition of men offering women they were interested in a handwritten note of affection on Feb. 14^th, and in the 16^th century the Church tried to do away with that as well. They didn’t succeed.

Cupid,

The cards became more popular and more decorative and often embellished with a drawing of the naked cherub Cupid. Cupid, from the Latin cupido, meaning "desire") was the god of desire, affection and erotic love, and is sometimes portrayed as the son of the Venus, the Roman goddess of love and either the god of war, Mars or Mercury, the messenger of the Gods. It seems she was friendly with both of them.

AUNTIE PASTA: Sunny Side Up

2012-02-09T06:53:00.003+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Here it is almost the middle of February, a time when the mimosa should be thinking about budding and the view from my window should not be white and snowy, but neither of those things are happening. Maybe it was because I was thinking about bright yellow mimosa and warm sunny days that I got a hankering for gnocchi. How I got from mimosa to gnocchi is a mystery even to me, but I’ve learned that cooking logic is not like regular logic and I don’t worry about it anymore.

Saffron Crocus

Unfortunately I used all of my potatoes yesterday when I made braised turkey with potatoes, onions and carrots for lunch, so I had to dig around for a potato-less gnocchi recipe. What I found was an easy recipe for gnocchi with saffron, and there it was, the connecting yellow thread between saffron and golden mimosa.

Saffron is derived from the tiny thread like strands of the stigma of the crocus flower. Each stigma is very small and it takes tens of thousands of them to make up an ounce of saffron. Because saffron is one of the most expensive natural products we use in food, selling for more than $300 an ounce, it is usually sold by the fraction of an ounce.

Saffron production is labor intensive

This spice has been around since the days of Cleopatra, but the Egyptians didn’t eat it they used it in religious purification ceremonies. The Greeks thought it reduced the effects of a hangover and cured insomnia, while the Arabs, who introduced saffron cultivation in Spain in the 10^th century, realized it was best utilized in cooking. Still today, no self-respecting Spanish chef would put forth a paella that wasn’t perfumed with saffron.

In the 16^th century Venice grew rich importing and selling the spice. At that time saffron was worth its weight in gold, which led unscrupulous merchants to cut it with other spices in order to increase their profit margins. If the merchants were British, living under the rule of King Henry VIII who was mad about saffron, they could very well have been condemned to death for doing so.

GNOCCHI WITH SAFFRON

Ingredients

Flour, 250 grams

Milk, 200 ml

Nutmeg, pinch

Breadcrumbs, 140 grams

Parmigiano Reggiano, 80 grams

Boiled ham (Parma if possible) 100 grams – finely chopped

Salt, Q.B. (quanto basta – to taste)

Eggs, 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks

For the Sauce

Butter, 60 grams

Onion, 1 small

Heavy cream

1 package of saffron powder

Pepper, (white if available) pinch

To Finish

Parmigiano Reggiano, 30 grams

Chopped parsley

On a pastry board or in a bowl, sift the flour, mix in the breadcrumbs and add in the eggs and egg yolks (1). Then add the finely chopped ham, the grated cheese, milk, nutmeg, a pinch of salt (2) and knead the dough until smooth and homogeneous (3).

Form a dough ball, cover with plastic wrap (4) and let stand in a cool place for at least one hour. Then cut ¼ of the dough ball and roll it into a strip the width of a finger, then cut into 2” pieces (5). Roll the pieces on a fork or a special gnocchi board, to form the characteristic ridges which help to hold the sauce (6).

Once you have cut and rolled all of the gnocchi, put them on a floured surfaced (7). In a large frying pan, melt the butter and then add the finely chopped onion (8) and let it cook for about 15 minutes over very low heat until it becomes transparent, but not colored. At this point add the fresh heavy cream (9).

Add the package of saffron powder (10), salt and a pinch of white pepper, stir and let thicken slightly over low heat (11). Bring a large pot of water to boil and when boiling put the gnocchi in to cook (12) and when they rise to the surface.

Remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon (13) and add to cream sauce (14). Let cook over very low heat for a few seconds, then turn off the heat. Add grated cheese and chopped parsley (15), stir and serve hot.

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LIFE: Snow Challenged

2012-02-05T08:40:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Before I can start this story you have to know that the street I live on is only as big as this apartment building, and it is blocked off at one end to prevent through traffic. I think it must have been part of the old street system prior to the expansion of Saronno during the post-war building boom that took place in all of Italy, which has nothing to do with this story, and all I’m trying to say is it is a very short street.

Sempione Park, Milano

Anyway, it snowed in Saronno the other day. In the past when it has snowed, this little street never saw a snowplow. Ever. The collective thinking was that the snow never lasts very long, so what’s the point of paying someone to do what mother nature is going to do for free in a day or two anyway. You just have to have a little patience.

Downtown Genova

But yesterday, lo and behold, a Tonka Toy size truck with a blade attached to the front of it, began going up and down our street. It would pull in as far as the cone shaped concrete barriers, and then back out and then start all over again. I could hear the truck going back and forth, actually for quite a while, and I remember thinking, “great, it’s about time they plowed here.”

For such a short street, it seemed to be taking a very long time to plough. When I looked out I could see that while the driver was making all the right moves, the blade wasn’t down far enough to move anything, let alone the 3” of snow and mush. So all of his comings and goings were for naught.

The Vatican

I thought about yelling out, “hey buddy, try putting the blade down,” but I don’t know the Italian equivalent for “buddy”, nor are people accustomed to being yelled at by old ladies standing on their balconies dressed in what look like pajamas in the middle of a snowy February afternoon.

There is something about snow and Italy that just doesn’t work. Oh, it’s fine up in the ski areas of Trentino and over in Val d’Aosta, where they make their living running ski resorts. But the Milanese who watch the snow bulletins as closely as they watch the stock market, and head for those mountains every weekend to play in the snow, don’t seem to know what to do with it down here.

Perugia - Sign says: Street Closed Because of Snow

I still laugh thinking about the ‘snow removal’ crew that was sent out to clear the snow off the sidewalks in front of my apartment when I lived in Milan. The crew was made up of five North Africans led by an Italian crew leader. They were decked out in bright orange jumpsuits and armed with stick brooms, the kind witches usually ride, and they were fluffing the snow here and there and everywhere except off of the sidewalks. It was obvious they had no experience in snow removal, but then again I don’t know how much snow they get in sunny Morocco. Probably none.

But I can’t say it’s only the Milanese who are “snow challenged”. It snowed in Genova my first winter in Italy. A freak storm they said, and I sincerely hoped so. I had moved there to get away from the wintery weather of Philadelphia and I wasn’t prepared for snow on the Riviera. Apparently neither were the Genovese.

Call out the Marines - Street Cleaning in Rome

I was living in a small apartment about a ½ hour ride out of the center, way up in the hills behind the city. After seven months of unemployment, I had just landed my first (illegal) job, teaching English in downtown Genova. When my class ended at 9PM, I got myself over to the bus stop as quickly as possible, anxious to get home, get warm and eat dinner. As the bus slowly made its way up the snow covered hill, I could hear the tire chains gripping the heavy snow – they don’t plow the streets in Genova either.

The bus was just barely crawling along with the windshield wipers running a dizzying speed. Unfortunately they were just about useless against the swirling snow. At a certain point, I figure about half way up the winding mountain road the bus driver pulled over and announced that he wasn’t going to go any further. I looked out the window at the blizzard and turned to him. “Why didn’t you tell us down in Genova you weren’t going to go all the way up to Quezzi?” I yelled. “I would have gotten a hotel room in town. Now what?”

Fountain at Villa Olmo, Lake Como

The driver just shrugged and waited as one by one we all got off the bus, he closed the doors and disappeared. What I think is he drove himself home and left us to fend for ourselves. At any rate, passengers were zipping off in different directions and I was left there standing with two other ladies. “Okay,” I said, “why don’t we hitchhike?” Every now and again a car would go by, and what cruel soul could pass up three ladies stranded in a blizzard? I wasn’t too interested in getting into a car with some stranger by myself, especially since I didn’t know where I was, but there is safety in numbers, no?

Lake Como

The women looked at me as if I was crazy. Hitchhike? “You’ve got to be kidding,” they said. “Do you know what our husbands would do to us if they saw us getting out a car driven by a stranger?”

“But we are in the middle of a blizzard and there are three of us, surely they wouldn’t want you to die along the side of the road like a dog, would they? Isn’t it better to take a ride with a stranger than walk up this mountain?”

Tevere, Rome

Evidently not. They turned their backs on me and headed into the brush. It was cold, it was dark and it was snowing like hell, and since I had no idea where they were going I decided to play it safe and stay on the road. All I knew was I had to head up the mountain and hopefully at some point I would arrive in the crossroads of Santa Maria Quezzi, with its three apartment buildings, one bar, one deli and one fruttivendolo.

Arrive I did. Frozen to the bone, feet wet, head wet, hands like ice cubes, I could barely put the key in the lock. All I remember thinking was those women were crazy, and their husbands were even crazier. It wasn’t long after that, that I moved to a street named after the many palm trees that line it, a street of orange trees and sweet smelling jasmine bushes, a street that lead right to the beautiful, blue Mediterranean sea.

Think Summer, Think Liguria

And as I look out my window today, at the snow covered garden of the Padre Monti school, which I’m sure you all remember from the Via Campi Chicken War story, I’m thinking about that blue sea, and those palm trees and those sweet smelling jasmine bushes and wondering how fast can I pack up and get myself back down to where I belong.

P.S. Witaj Polska, Witam na moim blogu.

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AUNTIE PASTA: Greetings Y'all From Sud Tyrol

2012-02-01T05:45:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - If there was ever a recipe for a cultural, culinary stew, you’d find it in Italy’s northern Trentino-Alto Adige region. It’s a spoonful of German, a half a cup of Austrian, a teaspoon of Venetian, and a large pinch of Italian all mixed together. Road signs are in German, a slice of the population speaks Ladin, described as a Rhaeto-Romanic dialect of the Engadine in Switzerland, whatever that means, and there are special educational scholarships for those who speak Italian. Where is this place? It is up in Italy’s most northern corner, situated in the Italian Alps between Verona and Innsbruck.

The Breathtaking Italian Alps

The local cuisine is unlike any other in Italy, rich in rabbit, pheasant, deer, chamois and other four legged furry animals, and fresh water trout. What you won’t find is regular pasta. Instead you may be offered ravioli, often made from rye flour and filled with potatoes or other vegetables and served with butter and smoked ricotta cheese.

But the most popular pasta type dish is knodel, dumplings made from stale bread, white or brown, mixed with other ingredients like onions, parsley, bacon or in South Tyrol, liver. The dumplings are served in broth or with melted butter.

Knodel

Another popular dish is barley soup, called gerstensuppe, which is flavored with bacon or ham bones, and in the Province of Bolzano, they take a frittata, cut it into strips and serve it in broth, and call it frittatensuppe.

One of the more Italianized recipes calls for pigeon wrapped in sweet pastry. This particular recipe has been around since the sixteenth century when it was originally created to restore the exhausted Cardinals who had gathered to try and change the wild and wooly ways of the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in the town of Trento.

You thought I was kidding about the Smacafam truck, right?

This is mountain country, and when those cold winter winds start to blow though the mountain passes, nothing tastes better than a steaming dish of pasta and beans or polenta. One particularly popular polenta dish is ‘smacafam’ or ‘ammazzafame’ which means hunger killer. It’s a simple dish of polenta topped with bacon and sausage and sold from ‘smacafam’ food trucks as well as in restaurants. There is also a sweet version made with raisins, walnuts, pine nuts and milk.

Another popular, distinctively Central European dish found throughout the Sud Tyrol is goulash, a meat stew cooked with fried onions and seasoned with cumin and paprika. It is can be served with potatoes, which are added during the cooking process, or boiled and served separately, but dumplings or spatzle are more common.

Barley Soup aka Gerstensuppe

Game is found on most restaurant menus, usually marinated in red wine and cooked with onions, raisins cinnamon, pine nuts, grated lemon peel and sugar – very Austro-Hungarian. Another version marinates venison in red wine and spices, but then vinegar and sour cream are added.

Just as it is throughout Italy, pork is popular, especially probusti, smoked sausages made from a mixture of pork and beef. These tasty sausages are first boiled and then served with sauerkraut and mustard. In this mountainous province, sauerkraut is the classic side dish for sausage. To prepare it, cabbage is cut into thin strips and arranged in layers in wooden containers , sprinkled with salt, cumin and pepper and left to ferment for about two months. Then it is ready to be cooked along with a piece of bacon or a ham hock and white wine. Cabbage prepared this way is also used as a filling for ravioli.

A Sud Tyrolian Sausage and Spek Producer

If you've worked up an appetite reading this post, here's an easy recipe for knodel that will put you in a Sud Tyrolian mood.

Knodel
2 tablespoons butter, plus more for sautéing
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped marjoram
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound baguettes or big, soft pretzels, cut or broken into ¼- to ½-inch cubes
2 cups whole milk
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)
Pinch of pepper

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onions until they are translucent.
2. Stir in the parsley and marjoram; cook briefly and then set aside to let the mixture cool.
3. Place the cubed bread in a large bowl and season, if desired, with salt. (If you use fat, soft, salted pretzels (not crispy pretzels), you may not need to season at all.) In a small saucepan, heat the milk almost to boiling and pour it over the cubed pretzels/bread. Set aside to cool and go relax for 15 minutes.
4. When the bread-milk mixture is cool, mix in the onion-parsley mixture and the eggs. Add the bread crumbs, garlic and pepper and mix well. If the mixture seems too soft to hold a shape, add more bread crumbs until it is thick enough. The mixture should be firm enough to form into dumplings that hold their shape.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer. Dip your hands into cold water and make a test dumpling, about the size of a large golf ball. Lower it gently into the simmering water and cook. If it doesn't hold up, add more breadcrumbs to the mixture. Once you've found the right consistency, shape the mixture into 20 dumplings.
6. Gently lower the dumplings into the simmering salted water and cook until they are puffed slightly and cooked through, about 7 minutes. When they are boiled you can brown them in a sauté pan with a tablespoon of butter and some extra chopped parsley or serve them in broth.

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LIFE: I Feel the Earth Shake Under My Feet

2012-01-29T06:06:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - I didn’t need the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology to tell me we had another earthquake on Friday. The second this week. The Friday quake, which registered 5.6 on the Richter Scale, wasn’t as strong as the one on Wednesday, but scary nonetheless. The building I live in is well built, secure and strong, it’s like a fortress, so to feel the bearing walls shimmer and shake like an exotic dancer was a bit unnerving.

Church in Santa Lucia, Tuscany

After the initial shake there were two more, one that registered 2.7 and another that registered 3.2. Fortunately there was little damage. The epicenter of the quake was in Parma, and so the first thing the authorities did was to stop all trains between Milan and Bologna. Then the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia checked all the train tracks, bridges and viaducts for any sign of damage. Everything checked out, but just to be on the safe side they reduced the speed of the trains traveling throughout the Province of Emilia Romagna. Dams and the local phone lines were also checked.

Damage was minimal throughout the quake zone, and no lives were lost. In Santa Lucia, a borgo of Massa Carrara in Tuscany, a part of a church roof fell in causing damage to the interior. And in the town of Colorno, near Parma, statues fell from the facades of several buildings, and balustrades on exterior balconies that had been damaged by the quake on Wednesday, were damaged even further. Engineers and Civil Protection units from Colorno checked to see if there were deep cracks in any of the town’s buildings that would render them unsafe, but everything checked out ok.

Church of Santa Lucia

While the quake was most strongly felt in Tuscany, primarily in Massa, Pisa, Lucca, Livorno, Pistoia, Prato, Firenze and Arezzo. Cinzia, a friend of mine from Savona, on the Italian Riviera, wrote on my facebook page that she had felt the shake where she lives too, and she lives in a real fortress on top of a very high hill. While there were no reports of evacuations in Savona or Genoa, schools and public buildings throughout Emilia Romagna were evacuated as were schools, the Stock Exchange, the Town Hall and La Scala Opera House in Milan.

In Saturday’s Corriere della Sera, Salvatore Barba, seismologist at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology commented on the magnitude of Friday’s 5.4 quake saying, "at 60 kilometers, (37 miles), Friday’s quake was particularly deep, much deeper than the 25-30 km (15-18 miles) which is the average depth of quakes in this area, and this certainly cushioned the effect. In Aquila, the devastating earthquake of 2009, was only 7 km (4.5 miles) deep and resulted in wide scale destruction.”

Milan's Stock Exchange

Personally, the news that the interior of the earth is shifting around miles and miles under my feet isn’t quite as comforting as Mr. Barba seemed to think it was. But he’s the expert.

While the earthquake scared the beejeebers out of a lot of people, including yours truly, there was only minor damage and no one was hurt. The Costa Concordia barely quivered but the quivering was minimal and given the tons of fuel on board, that is a very good thing.

Everybody Out - Near La Scala Opera House

Unfortunately the problem is that authorities claim we are in the grip of a seismic swarm in the Apennine Mountain of Emilia Romagna, and that more earthquakes, much stronger than those already felt, will most likely occur. This may be the time to make one small pile of the things I don’t really want to live without, not that I think we are in any danger. It’s just a “just in case”.

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AUNTIE PASTA: There's Something About ...

2012-01-26T07:16:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - There is something about the sunny flavors in caponata that conjure up thought of sun and sea and Sicily. While the dish gets its name from one of its ingredients, capers, its main ingredient is eggplant (aubergines). Maybe the dish should be called melanzatta instead.

Sicilian Caponata

Caponata is another example of a Sicilian dish whose origins lie in the Middle East. Like much of Sicily’s cuisine, caponata was introduced to the island by the Arabs. They ruled Sicily from the year 827 to 1061 and through their highly effective irrigation techniques, they brought water to the cities and the fields, a crucial element to farming in this arid land. In Palermo you can still see the subterranean waterways known as ‘qanats’.

Street Market, Palermo, Sicily

They ruled Sicily for a little more than two centuries but their influence was nothing short of monumental. Under their administration, the island's population doubled as dozens of towns were founded and cities repopulated. By introducing irrigation techniques to the island, they were able to totally change what the Sicilians grew and ate. It was the Arabs who brought sugar cane, cotton, eggplant, dates, oranges and other citrus fruits to Sicily. And while you see their influence in many Sicilian recipes, more significantly, they changed Sicilian society itself. To this day, many social attitudes found in Sicily are direct decedents of the Arabs who ruled a thousand years ago.

Eggplant on the Vine

There are a number of caponata recipes including those that call for artichokes or sweet peppers. But regardless of which recipe you use, the primary ingredient is eggplant, followed by celery, green olives, tomatoes (a modern addition), onions, capers, virgin olive oil, vinegar and sugar. The ingredients must be prepared carefully. The celery, for example, should not be overcooked and must remain firm. The cured or salted capers must be thoroughly rinsed. The eggplant may be slightly steamed and then sautéd, though some purists prefer frying.

Here's the basic recipe.

Ingredients: 8 medium size aubergines (eggplants), 200 grams of peeled mature tomatoes, 2 medium size sweet white or yellow onions, the heart of a large celery, 200 grams of pitted large cured firm green olives, 200 grams of capers (if salted soak in water and drain to remove salt), extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, salt.

Preparation: Cut the unpeeled eggplants into chunks of about one inch (or two centimeter squares). This is not a “written in stone” recipe, so feel free to make adjustments. Cook the cubed eggplant by steaming it in a large, covered pot until completely cooked, but still firm. (Don't boil them.) Drain well and set aside.

Chop the tomatoes into small pieces or a thick pulp, without discarding the juice or seeds. Chop the onions into medium pieces or thin slices. Cut the celery stalks into pieces about one inch long. Discard leaves. (It’s really best to cut eggplant, tomato and celery in more or less the same sizes, it makes it easier to eat). Cut the olives in half.

In a large pan, saute the onions and celery pieces in olive oil. The celery should be lightly cooked, firm but not raw. Add the tomato pulp and bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes until the sauce changes color to a lighter red. At this point, simmer over low heat for another 4-6 minutes. Add the eggplants, olives and capers to the mixture. Also add a few tablespoons each of olive oil, vinegar and sugar. Stir gently and allow to simmer covered (steaming) for about five minutes over medium-low heat until mixture thickens but doesn't burn.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Salt to taste. Then chill for at least four hours before serving.

Caponata is also good as a vegetarian meal served over rice or couscous.

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LIFE: Costa Scruise Up

2012-01-22T10:56:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Maybe if it hadn’t been Friday the 13th, things would have turned out differently for Captain Schettino and his ship, the Costa Concordia, but it wasn’t to be. Thanks to recently recovered satellite navigation data we now what he did just before the cruise ship hit the rocks and began to capsize.

Oh Captain, My Captain

The initial impact with the underwater rocks happened because he decided to deviate from the prescribed route – an error he has admitted. The new information shows that he knew the ship was in trouble and in an attempt to make evacuation easier, he performed a sort of nautical hand-brake turn to get closer to the island of Giglio. That maneuver is thought to have subsequently saved lives.

While the Captain has not publically come out and said why he wanted to sail close to the Island, a former Costa Cruise officer, who wants to remain anonymous, told me that a sail by salute to former and existing Costa crew members and officers is a well-known tradition at Costa. A Facebook posting by someone living on the island confirms they were waiting for the sail by salute.

The Costa Concordia at home in Savona (Photo by Victoria R.)

After the impact the ship headed away from Giglio towards the mainland. With the ship in total darkness, passengers were told that there was an electrical failure which the engineers were trying to fix. Some have accused the captain of misleading them, but, with 4,200 people on board, not panicking them until the extent of the damage was known seems understandable.

What is not clear is the Captain’s apparent failure to notify port or coastguard authorities of what had occurred although he claims that he did. He says he called the Admiral three times to report the incident and ask for help, but his calls were never returned. This has been denied by Costa Cruise Lines.

Dining Room Costa Concordia

The judge's view is that the captain, due to incompetence and negligence, underestimated the extent of the damage and failed to notify the coastal authorities of the accident in timely fashion. The emergency services center first learned of the seriousness of the situation through a passengers' cell phone calls to land. He said the captain could not help being immediately aware of the seriousness of the damage due to the ever increasingly evident tilt of the ship and because he was advised by the crew of the great amount of water being taken in.

Prosecutor’s transcripts published here in Italy show that Captain Schettino said that

immediately after hitting the rock he sent two of his officers to the engine room to check on the state of the vessel. As soon as he realized the damage caused to the ship, he called the director of operations for Costa Cruises, Roberto Ferrarini.

The Spa on the Concordia

"I told him: I've got myself into a mess, there was a contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed by Giglio and there was an impact," Mr Schettino said. "I can't remember how many times I called him in the following hour and 15 minutes. In any case, I am certain that I informed Ferrarini about everything in real time," he said.

However, Costa's chief executive, Pierluigi Foschi, told Italian state television that the company spoke to the captain at 10.05pm, some 20 minutes after the ship ran aground, but could not offer the ship suitable assistance because the captain's description "did not correspond to the truth".

Concordia's Room with a View

What emerges from the satellite "best guess" tracking of the ship's course is that 11 minutes after impact, at 9.53pm, the ship slowed to about three knots. A few minutes later, as the ship took on water, the captain tried to turn it back towards the island's port, but the ship started to tilt and sink. According to the satellite tracking record, the ship was listing by as much as 20 degrees to starboard, the opposite side of where the 150ft gash had been opened up. At 10.10pm the Concordia came to rest 50 meters from shore, listing badly, and the evacuation order was given.

The evacuation was described as chaotic but with several thousand people trying to get off the ship in the dark, it could hardly be anything else. Coming into question is Captain Schettino's role during this unfortunate event. He says he helped passengers into lifeboats, gave one his own life jacket and, at some point, he tripped and fell into a lifeboat, which seems highly unlikely. An initial reports show he left the ship around 11:30pm, when there were still about 300 people onboard. That resulted in the now notorious conversation with Captain Gregorio de Falco, the senior coastguard officer, in which he was ordered to go back on board.

The Dirty Details

Mr Schettino, a 52 year old native of Castellammare di Stabia, a town near Naples, is now under house arrest and faces possible charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. He has been suspended and notified that the company will no longer pay his legal fees. In fact, Costa has signed on as a civil party in the prosecution. The former Costa Cruise officer I spoke with said in his opinion Costa is using Schettino as a scapegoat, not that Schettino didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but the blame is not entirely his.

In the meantime the search and rescue efforts for survivors and bodies continues and the operation to remove the 500,000 gallons of fuel in the Concordia’s tanks is on hold, an environmental disaster waiting to happen. It may take up to four weeks to pump the remaining fuel from the ship. As the ship is no longer functioning, the heavy fuel oil can get thick and viscous, making it harder to pump. To remedy this, a steam-heated element is put through the pipeline to warm the oil, making pumping much faster. The oil will be pumped to a barge and then to a larger offloading vessel.

Who's Sorry Now?

Sucking out the oil creates a vacuum, so another hole is made lower down the tank to allow seawater to be pumped in, replacing the oil. This also ensures extracting the oil does not cause the ship to shift position on the seabed.

As for the Italians, they don’t know what to think.

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AUNTIE PASTA: Tiramisu

2012-01-19T12:22:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy –A few years back, when I worked for Women’s Wear Daily, I never worked alone. None of the journalists did, nor do they now. We were always assigned photographers and one of my favorite photographers was Davide Maestri. It was Davide, who had started working for WWD when the office in Milan first opened, who knew all the ins and outs of covering the fashion world. Many of his photographs made the front pages of WWD, DNR, the mens fashion and fabric newspaper and all the other fashion industry papers Fairchild published at the time.

Classic Tiramisu

We covered a lot of assignments together not only in Milan but in Florence, Bologna and lots of other places in between. But Davide had one little quirk. He never wanted to eat in a restaurant that didn’t have Tiramisu’ on the menu. He loved Tiramisu. He was mad for Tiramisu, so much in fact that over the years he had become a Tiramisu expert. He could tell you which restaurant in which city made the best Tiramisu, and why it was the best, and what was wrong with the others who didn’t make the cut.

I often teased him about his passion and said that he and I should write a book on Tiramisu, but he didn’t care about writing a book, he just liked to eat it. Even though the history of Tiramisu, like so many other Italian dishes, is a little muddled, the most colorful story of its inception dates back to the late 1800’s in a bordello in the northern town of Treviso, a short distance from Venice.

Ladyfingers

It seems that there was a lot of competition for clients between the bordellos of Treviso and as an incentive to attract clients, one bordello began offering a cup of espresso coffee to its patrons. The other bordellos in town soon followed suit. As competition heated up, some bordellos began offering savoiardi cookies (lady fingers) to dunk in the cups of espresso coffee, or a glass of wine or another alcoholic beverage.

One enterprising Madam, who probably didn’t have a sufficient supply of savoiardi cookies on hand, decided to combine the cookies with the coffee and bind it together with Mascarpone cheese and eggs. She named her dish Tiramisu, which means “pick me up” which some of her clients may have needed after visiting the “ladies” of the house. It may also have been an incentive to get the men up and out, instead of wanting to hang around and take a nap.

Trattoria Alle Beccherie, Treviso, Italy

This story is highly contested by the Trattoria Alle Beccherie in Treviso, which claims the dish was first prepared by their pastry chef, Loly Linguanotto, less than two decades ago. The truth maybe somewhere in the middle as the Trattoria is in a very old building in the historic center of Treviso and the bordello in question may very well have been in the same building.

This recipe is from Giuliano Bugialli’s Classic Techniques of Italian cooking. Bugialli makes his own mascapone cheese and lady fingers, but trust me, if you buy good brands of mascapone and lady fingers, it will work just fine.

Tiramisu

Serves 12

8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate

24 ladyfingers*

2 cups of strong espresso coffee cooled

6 eggs separated

6 heaping tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 lb of marcapone

*if using store bought ladyfingers toast them in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Chop the chocolate coarsely.

Put the ladyfingers on a plate and lightly soak them with the cold coffee

Arrange half of the ladyfingers in a rectangular or oval dish, at least 2” high

While the ladyfingers are soaking, use a wooden spoon to mix the egg yolks together with the sugar in a ceramic bowl. Mix until the sugar is completely incorporated and the egg yolks have turned a lighter color. Then add the mascarpone and stir gently. In a copper bowl beat the egg whites with a wire whisk until they are stiff. Gently fold the whiles into the mascarpone-egg yolk mixture.

Use half of this mixture to make a layer on top of the ladyfingers in the serving dish. Sprinkle with half of the chopped chocolate. Repeat the procedure to make another layer of soaked ladyfingers, the mascarpone mixture and the chopped chocolate.

Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Here’s a video recipe for Tiramisu that is even easier than Bugialli's receipe. In it, the chef calls the egg yolks the “red” of the egg, because in Italian the yolk is called the “rosso.” And if the video link doesn't work, here's the web site: http://aaron99.hubpages.com/hub/Tiramisu-The-History-of-legendary-Italian-Cake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW6buklVe9I&feature=player_embedded

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LIFE: Mother and Daughter Together Again (in jail)

2012-01-15T04:13:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - While I was doing some research last week I came across an article on Vanna Marchi, a former local television personality. It seems Vanna is now out of Milan’s San Vittore prison on an early release program and working at a local bar. That’s the same program that Patrizia Gucci turned down as it requires the convicted criminal to have a J.O.B.

Vanna Marchi

In the early 90’s Vanna Marchi ran a profitable business selling magical cures on her popular late night television program. Viewers would call in and tell her their problems and she would offer them a solution. Some wanted to win the lottery, others wanted to know if their husband or wife was cheating on them or if a loved one was going to recover from a serious disease or operation. Others wanted to lose weight and wanted a little of Vanna’s magic to help them.

One of her best-selling products was a “skinny belly” cream that she said had miraculous slimming properties. The cost of the offer was 3 jars for $100, which, in the early 90’s was a lot of money. Another slimming product made from micronized dandelion and algae extract, and I don't remember if you were suppose to drink it or rub it on your body.

Vanni Marchi at Work

Throughout the entire TV transmission Vanna spoke in a very loud and shrill voice that apparently the viewers loved, especially her tag line, “d’accordooooooo?”, which is Italian for OK? She was so popular, the Pomodores, an Italian pop group, recorded a song about her entitled “Want to Marchi,” which was distributed on a single 7 inch 45 RPM vinyl in the late 1980’s. She was also on a TV show called Superclassifica, which has gone down in history as the beginning of trash TV in Italy.

She was such a part of the Italian culture that she was hired to appear in a comedy film about a “snake oil” salesman back in the Middle Ages who claimed to have found a cure for the plague. It seemed la Marchi had made her mark – if you’ll excuse the pun.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

But then in the early 90’s she was arrested, along with her daughter Stefania Nobile, Mario Pacheco Do Nascimento, a self-styled Brazilian magician and Francesco Campana, her former lover and Vanna found herself in the center of a huge legal battle. She was convicted of fraudulent bankruptcy, a very serious charge in Italy, with a secondary charge of fraud and aggravated criminal association to commit fraud through her television program.

Her initial legal problems centered around the fact that after she had declared bankruptcy and shortly thereafter was back on television as an employee of the Axe Company of Milan. The company owners were listed as Stefania Nobile, Vanna daughter, and the magician Mario Pacheco Do Nascimento. In other words, they were all still in business and the business was far from bankrupt.

Vanna and Mago Pacheco

In late 2001, she was arrested again – this time for fraud. She was charged with selling lucky numbers for the lottery and ritual kits guaranteed to make your every wish come true – even if that wish was to see your ex-husband hanging by his maroni in a public piazza. She also sold talismans and amulets against the 'evil eye,' something all Italian dread. In order to understand if your run of bad luck was just bad luck or the result of someone putting the ‘evil eye’ on you, viewers were instructed to dissolve a 2lb box of salt in a half a liter of water. According to Vanna, if the salt didn’t fully dissolve, that was proof positive that someone had put the ‘evil eye’ on you and it was in your best interest to buy one of her "solutions." What the callers didn't know was that sodium chloride (common salt), as all salts, has a limit of solubility in water. If the amount of salt exceeds a certain concentration, it can’t disolve and sinks to the bottom of the container.

What I remember best were the people who called in asking for lottery numbers for specific lotteries, say the one in Naples, or the one in Catania. Everyone wanted a little of Vanna’s magic and they were willing to pay substantial amounts for it. Vanna sold that service as an investment. Little did the callers know that the lottery numbers, that were told were “customized” for each client were all the same number.

Vanna During the Trial

Vanna's career ended when daughter Stefania was recorded talking to clients who had called in and did not want to buy any of Vanna’s magical products. Stefania was heard wishing them “all the evil in the world”, and predicting terrible misfortunes in their lives. Well, you know how superstitious the Italians are. (See http://thisitalianlife.blogspot.com/2011/11/auntie-pasta-giving-thanks.html ) so of course many callers changed their minds and bought the useless products.

On April 3, 2006, Vanna Marchi and her daughter were sentenced to serve two years and six months for conspiracy to commit fraud and an additional 10 years for an assortment of other charges, as were Pacheco Do Nascimento and Francesco Campagna. They were also required to return more than 2 million euros ( $2.5 dollars) plus an additional 40 million euros ($50,000) to their victims.

Is That Humble Pie?

Poor Vanna Marchi. She’s come a long way from a popular television personality to a minimum wage bar maid in a local Milan bar, but I guess she feels that the embarrassment and humiliation of working for a living are better than sitting in jail. Maybe if she had a pet ferret and a couple of plants to keep her company, like Mrs. Gucci, it would have made a difference, but somehow I don’t think so. Nor do I think we’ve seen the last of Vanna Marchi.

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AUNTIE PASTA: Fried Shoes and Other Goodies

2012-01-11T04:53:00.000+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – I was reading an article the other day about street food in Sicily and it mentioned a flat, fried cake called panella, that is made from chickpea flour. I had never heard of it and was surprised to learn that it has been around since the Middle Ages. Apparently it is one of the more popular street foods in Sicily and is sold where ever there is a street market, which is just about everywhere.

Lots of Big Appetites in Palermo

The article went on to say that panella is made with chickpea flour, with just enough water to form a thick paste, some chopped parsley, perhaps a bit of fennel seed, salt and pepper, then deep fried. The cakes should be no more than about a half-centimeter thick, and about eight centimeters (3.5 inches) square, thought smaller sizes are popular too. The cakes should be cooked completely but not to the point of being completely crispy, with the inside being firm but also tender.

Wait a minute. Except for the size, isn't what they are talking about here farinata, that manna from heaven found only in Liguria? What happened to the story about the sailing ship getting caught in a terrible storm and the bags of chickpea flour getting wet and the frugal Genovese scooping up the mess and frying it for the crew’s dinner? Isn’t that how this fried chick pea dish got started? What’s this business about the Arabs and chick peas in Sicily?

Ligurian Farinata

The article went on to say that although chick peas were widely cultivated in the tenth century, they have been a food source for centuries. It also said that cicer arietinum, which I’m assuming is the Latin name for chick peas, was originally cultivated by Neolithic man in the Middle East, India and western Asia, domesticated from another variety of cicer reticulatum still grown in Turkey, and present in the central Mediterranean area during the Bronze Age. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated chickpeas, though probably not to the extent of the Arabs.

That is all well and good but it doesn’t answer my question. How did chickpeas get from the Arabs in Sicily up to the Genovese sailors in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea? Were there Arab sailors on that Genovese ship? Somehow I don’t think so. If that was the case the Genovese wouldn’t have had to wait until the sacks of chick pea flour got soaking wet by water splashing on board during a storm to figure out what to do with it, right? Wouldn’t the Arabs have said to them, look pal, all you’ve got to do is mix this stuff with a little water and fry it up and you’ll have yourself a tasty little treat? I'm sure the Genovese would have jumped on it since they love anything fried. In fact they are fond of saying, "even a shoe fried is good."

Sicilian Panella

While fried foods seem to be a big no no these days, the article also said that panella is so delicious you should eat it anyway, and besides it isn’t all that bad for you since it doesn’t require a lot of frying – although the amount of time it fries really doesn’t make much difference, it’s the frying part that’s worrisome. And as an added incentive it said that chickpeas are a good source of zinc, iron and other minerals and folate, whatever folate is.

Then, the article busted another one of my food myth bubbles and started talking about arancine, those delicious rice balls you find in almost every bar and delicatessen in Rome. The first time I lived in Italy, way before I moved here permanently, I lived on arancine. I was lucky that they tasted so good because they were all I could afford to buy, apart from my one a day all-inclusive three-course meal at the Delfino Self-Service Cafeteria at the end of Via del Corso. For me aracine were a Roman treat, and for years I marveled at how clever the Romans were to have invented such a simple, but delicious little snack of meat, peas and cheese all stuffed into a rice ball and fried.

A Tasty Arancine

It turns out – at least according to the article – that arancine were also brought here in the tenth century during the Kalbid rule of Sicily. Stuffed with meat and coated with a light, crispy batter, rice balls are similar to foods based on recipes known in the Middle East during the Middle Ages. Their Italian name comes from the word for orange (arancia), which, if you are a very creative Italian, you can imagine that they sort of resemble oranges in color and texture even though those dots never really ever connected for me. At any rate, it turns out there are two types of arancine. Those made in western Sicily are round, like the ones in Rome, while those made in eastern Sicily (particularly around Catania) are often conical. Why? Don’t ask.

I didn’t even know they grew rice in Sicily. I thought Lombardy was the rice belt, but I am wrong once again. In fact the article states that there is no connection between the rice grown in Piedmont and Lombardy and that in Sicily. Rice was introduced to the island during the Arab period – the famous 10th century they keep talking about. Of course, rice cultivation requires water so the Arabs had to build an innovative and efficient irrigation systems in Sicily, which looking at Sicily today which is very hot and dry, it’s hard to imagine. It’s true that the island was greener then and the climate was cooler, and that there were more streams that flowed all year round. It was a very different Sicily with navigable rivers and natural lakes. In such an environment the Arabs revolutionized agriculture and introduced new crops such as cotton and sugar cane.

Time to Hit the Street Markets of Palermo

And then, they struck the final blow with the last line which stated: rice balls are the golden jewel in the crown of Sicilian cuisine. I think the only solution to my dilemma is to get back down to Sicily and stay there for a few weeks and see what else is going on down there that I don’t know about. I need to get to the bottom of this.

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LIFE: La Befana

2012-01-08T07:32:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - The Feast of the Epiphany, which we celebrated on January 6th, is a national holiday in Italy. Technically it is an ancient religious festival celebrating the magi’s visit to the Christ Child. It is sometimes called “Three Kings Day” or “Twelfth Day” because it is celebrated twelve days after Christmas.

A Roman Befana

Part of the celebration in Italy is the arrival of La Befana, the good witch. She comes down the chimney in the middle of the night and fills the stockings that the kids have hung on the fireplace. There are toys and sweets for those who have been good, and a lump of coal for those who have not. Sound familiar?

I remember my father talking about how excited he used to be about the arrival of the La Befana, and the joy of finding a couple of oranges in his stocking in the morning. Granted that was a long time ago in a small village in the hills outside of Rome where oranges were an absolute luxury at the time, but if you could see the faces of the kids here in Saronno this past week, I think you would agree that that sense of excitement still exists. There is something magical about someone flying in on a broomstick (or sled) and leaving gifts.

A Stocking full of Candy

According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the manger with gifts for the Baby Jesus, they stopped at the hovel of an old woman to ask directions. Seeing her alone, they invited her to come along with them but she replied that she was too busy. Then a shepherd, who was also on his way to visit the Baby Jesus, asked her to join him too, but again she refused.

Later that night, when a great light appeared in the sky, the old woman changed her mind and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd and bring the Baby Jesus gifts that had belonged to her now dead child. She gathered the gifts and some food and like the Magi followed the star toward Bethlehem. Unfortunately she was not able to find the Magi, the shepherds or the new-born Jesus. Disheartened by this lost opportunity she stopped every child she saw along the way and gave each one a treat, hoping that one of them would be the Christ child.

A Whole Parade of Befane

To this day La Befana continues her search for the Christ Child, using her broom, to fly from house to house. There’s even a little song about La Befana, that parents sing to their kids It goes something like this:

La Befana vien di notte

Con le scarpe tutte rotte

Col vestito alla romana

Viva, Viva La Befana!

The Befana comes at night,

with her broken shoes

and raggedy clothes,

long live the Befana!

It's a lousy translation but you get the idea. I was thinking about inserting a video with the music for this ditty but I couldn’t get past the singing “chipmunk” voices, so I’ll leave that up to you. Then I found two videos showing the arrival of La Befana in Rapallo, a town on the Italian Riviera. In the first video she arrives by boat, this is the Riviera after all, and in the second video she’s in one of the piazzas giving away gifts. There is one scene in the second video of a little boy who does not want the small gift she is holding out to him, and points to the one he does want, a big box of something.

http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/2012/01/06/AOmUT7cB-sidecar_befana_vien.shtml

It made me think of my father and how grateful he was to find a couple of oranges in his stocking. I guess that’s what prosperity creates, a sense of entitlement.

Popular tradition dictates that if you see La Befana, or worse yet, if she see you, she will give you a whack with her broomstick. This sounds like a page right out of my parenting playbook as a ploy to keep the kids in bed on the eve of the Epiphany, instead of up hiding behind the furniture trying to get a glimpse of the witch.

One of the biggest celebrations for La Befana is in the town of Urbania, in Le Marche region, where there is a 4-day festival during the weekend of the Epiphany. Just like Santa Claus has his house up at the North Pole, La Befana has her house in Urbania, and each year between 30,000-50,000 people come to visit her there.

Befana Dolls in Piazza Navona, Rome

In Rome there is the "feast of the Befana" in Piazza Navona and the piazza is ringed with stalls selling candy, including lumps of black, sugar charcoal and toys, and pre-stuffed stockings for the little ones. You can also take part in an ancient Roman tradition of waiting for La Befana to appear in the window of one of the buildings in the piazza, or “fly in” at the stroke of midnight on January 6th with a sack of goodies for the children.

Rome also celebrates with a procession in medieval costumes. They carry symbolic gifts for the Pope and parade up the wide avenue that leads to the Vatican. Then the Pope says a morning mass in St Peter's Basilica to commemorate the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for Jesus.

La Befana Flying into Town

The origins of La Befana dates back farther than the Roman's pagan festival of Saturnalia, which was a one or two week festival starting just before the winter solstice. At the end of Saturnalia, Romans would go to the Temple of Juno on the Capitoline Hill to have their fortunes told by an wise, old crone.

Many pagan traditions were incorporated into Christmas celebrations when Christianity became main stream and La Befana was a good substitute for the old woman who read the augers. The Italian word auguri originated from this practice as it was common to wish someone good augers, or as they say now, tanti aguri (best wishes), instead of Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. And that is what I wish for you – Tanti, tanti auguri per 2012.

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AUNTIE PASTA: Use Your Zucca

2012-01-04T05:16:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – For quite a long time I’ve have the idea that the food of Lombardy isn’t as interesting as the food found in other parts of Italy, Sicily for example, or Puglia or Tuscany or even Liguria.

Tortelli di Zucca

But the longer I am here, the more I realize that there are certain Lombard specialties that I’ve grown very fond of, namely tortelli di zucca and mostarda.

Tortelli di zucca, or pumpkin ravioli, are a specialty of Mantua, a small Lombard city near Verona. They grow the best pumpkins in the world in that area, the small, lumpy dark green ones, and they mix the pureed pumpkin with crushed amaretti cookies, a Saronnese specialty I might add, grated grana padano, the Lombard version of parmegiano cheese and a few other things and make tortelli with it.

Pumpkins from Mantua

Zucca tortelli are a little sweet and they are usually served with spicy sweet and sour fruit mostarda, much like Thanksgiving turkey is served with cranberry sauce. Tortelli di zucca is one of the dishes created after Colombus discovered America and pumpkins began to appear in the market places of Italy.

That is not to say that pumpkins were greeted with open arms and their use here is still fairly limited. Back in the day cooking guru Pellegrino Artusi did not include them in his cookbook “The Science of Cooking and Eating Well” as he didn’t consider pumpkins a suitable vegetable for the emerging middle class.

Sweet, hot and spicy Mostarda

One of the more colorful sayings here in Lombardy is “use your zucca”, or use your head, or you’ll hear kids calling each other zuccahead. In other words, it’s not exactly a compliment. But be that as it may, this is still one of my favorite dishes. As for mostarda, I’ll save that for next week.

Ingredients

The Filling
Amaretti – 100 grams (pulverized)
Grana Padana (or Parmigiano) 100 grams grated
Nutmeg – q.b. (quanto basta/to taste)
Grated lemon peel – just a pinch
Salt and pepper – q.b.
Pumpkin – 600 grams peeled pumpkin
Mostarda (the pears are best for this recipe) 100 grams

The Pasta

Flour – 400 grams
Pinch of salt
4 medium eggs

Peel and clean the pumpkin; rinse it and dry it with a clean towel, and slice it (1). Put the pumpkin slices on a sheet of aluminum foil (2-3) and cook them in the oven for about 1 hour at180° Celsius.

When the pumpkin is tender, take it out of the oven and let it cool. (4). Mash it with a passaverdure or with a mixer (5). Then finely chop the pear mostarda (6).

Add the chopped mostarda to the pumpkin (7) and then add the pulverized amaretti (8), mix it all together with a wooden spoon and then add the grated Grana Padana cheese, the grated lemon peel, the nutmeg and salt (9).

Mix it all together and let it rest for at least 10 hour (10) for the flavors to blend. In the meantime make the pasta for the tortelli (11). Mix the flour, eggs and salt and knead until smooth (12).

Roll out the pasta and divide it into two equal parts. On one part place little balls of the filling mix, leaving at least 5 mm between each one (13) Brush the edges of the strip with water, cover it with the other part of the pasta and close the edges with your hand (14). Cut the tortellini in squares using a pasta cutter, leaving a border of at least 4 cm (15).

Let the tortelli rest on a floured board until you are ready to cook them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and the tortelli, stirring them gently with a wooden spoon. Drain them in a colander and dress them with melted butter and a sprinkle of grated cheese. Serve hot.

If you don’t have the time or energy to prepare tortelli you can cook macaroni or rigatoni and use the pumpkin mix as a sauce, always topping the dish with melted butter and grated parmigiano cheese. The filling can sit for a day in the refrigerator, and it will actually taste better after the flavors have had a chance to develop.

Note: It's important to cook the pumpkin in the oven and not boil it as it will be too watery. The same holds for using canned pumpkin.

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LIFE: It's a New Day, It's a New Year

2012-01-01T05:30:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Happy New Year – I think it’s the 1^st of January and the beginning of a new year, but then again this is Italy and not everything is what it seems to be. Think I'm kidding? Well just ask those who still follow the Julian calendar and they’ll tell you today isn’t January 1st at all, but December 21^st.

Not to get too embroiled in this topic, suffice to say that for centuries the then known world – i.e. the Roman Empire – operated on a calendar, called the Julian calendar after the Holy Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. It was made up of 355 days divided into 12 months, with extra time added every four years. During the leap year, an intercalary month was sometimes inserted between February and March, which meant that 22 or 23 days were added to the year, creating an intercalary year of 377 or 378 days.

But, not quite. For eight years out of 24, there were only three years with 377 days. This made the year longer by 365 ¼ days over the 24 year period. In addition, this adding and subtracting of days was not done on a fixed schedule, instead it was decided by the Pope. The Pope could put a few days in every second or third year if he wanted to, but there was no law that said he had to.

Julian Calendar

The problem was that the Popes were also politicians and could, and often would, change the calendar to suit their needs, sometimes at the last minute. This meant that the average Roman citizen was never really sure what the date was, especially if he was away from home and not getting the latest news bulletins from Rome on what day it was. You can see why the last years of the Julian calendar were known as the years of confusion.

This really became a big problem in 63-46 BC, when there were only five intercalary months when there should have been eight, and none at all during the five Roman years before 46 BC. To appreciate the problem, let me just say that according to the official calendar Caesar crossed the Rubicon on January 10, 49 BC, but the official calendar was so messed up he actually crossed the Rubicon months before that, in mid-autumn.


Pope Gregory XIII

Enter Pope Gregory. The Pope’s chief astronomer Christopher Clavius reasoned that the problem was that the Julian calendar was too long. It gave each year 365 days of 6 hours in length. According to his calculations the actual average year was closer to 365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes long.

So the Pope, being a man of action, decreed that the day after Thursday, 4 October 1582 would not be Friday, 5 October, 1582, but Friday 15 October, 1582. He then declared the Julian calendar dead, long live the Gregorian calendar.

Gregorian Calendar

If I were to tell you that everyone welcomed the new calendar with open arms, I would be fibbing. People were bitterly opposed to losing an entire week, but after a little arm twisting the Catholic countries, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy went along with it. Some of the others, France, a few of the states of the Dutch Republic and some of the Catholic states in Germany and Switzerland continued to resist, but within a year, they also complied.

The Protestant countries were a little more difficult to convince. It took some of them more than a century to come around and some of them didn’t adopt the new calendar until the 1700’s. By this time they were 11 days behind the Catholics. Great Britain and the American Colonies finally gave in in 1752, where Wednesday, 2 September 1752 was immediately followed by Thursday, 14 September, 1752. The last holdout, Sweden, finally got on board on 1 March, 1753.

Old Father Time Tarot Card

Over the next couple of hundred years the reluctance to conform continued, especially in parts of the world dominated by the Christian Orthodox church. It took the Russian Bolsheviks to finally institute the calendar in Russia in 1917, and the Romanians only accepted it when their King Ferdinand decreed it law in 1919. They were most unhappy that 1 November 1919 was suddenly transformed into 14 November 1919 but they were not about to argue with their King. The last Orthodox countries to accept the Gregorian calendar were Turkey and Greece, both in 1923.

And there are still holdouts. Some Orthodox churches still used the Julian calendar for fixed feast days, while using the Gregorian calendar for the rest of the time, and the Berber people of North Africa and on Mount Athos have never given in and continue to use the Julian calendar to this day. Must be fun when they are trying to book airline reservations.

So now that you know all the trials and tribulations your new 2012 calendar has been through, you might want to hang it in an exalted position that it deserves, say over the fireplace, instead of tacking it up out behind the garage door. I’m just kidding, of course. Happy New Year!

AUNTIE PASTA:

2011-12-28T06:15:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - At some point this week, the grocery stores in Saronno will put the stacks of unsold boxes of panettone on sale. It’s the week I’ve been waiting for. I’m going to buy three of them. One I’ll use right away to make this super-simple, absolutely delicious bread pudding. The other two I’ll cut up and freeze so I can make bread pudding later in the year.

Yummy Panettone

Panettone, and it's cousin Polish Easter bread, are the best to use for this recipe. They are rich and eggy and the pudding bakes into an extra-silky custard that contrasts with a buttery golden brown top. If you want to give your pudding a little extra flavor zing, you can add a little scotch or marsala to your beaten eggs before you pour them over the panettone – no more than a teaspoon full for you only want a hint of flavor. If you’d rather not use alcohol, even to soften the raisins, you can use plain hot water. This recipe comes out best if you use a shallow pan.

PANETTONE BREAD PUDDING

(serves 8)

Ingredients

1/2 cup golden (or regular) raisins
1/4 cup brandy (or marsala, or scotch whiskey) heated
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 lb panettone, sliced 1 inch thick
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Serve with lightly whipped heavy cream or soft vanilla ice cream, or just on its own.

· Soak raisins in hot brandy 15 minutes, then drain

· Meanwhile, butter panettone on both sides and lightly toast in batches in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.

· Whisk together remaining ingredients.

· Tear panettone into bite-size pieces and spread evenly in a buttered 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Scatter raisins over top, then pour in the egg mixture. Let stand for 30 minutes.

· Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the middle position.

· Bake until pudding is golden and just set, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Add a little soft ice cream and dig in

Bread pudding can be made 2 days ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature or slightly reheat before serving.

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LIFE: Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T05:09:00.000+01:00

WISH YOU

MERRY CHRISTMAS

WISH YOU

A MERRY CHRISTMAS

WISH YOU

A MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW

YEAR

Click on the link for a little music to go with the words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7iEnkEomSU

AUNTIE PASTA: Milan’s Best Kept Secret

2011-12-21T13:42:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - Seeing as we are just days away from Christmas, I thought I'd give you a present. This is a nice present. A present anyone, especially a travel or food editor, would give his or her eye teeth for. It's an insiders list of the best lunch places in Milan. It's a list the Milanese don't want you to have so don't tell anyone you got it from Auntie Pasta.

Some of the restaurants are in the center, others are slightly off center, but all are worth a visit. But be prepared to find the menus in Italian only and the chances of finding someone on the staff with the ability (or time) to translate, slim to none. Oh, and one more thing, these secret places the Milanese hold near and dear to their hearts are not for sissies, so be prepared to eat.

Dulcis in Fundo

DULCIS in FUNDO

Via Gianfranco Zuretti 55

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.66.71.25.03

Hidden away in a courtyard, this former factory has had a major make-over. From a place that specialized in grime and grunge it has been transformed into a bright and welcoming restaurant. With as little as 10 euros for lunch, you can choose from some rather exotic dishes. Open for dinner only on Thursday nights.

Menu choices: Puff pastry with artichokes, codfish balls, diced swordfish and turnip greens, lasagnetta with speck, zucchini and saffron, pasta with artichokes and bottarga, risotto with port and and gorgonzola, tortelli stuffed with truffles, stuffed artichokes, grouper with grain mustard, foie gras, tuna steak with sesame and couscous, and fillet of veal roasted in a crust.

Prices: More or less € 35, without wine

Open for brunch on Saturday, and for dinner on Thursday night. Closed Sunday and Monday

Emiliana Tortellini

EMILIANA TORTELLINI

Via Ariberto 17

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.58.10.97.07

Eating lunch at Nadia Magnani’s pasta factory is like going to your grandmother's house in the hills of Italy’s most famous pasta making region - Emilia Romgana. It goes without saying that the pasta dishes are exceptional. Yes, there are other things to eat, but it’s the pasta, in every way, shape and form, that steals the show.

Prices: If you try really hard, you can spend about 15 euros, without wine.

Open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and on Thursday and Friday nights for dinner.

Bottiglieria da Pino

BOTTIGLIERIA da PINO

Via Cerva 14

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.76.00.05.32

This old fashioned trattoria is always busy with the hustle and bustle of waiters bringing home style food to discriminating locals. The most popular dishes are risotto, soups, quiche and a Lombard staple, boiled beef.

A fixed price menu includes a first and second course with a side dish, a half bottle of mineral water and a quartino of wine.

The trattoria is only open for lunch but you can reserve the restaurant for a private party of up to 50 people. Closed on Sundays and evenings.

Triennale Caffe' Design

TRIENNALE CAFFE’ DESIGN

Viale Emilio Alemagna 6

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.87.54.41

This restaurant has a most splendid location on the first floor of Milan’s number one design museum,the Triennale. The outside wall is one great window so all tables have a view of Parco Sempione. Chef David Dalma serves up some pretty spectacular dishes, including some created by award winning chef, Carlo Cracco. The food is gourmet, but it won’t bust your budget. For a first and second course you can expect to pay between €20-€25 euros, and Sunday brunch is priced at €28.

Tagiura

TAGIURA

Via Tagiura 5

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02 48.95.06.13

Tagiura is a resturant that you might mistake for a bar. But once past the bar, you enter into a elegant dining room with a menu to match. Stuffed pasta dishes reign here, including tortellini and ravioli and other classic favorites. Look for gnocchi with zucchini flowers with a drizzle of melted butter, Cremonese ravioli stuffed with beef that has been cooked in wine and salamella salame, leek soup, cheese ravioli in meat broth and a spoonful of Lambrusco, roasts, stews and a wide selection of cheeses.

At lunchtime a first and second course are priced between €10 and €15 euros. The price increases slightly for dinner and range from €25 - €35 excluding wine.

Open for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, and closed for lunch on Sunday. Reservations are essential.

Frutteto Viel

FRUTTETO VIEL

Via Amatore Antonio Sciesa 2

Milano (MI)

Tel: 335.25.50.06

Break out your Sherlock Holmes hat and magnifying glass – this restaurant is difficult to find. If you succeed you will be rewarded with an array of dishes, including vegetarian dishes, such as eggs and asparagus, ravioli in a sweet pepper sauce and meatballs with rice. The menu varies according to the season and what is in the marketplace.
Prices range from 7-13 euros.
Open for lunch daily, and dinner on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays

Da Teo

Da Teo

Corso Como 3

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.65.55.029

If you long for the taste of the culinary treasures of Puglia, da Teo is the place to go. Managed by Antoinette and Teo, this tiny restaurant delivers the flavors of the south with traditional favorites like orecchiette with cima di rape, tiny lampascione onions in oil, puree’ of fava and friselle, that southern relative of bruschetta.

If the weather is nice, you can sit outside and enjoy the sites and sounds of Corso Como. A first and second course is about €15.

Closed on Sundays and never open for dinner

Il Bacaro del Sambuco

IL BACARO del SAMBUCO

Via Monte Napoleone 13

Milano (MI)

Tel: 02.76.39.48.32

Il Bacaro del Sambuco is the little sister of Restaurant Sambuco on Via Messina in Milan. And like her big sister, simple, traditional dishes that are light and sophisticated are the order of the day. If the weather is nice you can sit in the restaurant’s sheltered courtyard, or in the elegant dining room.

Open only for lunch. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

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LIFE: All Duked Out

2011-12-18T07:51:00.005+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - There was an article in the newspaper the other day about the restoration of the wooden model of the Duomo that was built when the Cathedral was under construction. At some point it will be displayed at the Duomo museum. The key words here are 'at some point'. Whenever a public project seems to be taking a little longer to finish than the locals think it should, they shake their heads and say, “here we go again, another Fabbrica del Duomo – which translated loosely means “oh no, here we go again, another never ending project, just like the Cathedral of Milan.”

Milan's Piazza Duomo Today

The Duomo of Milan was started in 1387 by the Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, and was ‘officially’ completed in the mid-1960’s when the massive bronze doors were finally installed. No, you didn’t read that wrong – it really did take 579 years to complete the project. And truth be known, work on the enormous structure has never really stopped. With four million people passing through those bronze doors every year there is always something, either inside or out, that needs to be repaired or replaced, especially if it is made of marble.

A Partial Detail of the Exterior

The Duomo is built of marble that comes from the private quarry of the late Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti. He stipulated that the marble from his quarry should be used exclusively for the construction of the Duomo. That was back in the 14th century, and the rule still holds.

After prying the enormous rough blocks of marble from the side of the mountains near Lago Maggiore in Piedmonte, the blocks were moved from the quarry to the lake, and then loaded onto special barges. They floated from the lake to the Ticino River, down the river and into Milan using the vast canal system that existed in the city at that time. The blocks of marble were delivered to a small lake that was near the Duomo building site and then transferred on a type of sled pulled by mules. That lake by the way, was paved over and is now called Via Laghetto, Lake Street.

Close up of Some of the Statue Topped Spires

In the 14^th century, when construction of the Duomo began, Italy was not a country as we think of a country today, but a collection of city states. Each area was ruled independently which meant that goods passing from one dukedom, or Duchy, to another were subject to custom duty. Of course Dukes had special privileges and in order to avoid payment on the large number of marble laden barges that passed from Piedmont to Lombardy daily, the words: “ad usum fabricate operis,” Latin for 'destined for the Duke’s building site, were painted on the sides of the Duke’s barges. Those four little words meant that he paid no import duty to the Duke of Savoy, who controlled Piedmont.

Painting of One of Milan's Many Canals

It wasn’t long before the words “ad usum fabricate operis” were shortened to AUF, and you still hear the old Milanese using the expression “a ufo” to indicate something is free, or more to the point, "non ce' niente a ufo", nothing is free.

For the hundreds of years the Duomo was under construction, the center of Milan resembled a giant ant hill – workers scurrying here and there, climbing scaffolds, chipping stones, mixing mortar and running and fetching stones and slate for the artisans.

The operational and financial areas of the project was managed by the Vereranda Fabbrica del Duomo, specifically created by Duke Gian Galeazo to oversee the construction of the Duomo and to manage the project finances. Today, Angel Caioia, the current president of the Vereranda Fabbrica del Duomo, heads a seven member Board of Directors and oversees the Fabbrica’s 130 employees, who still perform many of the same duties as their 14^th century predecessors did.

Fabbrica Workers Restoring the Wooden Model of the Cathedral

It was a massive project, larger than any seen before. So large in fact that one of the unique problems the engineers faced was how to raise the massive stones needed to complete the top of the Duomo. They decided to get some outside help, so they called in a French architect. When he saw the size and scope of the project, the Duomo is 354 feet tall (108 meters), he threw up his hands and declared all the work done up until the time he arrived on the scene as in pericolo di ruina – in peril of ruin, and according to him it had been done sine science, without science, whatever that means.

He proved to be full of hot air, but his caustic comments did push Galeazzo’s engineers to improve their instruments and techniques and work on the Duomo not only continued, but actually picked up speed. When Gian Galeazzo died of the Black Plague in 1402, almost half of the cathedral had been completed, but with the Duke gone the project stalled due to a lack of funds and ideas.

The Work is Slow and Exacting

By 1447 Milan had come under the rule of the Sforza family. Under the first Sforza, Francesco, the nave and aisles were completed up to the sixth bay. Forty years later, when his son Lodovico Sforza, better known as Il Moro, took control of the Dukedom, the octagonal cupola was completed and the interior decorated with four series of fifteen statues each, each statue portraying a saint or a prophet, and characters from the Bible. Stained glass windows, telling the story of Milan’s patron saint, Saint Ambrogio, were installed behind the great apse.

In May of 1519 the Fabbrica commissioned a wooden model of the still uncompleted Duomo to be built. Engineers and architects have always made use of models as it is the easiest way to check the relationship between shapes and functions and to verify possible proportional or volume faults of large construction projects. At that time the Duomo had an apse, a transept, an incomplete dome lantern and the first 5-6 spans of the naves which extended from the transept towards the façade. As the Duomo changed, the model was also changed so the representation of the project was always true. Just carving the 3,400 statues that decorate the Duomo, must have taken years.


Every Piece is Checked

When the large dome above the transept proved to be a challenging construction problem, Leonardo da Vinci, who was working for Duke Lodovico at the time, was called in as a consultant. While he was solving that problem, Leonardo took the time to design a complicated pulley system to raise and lower a basket which holds a Santo Chiodo, a Holy Nail from the true cross, the most important religious relic owned by the Archdiocese of Milan.

This relic is believed to be one of the two nails of the Crucifixion discovered by Saint Helena in the Holy Land in 326 Ad. Many people believe the nail came to Milan during the Crusades, in the 12^th or 13^th century. A special mass, called the Rito della Nivola is still held every year in mid -September and the nail is lowered and raised using the same pulley system designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

If you stand in the middle aisle of the Duomo and look up, above the altar, you will see a tiny red light. That light indicates the location of the Holy Nail.

The first religious service was held in the Duomo in 1402. It was the funeral of Duke Gian Galeazzo. Work continued throughout the rest of the 15th century, and the Duomo opened for regular worship in 1418.

If you'd like to see what the Duomo looks like today, click on this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnWh2hDF6XI&

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AUNTIE PASTA: You Say Potato, I say Patate

2011-12-15T05:23:00.000+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - Everyone loved this Gateau di Patate that Sara brought to our non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner last week, and I thought you might enjoyed it too.

Gateau di Patate

It is also a good example of why people who study Italian go off the rail. Here in Italy this recipe is called a gateau, but a gateau (or gatto’ if you want to Italianize it) is a French word, so sometimes it’s called a sformato, since it isn’t really cool to use French words when you are speaking Italian. However, the literal translation of sformato is flan, so while this may be a flan etymologically speaking, it really isn’t a flan at all, but no problem it tastes good no matter what it’s called.

Now that I have totally confused the issue how about I just get on with the recipe and you can call it whatever you want. For no particular reason, I’m going to call it a sformato.

This sformato of potatoes is a rustic, one-dish meal. It’s very tasty, but light and is made by mashing potatoes and adding seasoning, eggs, boiled ham, grated Parmesan cheese, mozzarella and scamorza (provola) cheese.

It is easy to put together and all it needs is to be baked in an oven-proof dish, (a cake pan works well) for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Butter 6 curls

Mozzarella 100 grams

Nutmeg - a pinch

Parmegiano Reggiano 50 grams

Smoked scamorza cheese 100 grams

Potatoes 1 kilo (2 lbs)

Freshly ground black pepper –pinch

Boiled ham 120 grams

Eggs 2

For the oven proof dish: breadcrumbs and butter to coat the dish

Wash and boil the potatoes in salted water for 40 minutes (1), let cook and then peel and cut them into pieces (2), mash them or put them through a ‘passavedura’ (3). Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Put the mashed potatoes in a bowl, and add the Parmesan cheese (4) the eggs, (5) salt, pepper and nutmeg (6) and mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoons.

Cut the boiled ham into pieces (7) and cut the fresh mozzarella (well drained) into cubes (8) as well as the smoked scamorza (9)

Mix in the ham and cubes of cheese into the potato and mix well (10). Butter an oven proof dish and coat it with bread crumbs. Pour the potato mix into the buttered dish and with even it out with a tablespoon (11). Sprinkle the top of the sformato with the remaining breadcrumbs, the remaining parmesean cheese and butter curls (12), and put it in the oven.

Cook at 180 degrees C for the first 15 minutes then raise the oven temperature to 200 degrees C for the remaining 15 minutes. When the sformato is cooked let it cool for at least 10 to 15 minutes, then cut into portions and serve.

If you want you can use other types of meat or sausages in place of the boiled ham, and used other cheeses instead of scamorza or mozzarella as long as they are not too soft or too liquidy.

And that's it. This is the start-from-scratch recipe, but there is no reason why you can't use left over mashed potatoes and bits of vegetables. Sounds like a winning idea to me.

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LIFE: Someone to Watch Over Me

2011-12-11T06:39:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – The heart of old Genoa is an intricate maze of ancient, narrow streets with houses so tall they seem to lean across to touch each other leaving only a ribbon of sky visible. But if you look up you’ll see small shrines built into the corners and walls of many of the ancient buildings, shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Streets of Old Genoa

The shrines are called edicole, which refers to the small enclosures that protect them from the weather, the same word used for newsstands.

While the shrines are made of various materials: slate, marble, ceramic or sometimes simple plaster, they all represent a particular artistic, social and cultural era. Most of them were built in the 1600’s when the populations of these cities turned to religion for protection against the decades of disaster that they had suffered.

Edicola in Old Genoa

It was a time of uncertainty and while I can’t speak for all Italian cities, I know that Genoa had survived wars and floods and, perhaps the most damaging of all, epidemics of the Black Plague. Historians write of the plague starting in the interior of Asia around the year 1333, and slowly moving from the Crimea to Genoa, and then on through the rest of Italy.

In the periods between the plague and the Black Death, there were pandemics of scurvy, cholera and leprosy. With no logical explanations as to why these disasters were occurring, the Genovese looked to the Virgin Mary for relief.

An Edicola in Genoa

In Genoa the edicole are concentrated in the historic center, unlike Rome where they are scattered throughout the city. There are only about 500 or so edicole still intact in Rome, even though there used to be thousands of them. The reason is that Genoa’s historic center has remained pretty much the same for the past 2,000 years, while in Rome various urban renewal projects have eliminated neighborhoods and enlarged streets, taking a toll on this particular cultural heritage.

The appearance of edicole in Rome goes back father in time than in Genoa, although the reason for their existence is the same. In Rome their popularity Rome is based on a tale of a miracle that occurred in the year 590 AD. The Roman population was being decimated by the plague and in seeking divine intervention, the inhabitants of the city carried an Byzantine icon of the Virgin Mary - Salus Populi Romani - from the church of Santa Maria Maggiore to Saint Peter’s Basilica, praying along the way for the epidemic to end.

When the procession reached the fortress called Hadrian's Mausoleum, an angel carrying a sword appeared, and as a sign that the sickness had been stopped through the intercession of the Virgin Mary he placed his drawn sword in its sheath. From that day on the fortress was known as Castel Sant'Angelo - the castle of the holy Angel.

Salus Populi Romani

In celebration, reproductions of the icon were placed on the front of the houses that the procession had passed. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the custom of placing pictures or statues of Our Lady on the outer walls of buildings became still more widespread, with tales of miracles linked to them.

Well into the nineteenth century, the only street-lighting in Rome was that of the lamps or candles set by the faithful before these little shrines to Our Lady as a sign of devotion and a light to guide the populous. They believed that those who saw the face of the Blessed Virgin by this light, was saved from getting lost either along the paths of life or along those dark city streets.

Edicola in Rome

In Rome you’ll find ediole across from the Trevi fountain, in the Piazza della Rotunda, on Palazzo Chigi, on the Vicolo del Forno, Piazza Colonna, and many other places. In Genoa, they are on almost every corner of the Old City.

If you are interested in seeing some of the edicole in Genoa, here is a link to a great video that gives you a short tour, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6MC_3ueIFA&feature=related and if you are interested in reading about Genoa here’s a link to copy and paste of an article I wrote for the Washington Post http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-382644.html

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AUNTIE PASTA: The Many Cakes of Christmas

2011-12-08T06:10:00.000+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – The countdown to Christmas has started and grocery stores shelves are filled with all kinds of holiday goodies.Every region has its own particular Christmas dinner specialties like meatballs in the south and ravioli with pumpkin in the north, but one thing they all agree on – Christmas is not Christmas without a panettone, that big pillow of a bread studded with juicy raisins and stuff.

Legend has it that panettone was developed in Milan in the 1400’s. That’s probably true. For the rest of the story, that it was first made by a baker named Tony to impress his girlfriend - well, that's more fiction than fact. What’s is true though is you'd be hard pressed to find a Christmas Day meal that will not end with a slice of the raisin rich eggy bread and a flute of sparkling Prosecco wine.

Because panettone tastes so good, Italians tend to forgive it for being such a plain Jane.There's not much you can do to glam up this humble sweet bread, but you have to give the fashion conscious Milanese credit for trying. Here is a photo essay showing some of the more elegant panettone offerings on the market this holiday season.

Let's Start at the Beginning

Now We're On a Roll

It's Nice, But it Needs a Little Something

Maybe a Few Sprinkles of Sugar

Or a Fondant Skirt with Xmas Greetings

Or Maybe a Few Accessories

How About a Finding Nemo Panettone? Ahh, No.


Oh, Now You've Got It! Buon Natale

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Today's post is a holiday dream dress for Snookie by Italian designer Alberto Makali

Don't believe me?

Check it Out

LIFE: Doin' the Turkey Trot

2011-12-04T06:31:00.006+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – A week or so ago I decided that I wanted to have Thanksgiving this year. Seeing as it is not a holiday that is celebrated in Italy, it’s easy to kind of let it slip by and next thing you know it’s Christmas.

But I like Thanksgiving, especially the food, roast turkey and dressing, candied sweet potatoes, veggies, salad, cranberry sauce, hmmmm, makes my mouth water just thinking about it. And because I wanted to invite a few Italians around for a taste of real American food, but I also wanted them to be happy, I added pumpkin ravioli with butter and sage as a first course.

SAVE MY JOB! BOYCOTT CAPONS

It’s a little difficult to find some traditional Thanksgiving foods here in Italy, especially cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes and in other years I’ve gone up to Lugano, Switzerland to buy those items. I didn’t make it up to Lugano this year so scratch the sweet potatoes and the cranberry sauce. No problem. I decided to substitute Italian mostarda for the cranberries – mostarda is small whole fruits that have been preserved in a spicy syrup, and as for the candied sweets, well, even if I had found real sweet potatoes they don’t sell the type of brown sugar I need to candy them anyway.

So what’s left. Pumpkin ravioli, roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, some kind of vegetable, salad, pumpkin pie, that sounds ok. Actually it sounds pretty good. Mashed potatoes, no problem. Vegetables, those we have by the bushel full, salad too. Pumpkin pie?

Ooops, no pumpkins in the markets. Fortunately Silvia offered to bring her Tiramisu so I settled on pears poached in sparkling white wine with a dark chocolate sauce. As you can see, the menu is evolving. Now I have ravioli, roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, zucchini and carrots, salad, Sara’s potato and prosciutto torte, Silvia’s Tiramisu and poached pears with dark chocolate sauce.

Can you UPS Pumpkins?

I spent most of Monday and Tuesday going around to the grocery stores in Saronno trying to order a turkey. My oven is small so I wanted one that weighed no more than 10lbs. The first stop was the grocery store where I do most of my shopping.

“I think that’ll work,” the butcher told me, “but come back tomorrow and I’ll let you know for sure.”

No problem. I’ve ordered turkeys from them before and they always delivered. Next day I went back to find that the butcher I had spoken to was not there, there was another guy. I told him my conversation with butcher No. 1 and asked about my turkey.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “There’s no way I can get you a whole turkey this week, it’s too early. Whole birds are not available until the week after next.”

“But how much of a problem can it be,” I asked. “Just pick up the phone, call the distributor, tell them you need one now.”

Wanna Mean There's No Turkey?

He just shook his head. No can do.

Fine. I then went to Walter’s Poultry Store, a little hole in the wall shop that only sells poultry. For sure Walter can get me a whole turkey, right?

“I’m not sure,” he said. “Let me call my supplier, hang on a minute.” He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number and explained to whoever answered what he wanted. Then came a series of “ahha, ok, I see, hmmm, va bene, etc.”

He put his hand over the his phone and said, “he’s checking, but it’s going to cost you 20€ a kilo.”

What? 20 euro a kilo. That’s about $14 a pound. What in hell did they feed this bird? Truffles and caviar? We're talking turkey here, not some exotic creature.

“Ah, hold on a second,” I said. “Let me think about this for a minute before I commit to spending $140 for a turkey.”

He shook his head as he put the phone down. “He can’t get it,” he said, “sorry.”

Don't Look at Me, I Ain't No Turkey

So even if I had agreed to pay $140 for a turkey it’s not available. That stinks. Alright now, there are other grocery stores, let me shop around a little. At Grocery Store No. 2 the butcher shook his head and said, “not possible, sorry.”

I trot up to Grocery Store No. 3, now I’m getting worried. Just where in hell do I have to go to get a turkey in this town?

The butchers in Grocery Store No. 3 are glassed in behind a tall counter I can hardly see over, and they certainly cannot see me. Not being one that is easily deterred, I walk into the back of the store – entering absolutely forbidden territory - and signal to the butcher that I need to talk to him.

He seemed like a nice guy, and he was. I explain what I want and he says he will order a turkey for me, maybe not quite 10 lbs, but at least 8 lbs. “OK, fine,” I say.

“Just one thing,” he says, “ you have to pick it up on Thursday because that’s when the poultry come in.”

No problem.

Now I felt better and got on with the rest of the things I had to do. Thursday morning I hike up to Grocery Store No. 3 – which is without exaggeration at least a mile from my apartment. However, I have to say the thrill of going to pick up my Thanksgiving turkey outweighed any and all inconveniences.

When the butcher saw me, his face fell. “I’m sorry,” he said, “they didn’t send it. Maybe they didn’t have one ready for today, can you come back tomorrow?”

I was disappointed, he seemed disappointed but it didn’t matter how disappointed we were, there was no turkey to be had that day. Next day I went back, a little annoyed at having to trudge up there again, but …… Thanksgiving only comes once a year.

When I saw the hound dog look on his face I knew there was not going to be a turkey in my future. No roasted turkey, no candied sweet potatoes, no cranberry sauce, no green bean casserole (did I mention there is no Campbell soup here?), no pumpkin pie.

Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce

New menu. Pumpkin ravioli, two capons with dressing and gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy, zucchini and carrots (my secret recipe), Sara’s potato and prosciutto torte, mostarda, Silvia’s Tiramisu and poached pears. Hummphf, that doesn’t sound very Thanksgiving like to me. My first reaction was was to make up a bunch of signs and protest the Industrial Alimentary Complex that controls what I eat and when I eat it, my second reaction was to roast up the capons, mash the potatoes, make the gravy and the rest of the stuff, put it on the table, break open a couple of bottles of wine and enjoy sharing a meal with people I like. Still makes me mad though.

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AUNTIE PASTA: Semola Battuta

2011-12-01T05:55:00.002+01:00

SARONNO, Italy - There was an interesting question last week from a reader who calls herself Muzik Girl.

Beautiful Bari

“Hi there,” she wrote, ‘I'm really interested in figuring out the name of a soup that my grandmother used to make for her children. The recipe has been passed onto us but my father calls it "Belly Band" because he never understood the Italian name for it and that's the closest thing he could come up with. It's a basic chicken or turkey stock but the pasta is made of cream of wheat, egg, salt, pepper and fresh parsley.

Do you have any idea what this soup is called in Italian? If not, do you have any suggestions as to how I can figure this out other than to do a random Google search? My grandmother's family came from the Bari region in Puglia. Any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.”

Easy as One, Two, Three

The recipe I think she’s looking for is a Pugliese standard called semola Battuta. It’s an old, traditional Pugliese recipe that uses just a few ingredients and delivers a great taste.

While you may not think of food as family history, the truth is we all carry the memories of the foods we ate as kids, good and bad, and they make up a large part of us. Speaking for myself, I often cook things based on taste memories, flavors from my grandmother’s kitchen that have forever stayed with me. And judging from Muzik Girl’s email, apparently her family does the same thing.

I have a feeling that this recipe, or a variation or this recipe, is found throughout Italy. It may have a different name, but the concept is the same. My grandmother used to make something very similar using chicken stock, and my family is from Rome. I was only five years old, so I don't remember if it had a name or not, but I do remember the taste.

Semola, a Key Ingredient

Semola Battuta

Ingredients
200 gr of semolina or Cream of Wheat (semola di grano duro)
1 egg
water or stock (as needed)

Finely chopped parsley

On a pastry board or in a bowl, make a well in the center of the flour, add the egg and water (or stock) and parsley and mix together. Don’t mix too long – it has to crumble. Then chop it with a knife to obtain the texture you want. Add the mix to your soup.

Vegetable Broth

Ingredients

2 carrots

1 tomato

1 onion

2 zucchine
3 medium size potatoes

salt
water

Chop the vegetables and put them in a pot, cover with water and cook for 45 minutes over medium/low heat. Puree the cooked vegetables in a blender or an Italian passavedure and add to the soup. Bring to a boil and add the semola Battuta and cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot with a sprinkle of freshly grated cheese.

Semola Battuta can be served with any type of stock or soup. This is one of those recipes handed down from generation to generation. I hope the one I’ve printed is the one Muzik Girl was thinking of.

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LIFE: Now Hair This

2011-11-27T06:39:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – Up until the end of the 19th century, there was a tradition here in Lombardia that called for giving a girl child a gift of a silver sperada when she was born.

A Silver Sperada

A sperada, also known as a raggiare, is a long, thin needle like hairpin, about eight inches in length, with a decorated top and bottom (olivelle), that was used as a hair ornament. Over the course of her life, her parents, relatives, and then her husband, would add to her sperada collection. For special occasions she would wear the sperada in her hair. They were held in a halo-like semi-circle, by a wooden frame and tied with a black ribbon called a ‘fettucine nero’, or spighetta de cutun negher in local dialect.

Sperade are one of the oldest ‘hair accessories’ in Italy. Those dating back to the Bronze Age are called ‘spilloni’, pins, but those found in the graves of the ancient Romans are known as ‘hasta caelibaris’, or ‘aghi crinali’.

A Complete Sperada

The more expensive sperada were made by silversmiths. Using all the techniques necessary to make fine jewelry, the silversmith would work the olivelle into miniature pieces of art. These highly decorated sperada were worn by the women of Lombardia with the same pride as they wear diamonds and furs today. Sperada have long been a source of pride in Lombardia, witnessed by this description of Lucia Mondella, the protagonist of ‘I Promessi Sposi’ (The Betrothed), the 19th century masterpiece by Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni.

‘Lucia had just come forth adorned from head to food by the hands of her mother. Her friends were stealing glances at the bride, and forcing her to show herself, while she, with the somewhat warlike modesty of a rustic, was endeavoring to escape, using her arms as a shield for her face, and holding her head downwards, her black penciled eyebrows seeming to frown, while her lips were smiling. Her dark and luxuriant hair, divided on her forehead with a white and narrow parting, was united behind in many – circled plaitings (braids), pierced with long silver pins, disposed around so as to look like a halo or saintly glory, a fashion still in use among Milanese peasant girls.”

Lucia Wearing Her Sperada

From the moment a girl became engaged, it was expected that, as a sign of his love, her husband-to-be would give her a gift of sperada equal to her age. During her lifetime, a woman would be gifted with up to 45 to 47 sperada.

For those families who could not afford to buy sperada of high grade silver, they were also made in less noble metals, but valued nonetheless.

A Complicated Affair

You won’t find hand-worked silver sperada for sale these days. The much coveted surviving pieces are treasured and held by families or museums.

THURSDAY PREVIEW: Auntie Pasta's Semola Battuta, a Pugliese recipe that will surprise you.

AUNTIE PASTA: Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T09:36:00.001+01:00

SARONNO, Italy – One thing I know is it’s difficult to change the habits of a lifetime. I’m talking about Thanksgiving. For me, it’s hard to get into the spirit of Christmas until I’ve had Thanksgiving. But here in Italy, where they love holidays that fall on Thursday and extend into Friday and even Monday if they can get away with it, they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s not that they aren’t fascinated by the idea of giving thanks for what you have, but what do they have to be thankful for they ask. For those of us looking in from the outside, you have to think they are kidding, right? They’re not.

Thanksgiving Greeting from Saronno

It’s not as callous an idea as you may think. Not being too happy about something is part and parcel of the Italian DNA. If you are too happy about something, no, I take that back, if you show that you are too happy about something, you risk putting a jinx – the Malocchio or Evil Eye - on the very thing you are happy about.

The Evil Eye is best described as a curse that can be triggered by something as simple as a compliment. For example, if someone tells you your baby is beautiful, beware! The fates have been tempted. You must immediately make the sign of the horn sign to protect your child from the Evil Eye.

"Two Versions of The Horn"

When I first moved to Italy, I was told by an Genovese lawyer that if I wanted to succeed in Italy, I would have to stop smiling so much. And not only that, but if someone asked me how I was, the answer should never be –‘great.’ A better, safer answer, he counseled, would be “in somma.” Which loosely translated means, “I’m doing the best I can but it’s a struggle.” Truth is, at that time “in somma” was closer to my reality than “great,” so I had no problem adopting the more “evil eye” proof response.

Superstition has been part of Italian life since the dawn of time. Using your fingers to make what is called in Italy “the horns” is in reality a version of a crescent moon shape which is representative of various Moon goddesses worshiped in days of old. Interestingly, the finger horn can also be a sign that your wife is cheating on you - obviously the worse curse of all - a cheating wife.

Turns out there are other things, like covering your mouth when you yawn – which I always thought we did just to be polite, are superstitions. The real reason we cover our mouths is so evil spirits don’t enter our bodies. After all, God gave Adam life by breathing into his mouth – so what’s to stop the Devil from trying the same trick? Then there is that old habit of saying Bless You, when someone sneezes.

Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

That simple saying is a carry-over from the days of the Roman Empire when sneezing was a sign that you had a dreaded disease. When someone sneezed the Romans thought it best to offer up a short prayer to the Gods – “long may you live,” or “may you enjoy good health,” or a simple “Jupiter, help me,” they would say. Whichever one you chose brought the hope that Jupiter would protect those unlucky enough to be around someone who was sneezing, and hopefully expel the disease from the unfortunate person who sneezed.

Even Locals Take a Twirl

Here in Milan, they take the Evil Eye and other superstitions very seriously. Even those who claim to be non-believers can’t resist the Milanese tradition of twirling around three times on the bull’s nether parts, which is supposed to bring luck and ward off evil spirits. So the next time you are in Milan, make sure you visit the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and give it a twirl. You won’t have any problem finding the mosaic with the bull in it, there is always a crowd of people waiting to take their turn. No point in tempting fate.

So while we Americans have no problem roasting up a turkey and giving thanks for all we have, the wary Italians prefer to go about their business of living large and enjoying life and pretending they are suffering through it all. So, now that you know the rules, cross your fingers , touch wood, and make the sign of the horn because I am going to wish you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving Day.

And a note for Muzik Girl – I'm sorry I don’t know the name of the soup, but I do know quite a few people from Puglia and I’ll ask them. As soon as I have an answer for you I’ll post it on the blog.