Delicious Italy

Luigi's Language of Napkin Folding

'Luigi's Language of Napkin Folding' is a new book by a wonderful person we got to know in London 18 months ago.

The book is the product of the career of Luigi Spotorno who has enjoyed a life time in the catering and hospitality sector in the UK.   

His passion for napkin folding and table enhancement was not a little honed by a period of service to her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II.

"It is an art that I developed over the years as a form of expression and ideology. This creativity and extensive work is now in print to share with every one".

The book features 192 pages and 80 illustrations. Look out for Luigi's creative celebration of Italy's football World Cup triumph in 2006. 

'Luigi's Language of Napkin Folding' is published by Capisca Ltd and can be bought online by contacting debbierosher@stalbridge-linen.com or tel 0800 093 99 33. Price £10.00 + p&p.

It's a language thing

We recently came across a book looking at the life of Italian emigrants to the US during the great wave of immigration about 100 years ago.   

Not a statistical account, but a series of vignettes, the most eye watering of which were the conversations involving the installation of a home telephone for the first time.

Lots of social oneupmanship of course, but the mix of English and dialect brought from home was revealing.

The word 'Cubbai' was used alot. 'Cubbai'?

That's 'goodbye' as learned aurally from the streets of New York's Little Italy at the time.

Which brings us to our modern misunderstanding of the age of the current Miss Italy.

After she won, it was announced that it was the first time a 'trentina' had won the title.

We understood it was the first time the title had gone to someone over the age of 30, a real progressive statement.

But no, 'Trentina', means a resident of Trentino;  'trentenne' means 30 something.

Cubbai!

 

Follow the medieval pilgrims

The 'Via dei Pellegrini' near Lake Garda in Veneto is one of many religious historical trekking routes now being rediscovered across the Italian regions.

Others include the Via Francigena and the so called 'I sentieri del Silenzio' across Marche and Umbria.   

Associations such as La Boscaglia are rediscovering these ancient tracks and offering guided tours along the ancient paths or mule tracks.

The Via dei Pellegrini near Lake Garda is a spectacular walk through olive and lemon tree groves with tremendous views of the the Dolomiti del Brenta and Adamello glaciers.

Stops include the hamlets and towns of Campo, Crero la Rocca dei Camaldolesi, Lazise, Garda and Castelletto.

Daily walking is typically 4 to 6 hours and accommodation is small hotels along the way.

Most importantly you will be sustained by local dishes such as 'pesce di lago', 'gnocchi alla gardesana', 'timballo con olive' and fine wines.

Beautiful Radicchio

'MISS ITALIA E RADICCHIO SULLA NEVE' or 'Miss Italy and Radicchio on Snow' was one of the most intriguing information release headings we've seen of late.

As we read we remembered that Miss Italia 2006 was born and brought up in Trentino Alto Adige, Valsugana to be precise.

So far so good for the snow reference, but the radicchio?

It turns out that Claudia Andreatti was guest of honour at the Panoramahotel Emma di San Vigilio di Marebbe.

The radicchio related to a typical Ladino dinner prepared in collaboration with the 'Ristoranti del Radicchio della Provincia di Treviso' or restaurants of the radicchio making zone of Treviso province, Veneto.

This is the zone of Kronplatz or the Area Vacanze Plan de Corones in the Dolomites, a superb ski area.

The Consorzio also presented a gold and glass representation of a Radicchio to the local authorities as a sign of further collaboration between these two tourism realities.

Sweetly enough, San Vigilio Marebbe Enberg is known as the Princess of Dolomites.

No airport jam

You may have been travelling in and out of the UK over the Christmas period and been unlucky to have hit the persistant fog and long queues.

We also flew in and out of England over the New Year but can report no jam whatsoever. 

In fact, we left our all our rustic regional preserves in the hands of the British Airports Authority as it turns out that even humble British homemade jams cannot make it past the customs checks.

They fall into the category of potentially dangerous liquids, or rather dangerous gels like toothpaste. So no marmalades, chutneys, pickles or mustards.

You can actually buy a line of decent English jams in Italy quite easily and they usually sit next to Lipton teas below the Quaker oats.

We would like to hear from anyone who has had their Italian food or wine stopped at the border. Post your comment below.      

Money for old goat

The attempted pun in the title of this post is very poor really, but the town of Capracotta in Molise means 'cooked goat' in English and is a super place.

About this time of year it is also one of Europe's most southerly ski resorts, or is that southernly?

This is not to be taken lightly as in the last few years the Apennines have had more consistant snow falls than many lower lying resorts in the Italian Alps.

If your ancestors came from Capracotta you can celebrate them by contacting 'Capracottesi nel Mondo'. Find out more here. 

Welcome to the EU

Let's kick off the New Year by welcoming Bulgaria and Romania to the EU. 

Let's also kick off 2007 by penning a few words about EU domain identity.

Back in 2006 any European company could make a rightful claim their .eu before the middle of August.

Delicious Italy s.r.l. duly filled in the correct form and confirmation of receipt was duly received.

To our surprise the application was rejected with no specific reason stated.

The rules stated that the decision could be formally reviewed, but only by paying one or more EU recommended lawyers to take a second look.

11 hours after the deadline when all .eu were released to the public, deliciousitaly.eu was registered by an individual who has since transfered owner status to Extreme Solutions SRL based in Bucharest, Romania.

The EU web identity of Delicious Italy s.r.l., a Rome based company, is www.deliciousitalyguide.eu