Delicious Italy

Buon Compleanno Asterix!

Happy Birthday Asterix, or rather Albert Uderzo who created the famous comic book series and character along with Rene Goscinny in 1959.

At the age of 80 Uderzo is still illustrating the series which could have come to an end when story writer Goscinny died in the late 1970's. In fact, the 34th book is just out.

Asterix is a very European phenomenon and Uderzo can trace his origins to the Italian village of Oderzo in the province of Treviso, Veneto.

As with all good books, the recent films and series of cartoons never captured the atmosphere of the original works and so many of the beautiful throw away lines and visual gags are simply missed.

They work because behind them is a love of ancient history and attention to detail which only rarely strays.

Who can forget the Latin proverbs as the pirate ship sinks in every episode or the 'These Romans are Crazy' uttered by Obelix. The latter is taken from S.P.Q.R., the Rome city motto but corrupted to 'Sono Pazzi Questi Romani'.

And no one like Uderzo can draw slapping, swoshing seawater, or seagulls for that matter.

We actually have Asterix books in Italian, Latin and Arabic, as well as English, French and Portuguese. 

If we can choose the 3 Asterix books which combine a love of history, modern satire and a good old toga romp then our choices would be: Asterix the Gladiator (1964), Asterix in Switzerland (1970) and Asterix and the Soothsayer (1972), with a mention to Mansion of the Gods (1971).

http://www.asterixweb.it 

Italy Food Books

We've read, browsed and bought many books in Italian as references for work and pleasure, and very few in English.

The reason being that the UK and US markets are totally different from Italy and not always the most interesting publications about Italian food and life ever make it into English.

So we thought it time to take a look at the offerings of Amazon and propose, in our humble opinion, those worth a closer look.

First conclusions are that you can judge a book by the cover when it comes to Italy, travel and food.

Artisan olive oil makers

Did you know that there are vintages and even frangiture of olive oil?

Find out from Heather Jarman of Sapori and Saperi who run cultural food tours in north Tuscany and the Etruscan coast.

"The olive oil producers displaying their wares at the olive oil festival of Valdottavo (a small village about 10 km north of Lucca) on 23, 24 and 25 March were going one better than wine vintages. They weren’t just proclaiming their 2006 vintage.

They were distinguishing the oil made from olives picked and pressed in October from the November pressing, which in turn was bottled separately from the December pressing.

Olives are pressed at a mill called a frantoio and a pressing is called a frangitura (pl. frangiture).

All olives start out green and turn black-brown when fully ripe. Like other fruit, different  varieties of olives ripen at different times and those on each tree ripen over a period of time.

By about the middle of October some olives on a tree will be dappled green and brown, during November more and more turn uniformly dark brown and by December most are very dark brown, almost black.

The small artisan oil producers who selectively pick the ripening olives by hand can keep each month’s pressings separate.

I sometimes wonder whether, in our headlong rush for exotic new flavour combinations, we’ve forgotten the joys of subtle tastes.

At least bottling and labelling by frangitura gives you a chance to choose the one you like best.

Not many olive oil labels even show the year in which it was pressed, let alone the month. The year is important, since unlike wine, olive oil doesn’t improve with age, though a six-month old oil is more suitable for delicately flavoured food than a brash young upstart oil.

After 18 months senility has set in: even the most intensely aromatic and flavourful oil eventually becomes bland, barely tasting of anything.

Don’t expect a date on industrially produced oil, but many of the small artisan producers here give a ‘best before’ date which is worth heeding".

American Kids v. Italian Kids

A series of these were sent to us by Chas in the US.

"I guess I'm part Italian, 'cause I'm forwarding this".

**American Kids: Their dads always call before they come over to visit them and it’s usually only on special occasions.
**Italian Kids: Are not at all fazed when their dads come over, unannounced, on a Saturday morning at 8:00 and starts pruning the fruit trees. And if there are no fruit trees, he will plant some!

**American Kids: Will come over for cake and coffee and get only cake and coffee, no more.
**Italian Kids: Will come over for cake and coffee and get antipasto, a few bottles of wine, a pasta dish, a choice of two meats, salad,  bread, potatoes, a nice dessert cake, fruit, coffee and a few after dinner drinks ..... time permitting there will be a late lunch as well.

**American Kids: Think that being Italian is a great thing,
** Italian Kids: Know that being Italian is a great thing,

**American Kids: Will say 'hello".
** Italian Kids: Will give you a big hug and a kiss, pinch your cheeks, and pat you on the back.

**American Kids: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
** Italian Kids: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing and just being together.

**American Kids: Would knock on your door.
**Italian Kids: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

**American Kids: Are for a while.
** Italian Kids: Are for life.

**American Kids: Will ignore this.
**Italian Kids: Will forward this.

Bridge Holidays

This week is a good one for the 'Ponte' in Italy.

'Ponte' means bridge and is used to describe the shortening of the working week when public holidays, such as the 1st of May, fall midweek.

For example, this week the Festival of the Liberation (25th April) is on Wednesday. So, take Thursday and Friday off and you have a beautiful 5 day break; 5 and half if you knock off at lunch on Tuesday.

This year, May Day is the following Tuesday. Get in there quickly and you can take 3 days off and have a wonderful 7 day holiday.

Most people do it, but it seems there is now pressure to soften the periods of the 'Ponte'.   

The powers that be are coming up with a range of ideas and initiatives to stagger holidays throughout the year and encourage citizens to consider off season breaks.

For example, company tourist vouchers for employees or low interest tourist bank loans which both entitle the holders to discounts for selected tourist packages and locations. 

These is a catch, you have to have a holiday in the Italian regions and the authorities have identified 45% of the population who can't even afford that at present.

Our favourite bridge holiday is proposed by Tasting Tours of Asti, Piemonte   

      

The Perfect Italian diet

Is the perfect Italian diet a Mediterranean one?

The question came into our heads when we read what Brazilian football genius Ronaldo was eating to get fit following his transfer from Real Madrid to Milan.

His day begins with a breakfast of milk, toast with jam and freshly squeezed orange juice without sugar. Lunch is raw vegetables, carbohydrates such as potatoes and another freshly squeezed orange juice. During the afternoon, fresh fruit and piece of bread, with dinner based on grilled meat or fish, vegetables and fresh fruit.

And absolutely no pasta!

Milan could not be further from the sea in Italy, so is this a Mediterranean diet? In any case, he's lost 5kg in the short time he's been back in the country. 

The regions of Italy with the oldest inhabitants are Sardinia and Abruzzo, both famous for their salami and cheese, which do not exactly lower cholesterol levels.

We also know of a man in his late 80's who lives near Monte Amiata in Tuscany who, from trusted sources, drinks at least 4 bottles of red wine a day. He's as fit as a fiddle and walks daily to the top of the mountain.

So the secret seems to be fresh air and a lot of exercise.    

The Perfect Cappuccino

The perfect cappuccino coffee has now been recognised.

Not only has the formula been put in writing, but Italy's most popular morning drink may get protective status through the DOC mark usually reserved for fine wines and olive oils.

Read on here for more and where the name cappuccino comes from.

Drive carefully

We've travelled a good few kilometers in the last seven years of this project without too much incident.

Rather like a footballer who passes a whole season without getting a yellow card, it was with some dismay we received an official fine through the post last week.

Which should serve as a reminder to all those independent travellers out there leaving their credit card details with car hire firms.

We'd never heard of the Comune di Castagneto Carducci, but they now have 68 euros of our hard earned cash, all this for exceeding the 110 kmh speed limit by 9 kmh. That's almost 8 euros per kilometer.

A bit excessive ref, but rules is rules.

Gutted.

Organic Lazio

From 15 April to 15 May 2007, the bio farms of Lazio are opening their gates to the general public as part of an initiative to encourage us to think organic.

According to official figures there are 2500 such farms covering around 10% of the region who are involved in organic food production; cheeses, vegetables, wines etc.

A trend that's on the way up.

We've visited many such event across the Italy and you learn a lot about the roots, culture and history of the Italian regions.

In fact, you get the sensation that for this first time in 150 years there is a new generation of young people leaving the cities and heading back to the countryside. There are even magazines called 'Origin' and 'Vie del Gusto' reflecting this.

An employment model for post industrial Italy we're not too sure, but do check out this event. 

www.primaverabio.aiab.it

Chefs hats are changing

Have you noticed that young up and coming Italian chefs are not wearing the traditional white mushroom shaped hats any more.

The headgear of choice is the bandana.

We're not too sure why, but famous recent bandana wearers include Marco Pantani, the late champion cyclist; Silvio Berlusconi, the ex Premier; and Johnny Dep in Pirates of the Caribbean.

And still the trend continues.

Bandanas are also worn under crash helmets to protect the hair and on holiday to protect the scalp from the sun.