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.

Native Italian Wine book

The next best thing to tasting native Italian wines is to read about them and, by chance, the first Guide to Autoctonous Italian Vines is present at the Prowein wine trade fair in Düsseldorf from 18th to 20th March.

The book is published in Italy by Touring Club Editore and Vinibuoni d’Italia will be highlighting twenty six wineries selected for the 2007’s issue of the guide in Germany.

The Guide lists 1,000 wineries introducing over 3,500 wines that have been sampled and classified by the authors and twenty regional tasting commissions coordinated by specialised journalists and sommeliers.

These wines are all crafted from Italian indigenous vines, i.e. varieties that have been growing in Italy for more than three hundred years and represent the best of the “made in Italy” wines.

A good native wine is judged on fragrance, pleasantness, balance and elegance.

The wines must have low wooden quality and reveal on the palate and nose the variety of the territory in which the grapes were grown.

These are quality wines that are expression of the Italian oenological culture and history.

Gourmand World Cookbook Awards

If you are looking to buy a book about Italian food and food culture then we have to recommend the winners of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2006.

They are 'Piemonte... la signora del vino' in the category of "Gourmand Italian Awards" - "Best Book on European Wine (excluding France!)", and 'Vivo è  - I Mercati del Pesce in Sicilia' in the category "Gourmand Italian Awards" - "Best Book about Fish and Best Photographic book on Food".

Edited by Carlo Cambi Editore based in Poggibonsi, Tuscany, both titles were written by Andrea Zanfi and illustrated by Giò Martorana.

We can also vouch for the inspired fish supper at the presentation of 'Vivo è - I Mercati del Pesce in Sicilia' last year in San Lorenzo, Rome.   

Also by Andrea Zanfi is the definitive book on Tuscan wine 'Supertuscans'. 

www.carlocambieditore.it

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.

Taste Italia!

There are a number of Italy dedicated magazines out there.

The market is booming, but if you can't read all of them, then we would choose Taste Italia!

From the same publishing company which produces Calcio Italia!, Taste Italia! was launched today.

www.tasteitaliamag.com

Magazines might still do photographs better than the web for the moment and we especially like the Step-by-step Focaccia guide by Ursula Ferrigno.

A bite sized history of Focaccia in Liguria