Delicious Italy

Enrico and Valeria report from Capo D’orlando

Catania residents Enrico and Valeria show us the insider's way of visiting the north east corner of Sicily during the summer vacation.

The self guided tour to the town of San Gregorio near Capo D’Orlando lasted 4 days and 3 nights from the 10-13 August 2007.

Enrico describes their break as an activie holiday with relax & Ecotur and the whole vacation cost €274,00 per person, broken down as follows: 

* Accommodation + breakfast: 450,00 €
* Gas: 45 € (500 km of distance A/R + sightseeing tour - starting from Catania)
* Freeway tickets: 14,80 € (We took 2 freeways: A18 Catania-Messina and A20 Messina-Palermo)
* Food and beverage: 38,10 € (Arancini, pizza, Ice creams, granita, etc…)

The holiday was built around the the pair's own likes and dislikes and you can view images and more details about the trip here

LIKES: Nature, Relaxing landscapes, Good position near the main attractions, Very tasty breakfast, Clean and comfort rooms, Sweet horses and donkeys to do tour of the property

DISLIKES: Too much car rumors from the near freeway, If the hotel is full it looks like it is empty and you can feel you are too isolated, You have to wait for a shuttle bur to move around the property, Too much bugs and mosquitos

Here is the daily itinerary

Day 1 - Arriving in the hotel

    * Starting from Catania, 2 hours of freeways (A18 and A20)
    * Arrive in the hotel
    * Afternoon on the beach
    * Dine with “Panino ca’ cutuletta” (bread with chicken)
    * Sleep

Day 2 - It’s raining man…alleluja!!

A view from The Nebrodi Mounts

    * Breakfast
    * Rain
    * In the morning visit to the Nebrodi parks (Sinagra, Naso, Ucria, Castell’Umberto)
    * Lunch with Granita and Brioche in the Bar “Mamy and Papy” Morosito bar - San Gregorio
    * Afternoon on the beach
    * Evening a visit in Capo D’orlando for a Pizza in “Crazy Pizza”
    * Walking on the Long Beach

Day 3 - Arancini mon amour…

A see view from Gioiosa Marea

    * Breakfast
    * All the morning on the beach
    * Luch with typical Sicilian food (Arancini and Siciliane) in “Da Matteo” Restaurant, San Gregorio Phone: 0941 955029
    * Afternoon on the Beach
    * In the evening an excursion in Gioiosa Marea and dine with a Brioche and Ice-cream in Bar “Miramare”

Day 4 - Come back home

    * Breakfast
    * On the beach to 12:00 o’clock
    * Come back home…:-(

The best attraction to see is the Coast. You can do with a car the SS113 (Statal road n°113) that connects Palermo with Messina and visit all the sea villages and see the magnific landscapes.

Considering the high season period i think it was a bargain holiday…;-)

Delicious Italy on You Tube

An account on You Tube seems like a good idea. Turning it into a must see video channel is altogether another task, but here goes.

Delicious Italy on You Tube

So far visitors will see that rare animal in the Italian countryside now, a donkey. A short 15 second thing we shot during a visit to Monte Amiata one cold & rainy December day.

By 'shot' we mean 'filmed', nobody was actually hurt in the production process.

We'll keep our camera with us at all times from now on and see what happens.

Expect to see bite sized clips from Florence, Viareggio, Ravenna, Calabria and Bardolino by the middle of August, although we can't promise any more mules.

A little ahead of us in the game is SagreinItalia who are putting together a series of short videos of rustic events around Italy. Take a look here.   

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.

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.    

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.

Not all Roads lead to Rome

'Not All Roads Lead to Rome' is the name of a photographic exhibition being held until the 26 April 2007 at the EX GIL, Largo Ascianghi, Rome, near Viale Trastevere.

It is the result of a journey by 7 young photographers across the region of Lazio.

The images portray a region of open coastal spaces and closed stone villages.

Knowing the region well, and particularly the Sabine Hills, we'd say the images are certainly visually striking, but the geometric forms and lines preferred in the compositions suggest the theme of loneliness, desolation and sadness.

The aim of the sponsors of the exhibition, which include the Regione Lazio and Litorale spa, was to depict the territory of Lazio with a contemporary identity which would invite further discovery.

To get to know the region of Lazio better head to Arpino in the province of Frosinone. The zone of the birthplace of Cicero and the battle of Montecassino, passing by Isola del Liri.

The Dialects of Italy

The dialects of Italy, or the Italian regional accents if you like, are pretty strong to the untrained ear.

They may not be as incomprehensible to other Italians as the used to be, say 100 hundred years ago, but they are still spoken at home and between various social groups.

Internal migration, war displacement, radio and televison have created a fairly standardised everyday language which was, of course, based on the spoken language of Tuscany during the Renaissance.

We are, in fact, all speaking Tuscan.

Encouragingly, the world wide web is offering a new home and expression for many regional dialects.

There are forums for grammar, online dictionaries, collected histories, fables and stories. A living anthropology.

The trend is now seeping into the world of advertising as brands seek easily recognisible identifiers e.g. the Neapolitan used for a mozzarella cheese spot filmed in Capri. 

The most popular Italian dialects online are from Lombardy, Veneto and Rome, but Genovese, Toscano and Siciliano are not far behind.

We'll be pushing Abruzzese!

Italian luxury goods

Everyone has heard of Ferrari and Gucci, but the rest of Italy's luxury goods market?

The very best of the Made in Italy is being collected together at 'Scrigno Tesori d'Italia' in Rome in March 2007.

The list of items includes fashion, furnishings, perfumes etc and even musical instruments.

Best of all is the Zonda supercar made by Pagani Automobili in Modena. Only 25 are made a year.

For most of us this will be a unique exhibition, but for a select few a nice little Sunday shopping jaunt.

The brands to look out for:

Daniele Arcaio
Erredi Creazioni Moda
Eriberto Attili
Riccardo Zannetti
Arcacustica
Associazione Amici del Ricamo
Bandiera Bianco Bianchi                                             
Runway - Bibis                     
Biliardi Raponi                     
Borselli Cornici                   
Carapetyan Zaven               
Cartujano                           
Club Stradivarius                  
Camiceria Jean Luc               
La Pagoda International    
Fabian Pellicceria             
Calzaturificio Paoul            
Art Casa                         
Zanneto Argenti               
Di Prinzio- Ferro Battuto      
Foglia Argenteria                  
Giosa Milano                        
Carthusia I Profumi di Capria
Lucio Bubacco                  
M. Paci M.                        
Masserano Paolo Cashmire               
Micocci                                    
Moleria Locchi                        
Nautica Riva - Casarola          
Opificio Serico Fiorentino      
Pandora                              
Pelletteria di Tolentino          
Penko
Pinfildi
Romano Opificio Marmi Antichi   
Saskia                                  
Scaglietti                              
Scuola Asolana Antico Ricamo   
Le Ceramiche del Borgo         
Ulturale Cravatte                  
Vanity Jewels                      
Vetrofuso

www.scrigno.roma.it

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!

 

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.