New Year's resolutions: study Italian!

Maybe you don't even have a New Year's resolution. But maybe you do. Or just maybe I can convince you that your New Year's resolution should be to speak Italian fluently!

It's a good resolution for any number of reasons.

Knowing a language fluently gains you entree into its canon of literature, and I always find that alone allows me to escape my regular life. Feeling a little stressed, Ciambellina? Oh just curl up on the couch and read a little Italian.

(And just between us, by canon of literature I mean anything from the women's magazine Grazia to Dante's Divine Comedy, per intenderci.)

But whatever you're reading, I have two suggestions for where to invest a bit of money if you want to improve your Italian.

First, buy a subscription to Acquerello Italiano. (Editor's note/UPDATE: now defunct, sadly. It was a wonderful audio magazine. Partial substitute: https://www.raiplaysound.it/programmi/fahrenheit).

It's essentially a bi-monthly radio program in Italian that touches on politics, history, art and, of course, language. It reminds me of such National Public Radio shows in America as Fresh Air or All Things Considered.

I bought the subscription for Il Nostro Inviato a few years back, and bought myself a subscription to Puerta del Sol, the Spanish-language program (see the link above at 'language' for a fun story about studying Spanish).

You'll receive a CD in the mail every other month. One episode featured an interview with a Roman bread-maker, while another covered the re-election of Silvio Berlusconi. The program has also touched on little-known artists such as Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi, and famous pop singers like Eros Ramazzotti.

Avviso: the audiomagazine is not for the novice because the entire CD is in Italian, and the show moves along at a pretty fast pace. I don't think it's the same speed as say the nightly TG1 but you need to have some fluency.

But it's fun! You can listen to the CDs in the car -- that's what I did -- or put them on at home while you clean or cook.


A Nashville, Tenn. company called Champs Elysees produces the programs (it also sells French and German programs). Go here if you're interested: http://www.champs-elysees.com/

I'll tell you about the second option tomorrow.

Nelfrattempo buon studio!

Il caffè che fa centro! (Guglielmo coffee)

Lavazza. It's probably the most famous brand of Italian coffee, and one of the most recognizable Italian brands. Or how about Illy? Some say it's the best coffee you can buy in Italy.

Well, these days I'm not drinking either of those famous brands. I'm drinking Guglielmo coffee. You know, il caffè che fa centro! (which means, the coffee that hits the spot).

Il Nostro Inviato bought it in Calabria last month, and it reminds me of Quarta caffe, the brand we drank when we were in Puglia (yes, I'm talking about Puglia again!). It's dark, like all espresso, but I think it's stronger than Lavazza and the other more well-known brands.

When we first opened it last week, Il Nostro Inviato said, "Oh it's so strong!"

And Ciambellina, che sa tutto, said, "No, it's just because we've just opened the package. Espresso always seems stronger when you first open the vacuum-sealed package."

Okay, I was wrong. (O l'ho detto!) Guglielmo is stronger! And it's great!

It's just one more fantastic culinary item enjoyed in southern Italy. (For those of you keeping track, that list includes taralli, Primitivo, Negroamaro, Aglianico, burrata and mozzarella di bufala, and sea urchin).

Guglielmo has just relaunched its American Web site, and it looks like at the very least the coffee is distributed in Massachusetts (where its American operations are based in Waltham), New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois. So if you live in any of those places, look out for Guglielmo.

If not, take a look at the Web site:
http://www.lespressousa.com/index.php

Botromagno Primitivo 2005

The 2005 Botromagno Primitivo is a great every-day wine.

Don't believe me? Well Gary V. of The Wine Library (yes, my favorite place to buy wine) says it's "the best house wine ever."

Gary V. is promoting it today for $12.99 a bottle.
"
The wine lover and rabid New York Jets fan says, "I really believe this is one of the best everyday wines I have come across in a long, long time. Primitivo is such an exciting grape for the money and all you Zinfandel fans need to pay attention and make sure you grab a case to have around the house!

Yes: he said Zinfandel. That's because the Primitivo and Zinfandel grapes are clones of the same variety. Hard to believe if you've ever suffered through some of the insipid white Zins favored by the ladies who lunch.

I've written quite a bit about Primitivo since my trip to Puglia last year. That's because in addition to being a great wine, and one I enjoyed in its original, beautiful home, it's much more affordable than a lot of the other Italian wines we can get our hands on here in the States.

And it always reminds me of what my friend Richard said about Chianti when I rented his apartment in Florence for a semester.

"That's the great hoax."

I don't mean to say I don't like Chianti, and I understand some will interpret his remark as blasphemy. But there are many other Italian wines that are really much better.

I've also pushed The Wine Library. Why? Lots of reasons -- including great prices, and a knowledgeable sales staff who don't push you into spending more than you want.

And the store and mini online empire is fronted by a person whom I would like to think is the new face of wine-drinking in America. Gary Vaynerchuk.

Just imagine: your classic American story -- son of a Russian immigrant makes good --combined with your classic New York guy. Not only is he a Jets fan, he's pronouncing the 'r' in coffee like you should.

And he makes these wacky videos about wine for the store's Wine Library TV. So you've got your classic New York wise guy extolling the virtues of a cab franc but sounding more like 'My Cousin Vinny' than some snobby, off-putting wine expert.

This is the way wine is in the rest of the world! Some people cite Robert Parker. I think I'll just cite Gary V.

One of the greatest things I ever witnessed occurred at my birthday party the year I lived in Richard's apartment, which was at the top of a medieval tower in the center of Florence.

At the party was a Florentine nobleman, who was a friend of my roommate, and an Italian friend who was a commercial truck driver. And they lost themselves in deep conversation about wine. They may have come from different walks of life but they shared a love of wine.

And afterwards, the nobleman, whose family's real estate holdings included vineyards that had been in the family for centuries, said he had never met anyone who knew as much about wine as the truck driver.

So check Gary out here: http://winelibrary.com
and here: http://garyvaynerchuk.com

Oh and have some Primitivo! Cin-Cin!

Buca delle Poste

E' solamente una foto della buca delle poste, ma per me è bella.

Forse dite, macchè?

Questa foto mi fa rallegrare parecchio perchè mi fa pensare a tutte le lettere e cartoline che ho scritto e imbucato durante il mio bellissimo soggiorno a Firenze.

O quante volte sono andata a piedi alle buche delle poste fuori dell'ufficio delle poste in piazza della Repubblica per spedire lettere ad amici e famigliari in USA, in Irlanda, in Inghilterra?

(Potete ben capire che andava sempre meglio se potevo imbucare una lettera lì fuori, senza entrare perchè appena entrata nell'ufficio delle poste, non mi fidavo che la mia lettera sarebbe mai arrivata alla destinazione, o perchè c'era una fila, o perchè i commessi non mi ispirivano).

Forse è un rito ben stabilito per tutte persone che vanno a vivere all'estero, non solamente quelle come me che hanno vissuto in Italia. Infatti ricordo di aver spedito un sacco di lettere e cartoline durante i miei soggiorni a Londra.

Ma quella buca rossa ora a vederla nella foto mi sembra così accogliente.

E c'era sempre scritta da un lato:
'Per la città'

E dall'altro:
'Per tutte le altre destinazioni'

Nota bene: Questa foto fu scattata dal Nostro Inviato, il mese scorso, mentre viaggiava per Calabria.

Dante Moment of the Day...Makes a Comeback

Buongiorno appassionati di Dante! Eccoci!

We will finally finish the chapter in which we met Charon, the white-haired ferryman, who attempted to block Dante's way through the Underworld.

In today's passage, Dante gives us a bleak description of souls who die "under the wrath of God," as Ciaran Carson wrote in his 2002 translation.

There are some fantastic turns of phrase here, starting from the very beginning: "They cursed god and the human race; and they cursed the time and the place and the seed of their birth."

Enjoy!

Bestemmiavano Dio e lor parenti,
l'umana spezie e 'l loco e 'l tempo e 'l seme
di lor semenza e di lor nascimenti.

Poi si ritrasser tutte quante insieme,
forte piangendo, a la riva malvagia
ch'attende ciascun uom che Dio non teme.

Caron dimonio, con occhi di bragia
loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie;
batte col remo qualunque s'adagia.

Come d'autunno si levan le foglie
l'una appresso de l'altra, fin che 'l ramo
vede a la terra tutte le sue spoglie,

similemente il mal seme d'Adamo
gittansi di quel lito ad una ad una,
per cenni come augel per suo richiamo.

Così sen vanno su per l'onda bruna,
e avanti che sien di là discese,
anche di qua nuova schiera s'auna.

«Figliuol mio», disse 'l maestro cortese,
«quelli che muoion ne l'ira di Dio
tutti convegnon qui d'ogne paese;

e pronti sono a trapassar lo rio,
ché la divina giustizia li sprona,
sì che la tema si volve in disio.

Quinci non passa mai anima buona;
e però, se Caron di te si lagna,
ben puoi sapere omai che 'l suo dir suona».

Finito questo, la buia campagna
tremò sì forte, che de lo spavento
la mente di sudore ancor mi bagna.

La terra lagrimosa diede vento,
che balenò una luce vermiglia
la qual mi vinse ciascun sentimento;

e caddi come l'uom cui sonno piglia.

Dante's Inferno, Canto III, 100-133

Our last Dante Moment of the Day came on Sept. 26 (yes, of last year, non ci posso credere!), if you want to see where we left off.

Next stop: CANTO IV!!!

Proposed Boycott of Jewish stores in Rome Shelved

A story from today's Il Corriere della Sera on a proposal, quickly rescinded, to boycott Jewish stores in Rome to protest the attacks in Gaza:

Boicottaggio dei negozi ebrei a Roma: Scoppia la polemica
Il sindacato Flaica precisa: «Non esiste nessuna lista né sarà diffusa». Sdegno del mondo politico.

ROMA - Una proposta rinnegata nell'arco di 24 ore. Il tempo sufficiente però per far alzare un polverone. È quella avanzata ieri dal sindacato Flaica-Uniti- Cub: boicottare i negozi della comunità israeliana a Roma per protesta contro l'attacco di Israele alla Striscia di Gaza.

Il segretario provinciale del sindacato Flaica Cub, Giancarlo Desiderati fa marcia indietro e tiene a precisare: «Non esiste né sarà diffusa nessuna lista dei negozi in cui non comprare perchè appartenenti ad esponenti della comunità israeliana».

Desiderati precisa che «non è mai stata nominata nei nostri comunicati la comunità ebraica Romana, a cui esprimiamo tutta la nostra solidarietà per le sofferenze che ha subito nel passato e che riconosciamo quale composta da cittadini e lavoratori onesti».

«Condanniamo - spiega Desiderati - a prescindere qualunque forma di antisemitismo di destra e di sinistra e siamo per l'integrazione completa di tutte le etnie culturali. Quello che proponiamo con la nostra iniziativa è il boicottaggio finale di Israele perchè chiunque usi mezzi militari contro civili inermi, sia palestinesi che israeliani, commette un crimine contro la vita umana: il boicottaggio economico deve impedire di continuare ad acquistare altri armi da guerra».

LO SDEGNO DEL MONDO POLITICO- «L'idea di proporre il boicottaggio dei negozi gestiti da cittadini romani di religione ebraica è aberrante e gravissima» afferma il presidente della Regione Lazio Piero Marrazzo. «Le liste di proscrizione delle attività commerciali - spiega - hanno il solo effetto di riportarci ad un passato agghiacciante, che non vogliamo più ripetere come se la storia non insegnasse niente.
Cosi si accetta una logica di guerra senza fine e senza orizzonti».

«Non è in questo modo - sottolinea Marrazzo - che si sostiene la causa palestinese nè tantomeno oggi la gente di Gaza. Cancellando tolleranza e rispetto dal proprio codice civile si facilita solo la cultura dello scontro e della barbarie. Alla Comunità ebraica di Roma e agli esercenti, esprimo la mia più forte vicinanza e solidarietà».

LA COMUNITA' EBRAICA - Il presidente della Comunità ebraica di Roma, Riccardo Pacifici, ha ringraziato il presidente della Provincia di Roma, Nicola Zingaretti che si è recato simbolicamente al ghetto, dopo le dichiarazioni del sindacato Flaica-Uniti-Cub.

Un gesto che Pacifici ha definito «di qualche folle che sappiamo rappresenta poco sia all'interno del sindacato che dei sentimenti della cittadinanza romana. Questo tuo gesto ci conforta e, come Comunità, ci teniamo pronti a fare qualunque cosa che possa portare a un clima di distensione nella città con tutte le forze politiche, con la società civile e, se posso dirlo, con il mondo islamico». «A scanso di equivoci - ha detto Zingaretti - era giusto lanciare un segnale perchè nessuno si può permettere di evocare atti o comportamenti dall'inequivocabile sapore antisemita e razzista».

«In questo caso - ha proseguito - la marginalità non può pretendere di avere sconti. È un atto intollerabile che va censurato: si tratta di posizioni isolate e sicuramente da condannare».

LA DENUNCIA -Il presidente della comunità ebraica romana Pacifici ha poi precisato che il sindacato Flaica-Uniti-Cub ha fatto un passo indietro correggendo il tiro sul boicottaggio annunciato.

Se nel comunicato originale si parlava di boicotaggio dei «negozi del commercio a Roma che si rifanno alla comunità israelitica» nella nuova versione diffusa giovedì mattina si citavano soltanto «i prodotti israeliani».

Questo non basta comunque ad evitare una denuncia - da parte dello stesso Pacifici - nei confronti del sindacato per istigazione all’odio razziale. «Il comunicato uscito già da tre giorni - ha spiegato il presidente della comunità ebraica - era sul boicottaggio delle merci e della comunità ebraica di Roma. La comunità - ha annunciato - farà querela secondo i criteri della legge Mancino per istigazione all’odio razziale. Per questo - ha puntualizzato - è stato cambiato il testo del messaggio in ’boicottaggio delle merci israeliane’.- Se c’è stato un ripensamento - ha aggiunto - ce lo spieghino meglio».

Lo stesso Pacifici ha distribuito le copie del primo comunicato diffuso della prima versione del comunicato della Flaica-Uniti-Cub nella quale si legge «boicottaggio degli acquisti dei negozi del commercio a Roma che si rifanno alla comunità israelitica romana molto diffusa nei negozi di abbigliamento a Roma».

IL SINDACO - Non è mancata la posizione del sindaco Alemanno: «Nell'esprimere una condanna quanto mai ferma e intransigente sull'ipotesi di boicottaggio dei negozi di proprietà di ebrei, ricordo agli ideatori di questa pessima trovata che analoghe iniziative sono già state prese, nella seconda metà degli anni '30 del secolo scorso e che hanno fatto da prodromo alle Leggi Razziali».

«Per ribadire la vicinanza mia personale e dell'intera città alla Comunità ebraica - ha proseguito il sindaco - mi recherò, insieme al presidente della comunità, Riccardo Pacifici, nei negozi di via del Corso e delle altre vie centrali di Roma».

Musical explosion from Puglia!

Some women visit the shoe store and go a little crazy.

Me? Well, every now and again I visit YouTube, and go a little crazy. That's because at times it can illustrate what I've seen and heard in Italy, and then allow me to share it with you on this blog (namely, Italian music).

When I returned from a vacation in Puglia in September of 2007, my mind was filled with entirely new images. I don't think that happens every day.

Afterall, I had already spent a lot of time in Italy. I had seen its countryside, its quaint towns, its majestic coastline.

But Puglia is something else entirely.

What captured my euphoria the best was a CD I bought in Lecce called "Glocalizm Vol I: Samples, Traditionals & Folk!!" (yes, the album title includes two exclamation points; see photo above).

It's traditional folk music from Puglia but remixed by Italian DJ Stefano Miele. That combination makes it hard to find in the States, and when I first returned from Puglia, I had trouble finding much on the Web about it.

Until now that is!

How often can we say we're hearing something we have NEVER heard before? How often can we say we've heard something out of this world?

One of the thrilling discoveries is the Arabic underpinning of the music.

It's part and parcel of a region that offers the same things as many other areas of Italy -- countless groves of olive trees; picturesque beachfront towns; simple but powerful food -- yet serves them all up in brilliant Technicolor and with a nod to a unique cultural history that's included for better or for worse long periods of domination by foreign invaders (i.e. the Moors).

Enjoy the videos that I posted! They bring us a little piece of Puglia right here on Ciambellina.

Rosapaeda al premio carosone (more music from Puglia)

Another song -- blessedly found on YouTube!!! -- from a great album I bought in Puglia. My first trip to the Southern Italian region introduced me to new food, new coffee, new wine, new music. Such a stunning place!

-30-

Iatrida

Buon Anno!

Buon anno cari amici e lettori di Ciambellina! Mi auguro che l'anno nuovo porterà un po' di serenità al mondo. Divertitevi stasera ovunque siate!

Happy New Year to all the faithful readers of Ciambellina and even to some of you who are not so faithful (I'm talking to you Babbo!). I hope the new year will bring a little calmness to our crazy planet. Have fun wherever you guys may be!

Buon Natale!

Sono appena tornata dalla festa di nozze del mio cugino, Tim, nel Texas, e sto per partire di nuovo, questa volta andando su per passare le feste con la mia famiglia, sparsa tra New Jersey, New York e Massachusetts.

Oggi devo finire di impacchettare i regali e disfare e rifare le valigie, però prima di partire, vi voglio fare gli auguri di buon natale e buon anno!



Cari lettori di Ciambellina, vi ringrazio di cuore per aver visitato il blog quest'anno e spero che continueremo nell'anno nuovo di condividere la nostra passione per l'Italia e tutto quello che ci offre di bello!



Buone feste!

Panettone

I opened the panettone. I wasn't going to. I bought it last week at the Whole Foods store on Ponce with the idea of bringing it somewhere as a special treat. 

But then I thought, well, I would like a special treat. Right here, right now. So I opened it, and still mulling over a long-awaited email I had received from a British friend this morning, I had a flashback to -- of course, what do you expect? -- the days when I lived in Florence and I would buy a panettone to bring for Christmas dinner. 

(Please understand, I lived in Florence just after college and I think those early years of adulthood, no matter where you spend them, remain disproportionately impressed upon the brain, perhaps because it's then that we launch our own independent lives, with their own rhythms and routines, separate from Mommy and Daddy). 

Specifically, I remembered going to order a specially-made panettone from a bakery on Borgo San Iacopo to bring to my British friend's family in Luxembourg. They had invited me to spend Christmas with them that first year that I lived in Florence, and as I counted down the days until I boarded the overnight train from Santa Maria Novella station, I made the rounds of neighborhood stores to pick up treats and gifts. 

I remember walking over to the bakery along the narrow, cobblestone street on the other side of the Arno from the Duomo, and pausing a moment in front of the glass storefront. You know the type, either from movies or real-life. It had a large front window through which you could see a display case full of Christmas delicacies and everyday pastries, and perhaps the baker had stuck his head out of the kitchen for a moment to share a laugh with the girl behind the counter. 

Condensation had formed on the window from the heat of the kitchen, and there was a clutch of older women, in their quilted jackets, identical grey, knee-length wool skirts, and sensible brown leather shoes, issuing specific instructions about the items they wanted. It seemed so evocative of city or village life, the neighborhood bakery. 

Ever since, I've always wanted to live in neighborhoods that are anchored by a bakery, but alas it's not so easy in America. And while I was cutting myself a piece of panettone this morning, I wondered why that chore had remained lodged deep inside my mind. Living in Italy, one would not find it unusual to buy a panettone. 

But I think the idea of rushing around town, preparing for Christmas, crossing chores off your list -- it all constitutes such a fundamental activity that it almost seems like a scene out of Dickens. 

Going to the neighborhood bakery and ordering a Christmas treat is as far as you can get from the suburban shopping mall or car traffic or the incessant intertwining of romance with the birth of Jesus (doesn't that seem a bit odd?). And it was enough just to breathe in the scent of the panettone this morning to unearth this memory. 

OK, so, if you buy a panettone this Christmas, you may not remember the same thing, but they are seasonal treats. And Lord knows, nothing is more Italian than eating a particular dish at a specific time of year -- and then not again until next year.

Buon Natale! Buon Anno!

-30-

Baraonda restaurant @ Atlanta

Sometimes you just crave a pizza.

I think that's how Francesco felt, even though he was about to return to Italy (He's the "Italian in Atlanta" I wrote about a few months back). I went out for a pizza with him, two other Italian colleagues and two Spanish colleagues a short while ago.

He chose Baraonda, which is in Midtown (a neighborhood in Atlanta) and has been in business since 2000. It offers your typical Italian pizza list -- Margherita, Capricciosa, Quattro Formaggi -- il solito.


I ordered something a little different without venturing too far from familiar territory --

pizza ortomisto (mixed fresh vegetables). The lighting was a bit dark, so I overcompensated with flash, resulting in the photo above (sigh). But I can tell you my pizza was good enough to savor at home in the form of leftovers.

The crust was especially good -- perfectly seasoned, chewy and substantial. And that's saying a lot because it's often the part of pizza that's the hardest to master in America (in part because of our water).

Il Nostro Inviato actually didn't like his as much as the rest of us (since he makes pizza a lot at home, I think he's a bit more discriminating). And I actually added olive oil and salt to mine, which I usually don't do.

But the three born-and-bred Italians who were with us ate every bite! Here's another look at their smiling faces:

Want to eat at Baraonda? Here's the info:

Baraonda Caffe Italiano
710 Peachtree Street (at 3rd St, Atlanta)
Phone: 404.879.9962

A Plea to save Advanced Placement Italian

As I've mentioned, I'm on a listserv for Italian teachers, and through it, I've watched an ongoing debate about the fate of Advanced Placement Italian, which they didn't have at my high school but I guess is now offered at some schools (though it's now on life-support because of a shortage of funds after only four years).

In one letter I received, an Italian teacher warned colleagues not to get caught up in the holiday rush if it means ignoring the thirty-year struggle to raise the profile of Italian studies, namely by maintaining the AP Italian program.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Carissimi Amici e Colleghi,

L’atmosfera festiva in cui già siamo immersi non ci deve assolutamente distrarre riguardo all’obbligo morale che abbiamo verso l’AP: una lotta che dura da più di trent’anni.

Se procediamo ciascuno per suo conto, non riusciremo mai a valorizzare l’italiano e a fare in modo che raggiunga gli stessi livelli di altre lingue, come la spagnola e la francese, che sono riuscite a mantenere per molti anni anche un AP in letteratura, mentre noi corriamo il rischio di veder svanire anche l’unico che possediamo, l’AP Language and Culture, e dopo soli quattro anni di vita.

Abbiamo perciò bisogno dell’impegno di ciascuno di voi, affinché gli studenti si iscrivano anno dopo anno all’esame di AP, in quanto solo l’incremento del numero degli studenti riuscirà a far diminuire i costi dovuti al College Board.

CONTIAMO SUL PREZIOSO AIUTO DI CIASCUNO DI VOI!

http://www.italianlanguagefoundation.org/


She does end on a positive note:

Buone feste!

Castagne

There are few things that remind me more of the autumn I spent living in the countryside outside of Pisa than the scent of chestnuts.

One night while I was living there, we holed up in the rectory of the tiny church across from my house, and Don Dante, who was the pastor, shared local wine and roasted chestnuts (castagne in Italian) with a dozen residents of the village. It was a wonderful fall ritual that a temporary resident -- me! -- happily observed and participated in.

That long-ago scene re-emerged yesterday when Il Nostro Inviato prepared the chestnuts you see in the photos here. They are actually from Italy! He bought them at Your Dekalb Farmers Market outside of Decatur.

Perhaps you, too, can adopt this as your own fall tradition, but you have to remember to score the chestnuts! Otherwise they will explode in the oven. So use a sharp knife to make the incisions (you can see the little slash marks in the chestnuts in the photo below), place the chestnuts on a cookie sheet, and then slide them into the oven for 20 minutes or so.

I find the power of scent almost humbling at times in its capacity to conjure up a time and a place so far from where you are now.

Just as chestnuts whisper, "Fall, 1995, Pisa" in my ear, so does that other autumnal smell, the scent of crops burning in the early evening.

Perhaps it may not seem very evocative, but I would inhale that scent as I biked through fields in the Pisan countryside that were still smoking. On my way back from the train station where I had just returned from a day trip to Florence, I felt like I was biking through a sepia-toned photo. Instead, I was just living my life, so fortunate to have found Italy.


Yay chestnuts!

Grazie

Oggi è la festa di ringraziamento in USA.

E' la festa che ricorda e celebra i primi giorni del nostro paese, quando, seconda la leggenda, i puritani fecero un cenone con gli indiani per ringraziare Dio che avevano infatti sopravvissuto un'inverno bruttissimo.

Come potete immaginare, è anche un giorno quando noi ringraziamo Dio (o chiunque) per la nostra salute, per le nostre famiglie, per tutte le cose che a volte rendono la vita bella.

Allora che c'entra la torta nella foto quassù?

Vabbè, tocca a noi portare i dolci (ed il vino!) per la cena, che si avrà luogo per noi quest'anno alla casa dei genitori del fidanzato della mia amica Beth, e quindi Il Nostro Inviato ha preparato la torta di mele tipicamente americana.

Per quanto riguarda il vino, portiamo una bottiglia di Santa Cristina! Un po' di Toscana ce la portiamo dietro ovunque andiamo!

(Quella torta nella foto è la torta che lui aveva preparato domenica scorsa per practica. Era buonissima!).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Due anni!!! (Blog birthday)

Sono due anni che scrivo questo blog!

Sì, sì, Ciambellina compie 2 anni questo mese.

Me ne sono accorta proprio ora quando ho dato un'occhiata al mio profilo personale (che di solito non guardo).

Eh, vabbè, spero che il blog continui a piacervi ed ad offrirvi qualcosa di bello ogni tanto. 

Sappiamo tutti che il mondo spesso non è un posto molto divertente, quindi dobbiamo noi cercare a rallegrarci ed a volte anche sollevarci.

Il mio scopo per il blog è sempre stato di mantenere la mia conoscenza della lingua, e forse anche far crescere un desiderio fra altri americani di impararla.

Sapete di già, se leggete questo blog anche solo di passaggio, che parlare in italiano, leggere libri o addirittura qualsiasi cosa in italiano, e conoscere gli italiani -- tutt'e tre mi sollevano, mi ispirano e mi divertono moltissimo.

Anzi, a bestia!

Credo che la conoscenza di qualsiasi lingua straniera possa darvi un piacere intenso, e possa far una squisita parte della vita. Ma come straniera che ha imparato l'italiano da adulta, io vi posso dire che la lingua italiana è cosa unica.

Allora faccio auguri a me stessa e a tutti voi!

Dove abito ora: foto

Una statua al cimeterio nel mio vicinato.


Una veduta del centro di Atlanta dal parco nel mio vicinato.


Una scultura pubblica di Sol Le Witt ad Atlanta.

Berlusconi -- An Inspiration to So Many

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been in the news lately, namely for calling American President-Elect Barack Obama "sun-tanned."

His reveling in a disco as financial markets crashed was also mentioned in a story in the New York Times last month, which we linked to here.

Now, some Italians feel they need to speak up, if only to say Berlusconi is not speaking in their name.

And they have launched a Web site called, drumroll please, I'm Italian and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Is Not Speaking in My Name.

The site is a series of photos of Italians as they hold signs saying, appunto, that Berlusconi does not speak for them! Here's the link:

http://www.notspeakinginmyname.com

Allora, ripeto: chi lo vota e perché? Fatevi sentire!

Berlusconi's also the subject of a new article in last week's New Yorker by Alexander Stille, a respected historian. The story summarizes reporting seen elsewhere, including Berlusconi's visit to the disco, and gives Americans a good survey of just how wacky this guy is!

How wacky is he? Well the story is called, ahem, "Girls! Girls! Girls!"

You can find an abstract at the link below, but you need to register to read the whole story:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/03/081103fa_fact_stille

Ah il Berlusca!

Vespa Watch continues....

Pretty fancy, huh?

I saw this Vespa at the Martin Luther King Jr. Natatorium @ Boulevard in Atlanta. The owner said it was modeled on 1970s British police vehicles. Really? I'm out of my league now -- I have no idea what 1970s British police vehicles look like!

But I do know a cool Vespa when I see one!

Buona domenica ragazzi!

In giro per Atlanta: la Vespa!

I'm officially launching Vespa Watch. If I see a Vespa in my travels around Atlanta, I will take a photo of it!

I just love to see a little touch of Italy in my city!

Stay tuned for other photos.

Un Italiano ad Atlanta per OBAMA

Si, c'è un ragazzo italiano qui ad Atlanta che è un gran sostenitore di Barack Obama, il candidato democratico per il presidente in USA (forse avete sentito dire?!)

Lui si chiama Simone e viene da un paese vicino ad Ancona che si chiama Urbisaglia.

Io l'ho conosciuto un mese fa tramite una amica, e da quando è arrivato, non fa altro che attività di volontariato per Obama. Ha fatto delle chiamate, è andato a bussare alle porte per convincere la gente di votare Obama -- ha fatto tutto.

Manda degli aggiornamenti via email ad altri 300 sostenitori sparsi per il mondo -- alcuni qui, la maggior parte in Italia.

E tramite il suo blog, sparge la voce per evenimenti che hanno a che fare con Obama. Per esempio, ho letto stamani che a Parigi oggi ci sarà un "Nuit Obama" al Tennis Club Couvert (l'indirizzo è 42 avenue du Général de Gaulle).

Stasera, Simone aspetterà i risultati delle elezioni -- come il resto del mondo.

Happy Halloween!

Auguri di Halloween da Ciambellina e Fiona!
(Questa gattona sonnolenta si chiama Fiona, nel caso che non avevi capito).

Il Biscotto Americano

Voi in Italia vi potete vantare di piatti gustossimi come gli spaghetti alle vongole; il risotto alla milanese; e la bistecca alla fiorentina. Per mangiare, c'è anche la gorgonzola, la schiacciata e il bombolone.

Per quanto riguarda la cucina e la buona tavola, siete messi bene.

Ma c'è qualcosa, forse una sola cosa, che abbiamo in America che è un capolavoro gustoso.

Vi presento i biscotti con scaglie di cioccolato -- il biscotto classico americano (Da noi si chiama il chocolate chip cookie).

L'ho trovato qualche volta quando vivevo a Firenze, e i blogghisti italiani hanno pubblicato parecchie ricette in rete. Ma non è un dolce molto comune da voi. Da noi, invece sì. Io auguro che almeno una volta abbiate occasione di gustare questa delizia americana.

Semplicissima da preparare: ci vogliono la farina, due tipi di zucchero, il cioccolato, l'essenza vaniglia (estratto) e poche altre cose.

Io li preparo spesso d'inverno perché col loro profumo in aria, la casa sa di infanzia, ed il sapore non delude mai. Difatti, faceva un po' freddo l'altro giorno, e mi avanzava un po' tempo e quindi mi sono messa a fare i biscotti. Guardate la foto insù.

E poi oltre al caffe latte che preparo tutti i giorni, è una delle poche cose che faccio in cucina che fa impazzire al Nostro Inviato.

Infatti lui fa parecchio il goloso quando li preparo e mangia qualche biscotto ogni giorno. Va a finire che si ingrassa ma a me non importa. L'importante è che gli piacciano.

Sto leggendo: "Il Segreto di Luca" di Ignazio Silone

Food, glorious food -- Weekend edition!

Ciambellina and Il Nostro Inviato were very busy in the kitchen this weekend.

Take a look at what we cooked up! (Or ate; we are not against eating good food other people have made).

From the top, Farro salad with Fried Cauliflower and Prosciutto. A bit of an unusual recipe, in large part because the star is farro, or spelt -- something we don't eat much in America. 

The fried cauliflower were delicious, though it wasn't easy to reach the high-frying temperature needed.

Poi: pizza fatta in casa -- homemade pizza. The photo is not the best but the homemade crust, the thickly-cut prosciutto and the caramelized onions were indeed the best.



We washed it all down with a bottle of Planeta La Segreta 2006, which is from Sicily.

Last but not least, gelato. Yes, Italian ice cream -- and my favorite flavor, no less: nocciola (hazelnut).


For you local folks, I bought it at Your Dekalb Farmers Market, which I dare say may be a bit like Eataly in Torino, except there are foods from every corner of the globe, and lots of local produce as well. Not sure why, but the Ciao Bella brand uses the plural of the word (nocciole), which I have never seen in Italy.

But the gelato is good! And you can't beat that name (you could translate it as, "Hi Gorgeous!").

Somehow we still found time for a spin in the Little Red Car. The weather in Atlanta lately has been absolutely fabulous -- Alfa Romeo convertible weather, as you can see.



Buon appetito!

NYT: Italy's Premier Riding High

The New York Times had an interesting and frightening article the other day on the expanded power -- on top of already expansive power -- the financial crisis has handed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Reading it, I started humming the Simon and Garfunkel tune, "Still Crazy After All These Years."

The link is below but to get just a taste of Il Cavaliere, read the beginning of the story:

"This month, as markets plummeted and investors panicked, Italy’s billionaire prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, watched shares in some of his own companies nose-dive 40 percent. Yet he seemed buoyant as ever, reveling until dawn at a disco in Milan after returning from a meeting with European leaders on how to tackle the financial crisis.

“If I sleep for three hours, I still have enough energy to make love for another three,” the newspaper La Repubblica quoted him as telling the younger crowd.

The link is below.

Italy’s Crisis Has Premier Riding High
By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: October 22, 2008
Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is getting a boost to his political fortunes from the economic crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/world/europe/22italy.html?
partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Wine Library offers free shipping for Aglianico Sannio

The Wine Library, that crazy wine supermarket in New Jersey that's run by the zany Gary V. (who's been getting a lot of attention lately), is offering free shipping tomorrow on an Aglianico that Ciambellina actually bought a case of earlier this year.


Villa Carafa Aglianico Sannio 04

I can wholeheartedly recommend this wine! Particularly at $14.98. I don't know why I did not write about this wine previously, but I would suspect it's because of the low quality of the photo I've posted here!

I am so pleased that Aglianico is getting the attention it deserves. More importantly, it's available in many places now in the U.S. -- or just order it from The Wine Library. This particular wine I did not drink when I was in Campania last year, but we tried many other Aglianicos, and they did not disappoint.

I do not lend Ciambellina's endorsement lightly. I have shopped at the Wine Library, ordered wines from this store and built wonderful Christmas baskets of goodies at this store.

The folks who work there are the type of people who find a great wine in YOUR budget. One of those stores where they greet you right away and ask you if you want help. If you don't, no problem. If you do, you will be treated right.

As Gary V. notes, this particular wine was not tested by the New York Times for its article on Aglianico in September (which I wrote about). But I would guess that's because the NYT typically skews more expensive. They are only going to include one wine in the $15 range, and they chose a different one.

For more information, visit http://winelibrary.com or call 888-980-9463.

Wine Library
586 Morris Avenue
Springfield, NJ 07081

Dove abito ora: Halloween Parade

C'è una zona di Atlanta dove tu puoi vedere un po' di tutto sempre, tutti i giorni all'anno. C'è sempre un po' di caos lì.

I punk, i ragazzacci che fumano le canne, i rasta, le lesbiche che odiano gli uomini, le persone coperte di tattuaggi, i ragazzi col orecchino per il naso -- ogni tipo di persona c'è in questa zona (il quale mi piace moltissimo -- voglio bene a tutti).

Allora, potete immaginare com'è per la festa di Halloween, l'unico giorno da noi quando tutto è lecito? Che si fa quando gli è permesso di scatenarsi?

Vi faccio vedere.

Sabato io e il Nostro Inviato siamo andati ad una sfilata per la vigilia di Ognissanti (tenuta in anticipo, non so perché, ma ormai qui in USA si festeggia la festa di Halloween quasi tutto il mese d'ottobre) in questa zona della città (si chiama Little Five Points), e non eravamo delusi.

C'era veramente tutto -- anche la musica tradizionale di una sfilata americana (cioè, c'era la banda liceale che marciava in corteo -- vedete la foto in fondo).



La cosa che mi rallegra è la grandissima fantasia della gente. Che bello!



Oh and strike up the band!



Happy Halloween ragazzi!

Alla ricerca dei motorini @ Atlanta

Domenica il 5 ott., all'incrocio fra Oakland Ave. e Woodward Ave., Atlanta, Ga. USA!

Il Nostro Inviato è bravo! Or Christmas in October

Il Nostro Inviato recently returned from a trip to Milan and he did not disappoint little Ciambellina.

Like Babbo Natale, he brought back all of her favorite things!

Looking at the photo, you can see I've hit the jackpot of Italian culinary, periodical and grooming treasures.

Left to right, among the items you see are tarallini (a dry, olive-oil based snack that comes from Puglia); La Settimana Enigmistica, the most awesome puzzle magazine I have ever seen (and so widely available in Italy -- on the newsstand, bought by everyone); lots of wine; two types of coffee (Segafredo, which is a large national brand and Chicco D'Oro, which I have never had); foot cream from L'Erbolario Lodi; and Vie Del Gusto magazine.

Seriously folks, these are my favorite things.

I want to draw your attention to something that may strike Americans as unusual.

It's vino sfuso. It's bulk wine that has not been bottled ... and it comes in a little box! Apparently Il Nostro Inviato sampled so much of it while he was "shopping" that he felt compelled to bring some home.

Vino sfuso has not undergone many of the standardizing processes such as bottling and pasteurization that ensure quality and are hence part of Italy's wine certification system (DOC and DOCG, for example). That means it's an adventure (and a cheap one at that).

The wine shop in Milan where he bought the vino sfuso -- La Vineria -- is on Via Casale in the Navigli section of Milan, which is a cool, gentrifying area of the city that's centered around an old canal.

The wine shop, which vigorously defends bulk wine and calls pasteurization and other standard wine processes unsafe, has received attention from lots of magazines in Italy. You can visit the shop's Web site here http://www.la-vineria.it

And here's something else he bought there:

A bottle of 2007 Oltrepò Pavese Bonarda. We first drank Oltrepò Pavese when we visited Milan back in 2004. It's just a wee bit fizzy and a whole lotta wonderful.

I will wrap up this post here. Time to enjoy all of my wonderful regali!

Umberto Eco @ Emory (lecture 2)

Umberto Eco gave the second of three lectures at Emory University in Atlanta Monday:

 
"Author, Text and Interpreters." 

He elicited frequent laughter from the good-sized crowd, particularly when he described a common interaction he has with translators of his books.

Eco, (seen at center in the photo above, speaking with Italian professors following the lecture) said a translator will often contact him to say a particular passage is ambiguous.

Eco said he can respond in one of three ways. First, he said, he might say, "Oh excuse me, please disregard. I'm glad you discovered that -- it was a mistake." (The academic crowd laughed wholeheartedly hearing this response because Eco, author of Foucault's Pendulum and The Name of The Rose, is known for writing books that have myriad meanings and literary allusions that reference ancient Latin, the Bible and countless other texts.).

Or he can respond, "The ambiguity is intentional."

Last but not least, he said, he may respond by saying the ambiguity was unintentional but as a reader he finds it "intriguing" so please keep it in the translated work!

He said readers "find" meanings in his texts that he does not intend. He has often tried to explain why a particular meaning does not make sense, in the hopes of dissuading them, but he finds, "I was wrong!"

In my previous post on Eco's appearance at Emory, I neglected to write about the lecture series, which is named for Richard Ellmann, the distinguished biographer of James Joyce and a one-time Emory professor.

Ellmann's biography of James Joyce is considered the gold standard for biographies and an essential text for anyone with any interest in the Irish writer. I have the book at home -- I borrowed it from my father as a senior in college when I took a course on James Joyce, and, woops, just never gave it back.

You might think how interesting could a biography be? Read this one and you'll find out.

Thanks for reading!

Ciambellina: Why the changes?

Hi,
I'm following up today with an English version of a post I wrote yesterday about changes on Ciambellina.

I've added links to Amazon.com and I want to explain why.

I had noticed on sites such as http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/
that bloggers were posting images of the things they loved, and I wanted to do that!

I finally stumbled upon the Amazon Associates program and found out that one way to post such images was to provide links to these products on the Amazon.com site.

That means two things. First, I'm able to show you what I love about Italy and also show you the path to buying these things, if you're interested. Some of these items are hard to find in America, and it's cool to know you can order them through a trusted site.

It also means if you were to buy something, I would receive a portion of the price.

But it's important to me to state that that was never my goal or interest, and I have no expectations that anyone will buy any of these things. Showing pretty pictures of cool Italian stuff was and is my goal. Perhaps there is another way to do it, and if you have suggestions, let me know.

In any event, I hope the semi-commercialization of the site does not offend you, and you are perfectly within your rights to totally ignore the links. But do me a favor, and just look at the pretty pictures!

Because when I look at them -- the cover of my book on Boccioni, the jar of honey, my beloved Italian coffee-maker -- I feel good!

Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Umberto Eco in Atlanta

Umberto Eco, the well-known Italian author of "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault’s Pendulum" and a professor of semiotics at the University of Bologna, has been tapped to provide a series of lectures at Emory University, which is in Atlanta.

You know, where I live now. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

The lectures take place this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Is Ciambellina going to the lectures? Is the Pope Catholic? (Very Catholic, last I checked).

Here are some details from Emory's press release:

Eco's lecture series is titled "Confessions of a Young Novelist," a way of letting his audience know that he has been writing novels for a relatively short time, says Ronald Schuchard, Goodrich C. White Professor of English, who directs the lecture series named for the late literary scholar and Emory Woodruff Professor Richard Ellmann.

"I don't think people have heard Eco talk this way before," Schuchard says of the lectures. "It's an exciting first for Emory to have him come and tell us about his writing life."

Eco's first lecture, "How I Write," will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5 in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a reception on Patterson Green, adjacent to Goizueta Business School.

Monday's lecture, "Author, Text and Interpreters," is scheduled at 8:15 p.m. in Glenn Memorial Auditorium. Tuesday's lecture, "On the Advantages of Fiction for Life and Death," will be at 4 p.m. in the Schwartz Center, followed by a reading and book signing beginning at 8:15 p.m., also at the Schwartz Center.

Admission is free to the public.

For more information, see www.emory.edu/ellmann

Sei Toscano se....

(Ah the legacy of Jeff Foxworthy!)

Dalla nostra amica, Ilaria, che è toscanissima!

Sei Toscano se.... ("You're from Tuscany if....")

Sei Toscano se...ti scappa detto un: 'maremma maiala!' anche quando non dovresti.

Sei Toscano se ... hai sempre la battuta pronta...

Sei Toscano se ... sei stanco della 'coha hola con la hannuccia horta horta'...

Sei Toscano se.. mangi i crostini neri fatti con i fegatelli...

Sei Toscano se.. oltre alla C strascicata, basta muoversi di qualche chilometro per sentire l'accento che cambia: si passa da un 'boia deh!' di Livorno, ad un 'icchè tu vvoi, icchè tu dici...' di Firenze, ad un 'maiala!' di Siena..ad un 'Alò' di Arezzo e chi più ne ha, più ne metta!..

Sei Toscano se.. sai fare le imitazioni degli accenti della tua regione..

Sei Toscano se.. riesci a sdrammatizzare tutte le peggio situazioni con una battuta...

Sei Toscano se.. alla fiera mangi i brigidini...

Sei Toscano se.. a Natale mangi cantuccini e li inzuppi nel vin santo.

Sei Toscano se.. pensi 'noi in toscana abbiamo tutto, mare montagne colline'...

Sei Toscano se.. ti senti orgoglioso del tuo accento, anche quando ti prendono in giro...

Sei Toscano se.. pensi 'eh, ma noi si!!! noi parliamo l'italiano, l'italiano puro!!!'

Sei Toscano se.. sai che tra livornesi e pisani c'è l'odio...

Sei Toscano se.. tutti ti fanno i complimenti per l'accento...

Sei Toscano se.. dici A ME MI...

Sei Toscano se.. ti vanti di esser della stessa regione di Ceccherini, Nuti, Pieraccioni, Benigni, Dante e Leonardo...

Sei Toscano se.. quando ti dicono 'Voi toscani non avete un dialetto', tu rispondi in dialetto stretto e loro 'un'intendano nulla'!

Sei Toscano se.. quando ti imitano nel modo di parlare, rispondi con un sorriso: 'E un ti riesce, gnamo, t'insegno io..'

Sei Toscano se.. almeno una volta da piccolo sei andato al Carnevale di Viareggio...

Sei Toscano se.. dici 'ma che ssei grullo?'...

Sei Toscano se.. mangi i cenci...

Sei Toscano se.. esclami 'SIE!' quando qualcuno spara una cazzata..

Sei Toscano se.. i verbi li dici a metà o li abbrevi: FO, VO, VEDE', ANDA', VENI' ecc ecc...

Sei Toscano se.. dici 'I su fratello', 'Mi mà', 'I mi babbo' o 'Mi pà', 'I
mi amico'...

Sei Toscano se.. dici 'CHETATI!' parecchio convinto invece di 'stai zitto!'...

Sei Toscano se.. chiami la sigaretta 'CICCHINO'...

Sei Toscano se.. mangi le Pappardelle Al Sugo di Cinghiale o di Lepre...

Sei Toscano se.. sai fare sempre casino, metti allegria e sei molto accogliente con le persone...

Sei Toscano se.. chiami 'CENCIO' lo straccio per pulire...

Sei Toscano se.. chiami 'GRANATA' la scopa...

Sei Toscano se.. quando non te ne importa nulla di una cosa dici: 'MA M'IMPORTA UNA SEGA'...

Sei Toscano se.. soprattutto sei fiero di esserlo!!

-30-

Today's Dante Moment of the Day

We continue our journey with Charon, the white-haired ferryman, who has attempted to block Dante's way through the Underworld. Virgil, Dante's trusted guide, says not so fast Charon.

E 'l duca lui: «Caron, non ti crucciare:
vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare».

Quinci fuor quete le lanose gote
al nocchier de la livida palude,
che 'ntorno a li occhi avea di fiamme rote.

Ma quell' anime, ch'eran lasse e nude,
cangiar colore e dibattero i denti,
ratto che 'nteser le parole crude.

Bestemmiavano Dio e lor parenti,
l'umana spezie e 'l loco e 'l tempo e 'l seme
di lor semenza e di lor nascimenti.

Poi si ritrasser tutte quante insieme,
forte piangendo, a la riva malvagia
ch'attende ciascun uom che Dio non teme.

Caron dimonio, con occhi di bragia
loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie;
batte col remo qualunque s'adagia.

Dante's Inferno, Canto III, 91-108

Our last Dante Moment of the Day came on Sept. 2, if you want to see where we left off.

Noia o disappunto

noia o disappunto
Inserito originariamente da g_u

Ho trovato questa foto oggi sul sito fotografico, Flickr. C'è da dire che a volte la vita è veramente dura. Su, coraggio!

Il Tempo di Morire

C'è voluta solamente una decina di anni ma finalmente Il Nostro Inviato ha capito che Lucio Battisti è bravo e che la sua canzone "Il Tempo Di Morire" è mitica.

Gliel'ho detto che la canzone piace alla nostra amica Ilaria, e credo che l'abbia finalmente convinto che la canzone è forte!

Chissà? Forse fra poco capirà che la canzone "L'America" di Gianni Nannini è altrettanto mitica!

Nota bene: Il Nostro Inviato è partito l'altro ieri per Milano. Gli auguro un buon viaggio e aspetto con anticipazione quali regali lui riporti a casa.

Il libro che sto leggendo: La Bella Figura di Beppe Severgnini

Stefano Ramunno, artista

A long time ago, I wrote a post about an artist based in Florence by the name of Stefano Ramunno.

He creates drawings and watercolors of some of Florence's most famous sites, but he does it with a bit of whimsy.

One drawing features the Duomo in the background, and a clothesline with a clergy's garments drying in the breeze in the foreground. I bought a bunch of small watercolors from him, some framed, some not, and I gave them as gifts or hung them around the house.

Reading back through old comments, I realized a Ciambellina reader very helpfully posted Stefano's Web site.

Here it is:

http://www.stefanoramunno.it/

His shop remains at Via Romana, 18-20r, Florence.

As someone who lived in Florence, I can tell you his works make the perfect keepsake. Here's a photo (above) of one of the works I bought from him.

Aglianico in The New York Times tomorrow

The Wines of the Times column tomorrow will feature wines made from the aglianico grape.

Hey, Ciambellina readers: you read about it here a year ago!

We drank a lot of aglianico in Campania last year when we were visiting the town near Benevento that was the birthplace of Il Nostro Inviato's grandfather.

The article even mentions a wine producer I wrote about a few weeks ago: Tormaresca (though the Times drank a bottle from 2003, not 2006).

It just shows that Eric Asimov and I are on the same page. Heck, we even attended the same college!

Anyway, here's the article:

Wines of The Times
An Italian Name Worth Practicing
By ERIC ASIMOV
Published: September 17, 2008
Aglianico wines, the leading red grape of southern Italy, seem to pass unnoticed by most people, which is a shame because they have so much pleasure to offer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/dining/reviews/17wine.html?ex=1379217600&en=0df158d5406a56be&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Nino Franco Prosecco is here!

By that, I mean Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco di Valdobbiadene -- one of my favorite, favorite wines, and one of Italy's best exports -- is for sale at Kroger.

You know, the run-of-the-mill, not in any way high-end supermarket chain.

That Kroger! I saw it today while I was picking up a few things.

As Bob Dylan said, the times, they are-a-changin!

Of course, a bottle at Kroger costs $15.48, which Ciambellina knows is not a good price. I've bought it at the Wine Library in New Jersey for around $13.90.

But still. It's one more step in the Italianification of America!

Let's hear it for the Bel Paese!

Firenze

firenze
Inserito originariamente da b3bò

I found this photo -- taken in Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence -- on Flickr and thought it was pretty cool. My thoughts -- 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' meets the city of Dante.

Italian Conversation Club -- of Atlanta!

Ieri sera ho parlato italiano dalle 8,00 fino alle 11,00!

E non sono dovuta andare in Italia o a New York.

Ero qui ad Atlanta!

Sono andata ad una cena organizzata dal Italian Conversation Club. Una volta al mese si organizza una cena qui ad Atlanta alla casa di un socio, con l'idea che si deve parlare italiano.

Infatti, all'ingresso, c'era un cartello su cui c'era scritto: "Qui si parla italiano."

In practica c'erano tante persone che invece parlavano inglese, ma io ho incontrato quasi subito un ragazzo da Moldova che parla bene l'italiano e Francesco, un ingegniere da Biella, e quindi ho potuto practicare alla grande!

Alla cena, c'era una trentina di persone -- Americani, Italiani, Europei, vecchi, giovani, pensionati, professionisti. Il club ha 1,200 soci!

E si mangiava bene! Il padrone di casa, Michele che è nato in Sicilia, ha preparato le melanzane grigliate (che erano squisite!), la pizza, gli spaghetti al pomodoro, insalata di mare fredda, ed un sacco di altri piatti.

Per entrare, bisogna o portare da mangiare o bere, o pagare $10. Mi sembra giusto -- se avessi pagato, avrei fatto un affare perché ad una ristorante avrei speso di più per pagare tutto quello che ho mangiato.

Io invece ho portato una bottiglia di dolcetto.

Conviene probabilmente spargere la voce in inglese ma ieri sera ho parlato italiano per tre ore e oggi non voglio fare altro!

Va bene: Looking for more information about the Italian Conversation Club?

www.ciancia.org

The site is actually chock full of information. It provides detailed instructions about hosting an Italian Conversation Club event. For example, your house should be able to hold 100 to 200 people! I'm trying to think if somehow our house could hold 100 people.....hmmm...

I think the next meeting/dinner will take place in Midtown (Atlanta) and I will post information about it as it gets closer.

Buon appetito e buon studio!

Uva di Troia

Uva di Troia or Nero di Troia -- I've seen it now both ways -- is a grape grown primarily in southern Italy that makes for a great wine.

We first enjoyed Uva di Troia last year when we traveled through Puglia. Please note, kind readers, it's thought to have originated in Ancient Troy, hence the name.

Il Nostro Inviato found a bottle of Nero di Troia at the Dekalb Farmers Market here in Atlanta Saturday and we promptly drank it that night.

It was good! It's a hearty red, which went well with the grilled chicken and pasta he had prepared.

(Looking over this post, I realize I've neglected to mention another minor reason we like to drink Uva di Troia: the word troia in Italian means hoebag! You know, bitch. Che brutta troia. Kind of funny. He he he.)

Uva di Troia was one of three types of wine that we drank throughout Puglia -- the other two being Primitivo and Negroamaro. What's interesting is these wines are already making their way into bottle shops and restaurants in the U.S.

I don't know what you're drinking at dinner, but I would put aside the Merlot, the Shiraz, the Cabernet Sauvignon, and try these wines. You won't be disappointed!

Here are the details:

Bottaccia Puglia IGT 2005 Nero di Troia
Torre Quarto -- Cerignola (FG)
13 percent alcohol by volume

Berlusconi loses libel suit against The Economist

I can't find any word of this on the Corriere della Sera but Reuters is reporting that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has lost his lawsuit against The Economist, which in 2001 said he was unfit to lead Italy.

I remember that story -- I still have it!

Here's the story from Reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lost a defamation suit he brought against The Economist over a 2001 cover story that accused him of being "unfit to lead Italy," the British news magazine said on Friday.

Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, was ordered to pay The Economist's legal costs of 25,000 euros ($35,760) after a Milan court rejected his libel claims.

The Economist's April 26, 2001, edition ran a front page photo of the media mogul with the headline: "Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy."

It accused him of having conflicts of interest, analyzed his business empire and detailed trials against him, in an issue which came out just ahead of elections that Berlusconi won.

"They (The Economist's arguments) fully fall within the right to criticize, which is guaranteed by Article 21 of the constitution," Milan Judge Angelo Ricciardi wrote, in a copy of the ruling.

Berlusconi's attorney said he would lodge an immediate appeal.

"The Milan court is, in fact, mistaken in ruling lawful an article which in reality should have been considered offensive to the Honorable Berlusconi and was peppered with unfounded assertions," Fabio Lepri said in a statement.

"It is not by chance that the words of the Economist periodical, published shortly before the 2001 elections, have been disproved many times by the votes of the Italian people."

The judgment will do nothing to soften the conservative billionaire's frequent criticism of both the media and Italian judges, who he claims have unfairly targeted him since he entered politics in the early 1990s.

The Economist has repeatedly launched broadsides against Berlusconi, whose business empire spans television, publishing, film and top flight soccer team A.C. Milan.

Just before he narrowly lost his bid for re-election in 2006, the magazine ran a cover story saying "Basta, Berlusconi" ("Enough, Berlusconi"). When snap polls approached in April 2008, it told voters Berlusconi was "still unfit" to lead Italy.

The magazine accused the conservative billionaire in July of using his third term as prime minister largely to pursue his "personal and corporate interests."

The headline was "Berlusconi fiddles, Italy burns" and displayed a caricature of him in the likeliness of Roman emperor Nero.

"There is no hint of debate on the liberalizing measures that Italy's hidebound economy badly needs," it wrote.

Italy's economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of the year compared with the first, and Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti has said growth will be "around zero" in 2008, underperforming the euro zone average.