In the last two years, Italy has been literally flooded by cake design.
I still do not know if I like those cakes full of sugar (personally I’m a dark chocolate addict, to me the rest is just decoration). But bakeries and parties are more and more crowded with these little pastry sculptures which are definitively a pleasure to look at. This is a creation a friend made for a birthday party.

David, with a little help from a friend (http://instacanv.as/zoopo), made this cake inspired by the English series Peppa Pig. Believe it or not, this young designer hasjust entered the cake design world!

For those always on a diet, like me, the question is not whether these cakes are good or not. Justlook at them baby and finish your low-carb plate while chatting. Coco Chanel would be proud of you!

In a hurry? Need to prepare something quick, funny, nice and yummy?
Here is an idea for a quick watermelon shaped ice-cream.

Go to an Italian gelateria (you don’t need to reveal that you have to your guests) and buy these ice-cream tastes:

• 250g of mint or pistachio
• 250g of coconut, yoghurt or milk
• 250g of watermelon or strawberry
• 50g of chocolate drops

Take a bowl and cover the inside with baking paper. Then start filling it with a layer of the green ice-cream. Then, prepare a second layer with the white ice-cream. Mix the reddish ice-cream with the chocolate drops and place that into the bowl too. After letting it rest in the freezer for at least 3 hours, place the bowl upside down on the worktop and lift the bowl away. You should now have a dome-shaped dessert.

And once you will cut it, you’ll see a watermelon.

Serving tips: invite only people you like. Eating must be a pleasure, as Simonetta Agnello Hornby says in her latest book “La cucina del buon gusto”, the cuisine of good taste.

Music for fine lovers: Giusy Ferreri “Non ti scordar mai di me”

“Never forget about me, after all, we were a couple”.

If I had to describe Italian cuisine with one word, I’d say: easy.

Easy to prepare. The secret behind it is the way you match ingredients. But I don’t think it is possible to explain it. Or at least, for an Italian, the ingredient matching is something we have in our DNA; probably due to the fact that we learnt from our ancestors how to prepare pasta or meat or even a simple salad.

During lunch I had to dress my green, crunchy, thus boring salad. There was some parmesan cheese on the table… so, oplà! My veggie portion has turned into a delicious green salad with parmesan flakes and balsamic vinegar.

Isn’t it simple? Yummie though. And don’t forget to use high quality products like real parmesan cheese or vinegar from Modena. Italians do not respect cheap ingrediants.

Mariano and I met when I used to attend cicap meetings (yes I am sceptic and yes I support the Italian committee whose aim is to reveal those frauds who claim to have paranormal powers).
Describing or even introducing Mariano is not easy. If I had to compare him to an historical personality, I would chose Pico Della Mirandola, the philosopher and literate known for his encyclopaedic knowledge and his capability to recite Dante’s entire Comedy from end to beginning. (continua…)

As I drove my niece to school every morning this week, I’ve found the school street, Via San Donato, spread with colourful chairs.

On every chair there was a strange logo that stated +space +time

I thought it was some viral campaing from a furniture company. (continua…)

For every one of the 150 years since Italian Unification, my city Torino has decided to open a pavilion in the middle of Piazza Vittorio, the biggest square of Europe, to display a miniature Italy made of… chocolate.

We are known as the ‘City of Chocolate’, and every year we are host to an exhibition called CioccolaTò; from the amalgamation of Cioccolato, ‘Chocolate’ in Italian, and To, which stands for Torino. The pavilion is a preview of this year’s edition which will be held from 23^rd March until 3^rd April. Here you can find the official web site of the whole event.

You may wonder how the mini-choco-Italy, a 13 m long sculpture, looked. I don’t know. I went there last 17^th March and it was impossible to approach the pavilion. The long queue stretched right around the structure. It reminded me of the Holy Mosque in Mecca where the Black Stone is held. The purpose of the Italians waiting to see the sculpture was a bit different… but since Chocolate has been called the “Gods’ Nectar”, it would be unfair to say we aren’t spiritual at all.

I will try to see the sculpture and of course I can’t wait for CioccolaTò 2011, mainly to write and show people exactly what it is all about. I’ll do it for the blog’s sake. No kidding! (*hides crossed fingers behind back.)

You are turning 150 this year. I know you feel tired and I bet sad when people abroad say that you are the land of corruption and mafia.

But you are also a charming lady. You have culture and style, monuments and great traditions.
You are blessed by a shining sun, beautiful landscapes and, as Goethe stated, you are the land where lemons are grown.

I will keep on posting (this is a promise after the long break) to tell what I love most.

Happy Unification Anniversary my beloved country.

(photo from www.museodellandrangheta.eu)

Italy is famous for a criminal organization called Mafia, but this is not the only one we have in our territory.
“Gomorra”, the best seller written by Roberto Saviano, has highlighted the terrible situation that occurs in Campania, where Camorra rules and controls the Port of Napoli, as well as the drug traffic and many other activities in South Italy.
There is another organization called ‘ndrangheta who is involved in criminal activities in Calabria, another region in South Italy. Thanks to the efforts of the University of Calabria, the Region Board, the Province and an association called Antigone there is a brand new museum, in Reggio Calabria, that aims to denounce and be an observatory on a phenomenon that is silent but extremely powerful. Those kind of organizations flourish thanks to the silence that surrounds them. When Saviano was invited in Tv shows to talk about Camorra, a Mafioso turned informant, from the prison, has declared that he was worried because “Saviano is on all the media, and media are giving information and importance to his book”. For criminals the big fear is not a book, a movie, an article but the fact that if those documents are spread, people may talk. And the more they talk the less powerful those organizations become.
That’s why a museum concerning ‘ndrangheta is so important. In a villa confiscated from a boss, you can find documents resulting form trials, movies, a multimedia laboratory and events such as conferences and exhibitions.
The visit is worth seeing and the whole region can be a delicious place for a holiday. Calabria, in fact, is especially a land with a beautiful sea, good food and amazing traditions.

There is a little corner of paradise in Siena, were you can find a rest after a day spent among culture and art. With its salami and pieces of cheese in his shop window , the Pizzicheria De Piccoli is like a mermaid in the ocean of  primordial food. Her song is the smell that catch you as soon as you enter the street. The victim? You, and your basic instincts. You get in hypnotized, and once you are in all you can do is to choose one of the delicacies of the Tuscany food culture. One of their main dish is the “porchetta” , a sandwich with a roast pork filling. You can have a seat and eat there (the place is small but cosy), or ask for a take away sandwich, in case you are planning a pic-nic on the hills around Siena. Don’t forget to ask for a good glass of wine, and if you still have some space in your stomach, why not a local dessert.  Outside there is a funny bike made of  bamboo and a boar head. Ehm, sorry.. no veggie allowed.             Pizzicheria De Miccoli via di città 95, Siena

Alexa  has one of my favourite Italian blogs. Recently she has posted a pic of a sentence found somewere in a village in South Italy.

It says: “I only hope that looking into my eyes you’ll understand all that, for the second time, you’ve destroyed, it’s inside me…now I know what I’ve lost: nothing! Bye.”
Ain’t we sweet even when we kick ass?