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?

Everybody should agree that our lives can change in a second. What I’ve just heard on TV few minutes ago, should make me happy. As young, free lance woman, this news should be  a blow of hope in my life. I mean, it’s hard to find a job here, and more, it’s hard to find the job of your dreams. And to have success and, why not, earn a bit of money. And..

Chiara Zardi was a normal young lawyer yesterday. This morning she has received a phone call like:
“Hallo, Ms Zardi? We are calling form the court of Milan”
“Yes?”
“You should come here as court-appointed lawyer, as we should carry on with a process, but the defendant’s lawyers seem to be on holiday”
“Ok, let me finish my croissant and cappuccino and I’ll be there in a second”.

Well, maybe those where not the exact words. I mean, we also have toasts or bread and butter at breakfast, but, whatsoever.

As soon as Ms Zardi has joined the court she has discovered that her defendant is Mr Silvio the Prime Minister Berlusconi.
Hey Chiara, I’m so happy for you. You did it, man! You are an important lawyer now. Your client is the Presid…ehm…well, actually….
What happened today is that there was a process against Berlusconi and a certain David Mills, charged of curruption. The two lawyers that were supposed to be on holiday, ehm sorry, at the court today, were already working in a justice commission in Chamber and Senate. At the trial there was only a legal practitioner, not properly qualified to represent the two lawyers. As no lawyer seemed to be in the nearby, the judge Nicoletta Gandus, who wanted to keep on with the process,  has decide to use the call centre to find a replacement.

Why can’t I simply ignore the words “President” and “corruption” and be happy for Ms Zardi?

A month after the end of my holydays in Haute-Savoye (France) I admit
of being a member of the sacred and devotional Order of the Reblochon
cheese, which is the core of the – almost psychedelic – French dish
called “Tartiflette” (a delicious concoction of potatoes, smoked
bacon, onions, double cream).
Our slogan has been used also by French skying company skypass.com,
which is now selling t-shits with the logo “In tartiflette we trust”.
http://www.skipass.com/shop/in-tartiflette-we-trust
Be the “reblochon” with you!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartiflette
Why such a news on “The Italian Blog”? Because in the past the Savoie
was an Italian region, and I’m so angry it’s now a French region…
Angry and hungry.
Mariano