On the night of 3rd - 4th October, in the Lombard city of Bergamo, Enrico Panattoni, restaurateur and inventor of stracciatella [vanilla with chocolate shavings] ice cream, died, aged 85.
Mr Panattoni invented stracciatella in 1953, the year that he and his wife, Oriana, opened the Marianna bar and restaurant in Bergamo. Now, some of you may remember that when I first came to Italy, in 1969, it was to teach English in Bergamo and there I spent many happy evenings in the Marianna with my Italian boyfriend of those days.
In 1996 I took a sentimental journey to Bergamo and sat once more in the Marianna, this time with my memories. So thank you for the delicious ice cream flavour, Mr Panattoni, but most of all, thank you for my "Marianna nights".
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| Me in the "Marianna", 1996 |
11 comments:
Sometimes it does one good to go back and become engulfed in memories...good memories. It's almost an indescribable experience.
I'd not realised, or I'd forgotten just how long you've been in Italy, Pat...since 1969...a long time, that's for sure.
Wow! WC I thought you moved there after you retired. You're practically an honorary Italian after all this time. But why did you move there all those years ago? :)
Would love to see a post about that!
Lovely photo of you btw. :)
Lovely picture Pat.
What a beautiful trip down memory lane, Pat. Glad your love for ice-cream has remained strong.
Hi, Lee. No, I didn't come to live permanently in Italy in 1969 but I was studying Italian at university and that was my first extended visit. Hi, Uber. I visited Italy for the first time in 1969 and did a stint teaching English in Bergamo. I was studying French and Italian at university and that was compulsory. After that, I came back many times but it wasn't till 2005 that I was able to move here. Thanks re the photo.
Thanks, Pink.
Thank you, Rosaria.
RIP Signor Panettoni - he left a great legacy! I hope he is now enjoying some heavenly stracciatella.
Great post!
Hi,WW. He certainly did and so do I. Hello, Laruchka. Thank you.
Okay....I had felt that it was later that you'd settled there...you'd tossed me for a minute. :)
RIP Signor Panettoni .. I never knew who invented this delightful tasting gelato ,, my favourite and I had one in Scotland last week , from and Italian gelateri .. so thank you.
Sorry about that, Lee. Hi,Anne. I think stracciatella and amarena are my favourites.
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