HIKARI AND BARBARA

Meet Hikari, who is Indonesian with Japanese ancestry, and Barbara, who is from Palermo.  Together they are the masterminds behind the Palermo-based company Amuri Wedding Planner.  You can find out what "amuri" means and read all about Hikari and Barbara in my article for Times of Sicily this evening.

Times of Sicily

NOW IT'S "BRAND SELINUNTE"

Temple of Hera, Selinunte

Where Agrigento wishes to go, Selinunte is leading, it has been revealed:  the architectural site in the Province of Trapani has been "married" to Italian cashmere king Brunello Cucinelli, who will be paying a fee to the Province in return for the right to use the Selinunte "brand" on his products.  Mr Cucinelli, it is only fair to say, is a businessman with an ethical conscience:  he has been largely responsible for revitalising his wife's home town of Solomeo  [Umbria] by setting up his headquarters there and you can read more about him over at Alex's blog.

Sicilian Regional Cultural Councillor Sebastiano Misseneo sees initiatives like the Selinunte one as the way forward for Sicily and believes that other world-famous Italian companies such as Dolce & Gabbana, Ferrari, Geox and Ferragamo may also be interested in promoting the island in this way.

There were originally five Greek temples at Selinunte but only the Temple of Hera, known as Tempio E, has been reconstructed.  Foodies may like to know that the site has another claim to fame, for it is from the word Selinunte that Italian derives the word sedano and from this that English derives the word "celery".

Sicilian celery

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 21

Here is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles:

It was the week in which we discovered that the Milanese have the most extramarital affairs in Italy and Mr Berlusconi's love life came under the media spotlight once again as the term bunga bunga entered the Italian language.  The passing of Paul the psychic octopus - who was, of course, Italian and really called Paolo - was mourned and if the CEO of Fiat gets his way Italians will soon also be mourning a national icon.  It wasn't all gloom, however, with Christina Hendricks telling us that living in Italy made her both curvier and sexier whilst a young man from Cervia [Emilia-Romagna] was declared the world's best sommelier. 

Here is a Venetian festival that I would love to attend this month.  How about you?

For my Patti Chiari column, I had the pleasure of inteviewing my friend Giusy Asta, a Modican wedding planner with a difference.  Giusy's shop in Modica Bassa is one of my favourite places here.  Take a look at the article to understand why.

Happy reading.

NOW SICILY BRINGS YOU.... THE ISLAMIC SAUSAGE

An enterprising young farmer in Caltanissetta is producing sausages made from goats' meat for communities which do not eat pork.  Luca Cammarata, of Azienda Cammarata   won the Oscar green prize in the Farm Style and Culture category in a competition for young farmers organised by the Italian Farmers' Union Coldiretti back in July.   He also produces goat cheeses, milk and yoghurt.

Luca has raised a herd of Maltese goats, helping to protect the species from extinction and invites parents to bring their children to his farm so that they can learn something about traditional country ways before it is too late.

Let's hear it for Sicilian enterprise!

A PARADOX

Looking back at the week's posts, it occurs to me that I have been rather grumpy and it's nearly a week since I posted a food picture! I haven't even been down to Eurochocolate, as the cold, damp weather has caused a flare-up of my arthritis. [I will try and get to the festival tomorrow or Sunday.]

Thinking again about the bureaucracy that has irritated me this week, I never cease to marvel at the Italians' ability to put up with the waiting, form-filling and literal rubber-stamping that accompanies every single transaction, not to mention their tolerance of inefficiency! The different attitudes that the Italians and the British have regarding this is perhaps best summed up by a conversation I had with friend Irma about that persistent bugbear of mine, the post office: "Oh, I go back at siesta time if the queue is long", said Irma. Apart from the fact that going back later, without a car, to an area of the town in which I have no other errands to do would be very inconvenient for me, my instinctive reaction is that it is not for me to go back when the queue is shorter, but for the post office, as a public service, to operate efficiently whenever it is open.

Yet it is this very patience and forbearance, along with attention to detail, which make Italy the country it is: Little shops survive because Italians have the patience to go to them and maybe the many pleasant courtesies that you exchange as you carry out your day to day business come about precisely because you just have to talk and ask questions during all the long transactions! Anything you buy will be gift-wrapped for you free of charge upon request and this practice continues because Italians care about detail and are willing to wait while it is done. [It can often take a very long time, as the shop assistants are fussy about the finished look of their packages; I have often seen them decide that one is not pretty enough and start all over again!] Would we in Britain, at Christmas, say, be prepared to wait while the parcels are wrapped, over and over again, at shop after shop? I doubt it, with our frenetic lifestyles.

I just wanted to end the week by reiterating that I happen to love this fascinating, beautiful and often exasperating country!