THAT TIME OF YEAR...

This is for my Mum, who died seventeen years ago today.  As I grow old myself, I look back and am constantly amazed at the physical energy she had when she was older than I am now.  Dad and I, who knew mental energy better, didn't understand the extent to which her determination to push herself physically was an expression of love. But I understand that now and I wish I could tell her. I also wish I could say, "Bloody hell,  I'm sixty, Mum and I need you."

For almost two years after Mum's death, music of any kind would make me cry and I tried to avoid it. Then one day when I was working at home this track was played on the radio and I sobbed as I had never sobbed before. After that, music became a solace for me again. I think a lot of women remember their mothers when they hear this song and for me, it says it all:

For Violet Rosamund Eggleton, 19.10.1917 - 31.8.1993 -  the wind beneath my wings.

VALENCIAN PAELLA - SICILIAN STYLE

This is another recipe that I've adapted from a magazine and, even if I say so myself, it turned out to be delicious. The brown rice is probably sacrilege but it does give the dish an excellent colour. I know you are supposed to cook the rice in oil in a separate pan first but it was just too hot to have another flame on!

You need:

olive oil
4 skinless chicken breasts if you are in the UK, where the halves are sold separately or 2 skinless chicken breasts if you are in Italy, where the 2 halves are sold as 1 breast [if you see what I mean].  The breasts should be cut into large pieces.
1 rabbit, jointed
1 onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 red, 1 green and 1 yellow pepper, cut into wide strips
2 fresh bay leaves
1 chorizo sausage, cut into pieces [or a  long, dried Italian sausage]
500 gr brown rice
1 large can tomato pulp
1 litre chicken or other light stock
300 gr peas

500 gr green beans, topped & tailed

2 sachets powdered saffron [sold in sachets in Italy - about half a teasp per sachet, I guess.]
coarse seasalt, black pepper.

To serve 6 people very generously, heat 5 tablesp olive oil in a deep, wide pan or wok.  Add the chicken and rabbit pieces and brown on all sides.  Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon and put on a plate. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook until softened.  Now add the peppers and cook till they are softened, too [about 10 mins.] Add the bay leaves to the pan with the sausage and toss everything around a bit.  Now put in the rice and stir it around a bit, too. Put the meat back in with the tomato pulp, about three-quarters of the stock, the beans and peas. Stir well and season with paprika, the saffron, salt and pepper.  Put the lid on and cook for about an hour, checking now and again. If the dish appears too dry, add the rest of the stock.

Serve straight from the pan.  It was so hot here the day after I made this that I had some cold - and it was surprisingly good.

BOOK REVIEW - "RIPRENDETEVI LA FACCIA"

Riprendetevi la faccia by Barbara Alberti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"RECLAIM YOUR FACE"

The novelist, journalist and screenwriter Barbara Alberti was shocked when a female politician who had obviously had a facelift and other invasive "anti-ageing" treatments appeared on Italian television to launch a campaign which would "liberate" Muslim women from the obligation to wear the veil. What scandalised Alberti was the politician's total lack of self-irony and she takes, as her thesis for this book, the idea that plastic surgery is the "western woman's burqa".

Using examples from history, literature, the lives of the famous, her own life and letters from her readers, Alberti demonstrates that women in the West are being denied a fundamental human right - the right to age naturally.

For me, one of the saddest episodes in the book is the true story of a woman of fifty-four who agrees to a meeting with the man she loved at eighteen. The two meet, go to a hotel and the man roughly makes love to her. In the morning she wakes up in his arms and he is looking at her. Then he, who is eight years her senior, says,

"It's the first time I've had an old woman in my bed".

The cruelty of this man is unbelieveable and I cried as I thought of the woman making preparations and going to buy herself beautiful lingerie with a heart full of hope. Reading such an account, a woman d'un certain âge is likely to feel that she has only two choices: if she has the means, to undergo all the age-defying treatments on offer, even at the risk of her life, or to give up the idea of love and companionship with a man forever.

But surely there must be another way? Can we not be who we are? Yes, we can, says Alberti and we must:

"Cambiate età ogni giorno. Siate nonne a quindici anni, fidanzate a ottanta. Ma non siate mai quello che gli altri vogliono."

"Change your age every day. Be grandmothers at fifteen or fiancées at eighty. But never be what others want you to be."

I found this a fascinating and thought-provoking book, as subversive as de Beauvoir's The Coming of Age. It is not yet available in English but, sisters, I urge you to demand an English edition!

The Coming of Age


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SABATO MUSICALE

I was delighted to be able to report this week that one of my favourite composers, Ennio Morricone, will receive the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm on Monday.

I do love Chi Mai, which was the theme for Le Professionel  but also for a largely forgotten 1981 TV series, The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 11

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

If you are going to be in Abruzzo between tomorrow and 5th September, there is a fascinating, traditional festival in Lanciano.

Still in Abruzzo, Nick Calvano told us the touching story of how he traced more members of his family in Vasto.

Then we went to Tuscany for our summer film, Stealing Beauty.  Staying with film, a famous friend of Italy is shortly to return.

I had to laugh at this story, though I don't suppose I would have been amused had I been one of the passengers! One of the saddest stories of the week was this tale of our times and it was also the week in which Italy said goodbye to former President Cossiga.

For my personal Patti Chiari column, I wrote about how books led me, in a way, to Sicily.  This is to be continued.

I hope you enjoy these stories.

VICIN 'O MARE

How lovely the Mediterranean looked yesterday, with the hot sun bouncing glints of silver on the waves.  I spent a pleasant few hours at Sampieri with Irma and we bumped into Gina and another friend in the middle of the water! 

This is how the beach looked at precisely 1 pm when everyone disappeared for their time-honoured pranzo:

Andrea Bocelli - MARENARIELLO lyrics
Oi' ne', fa priesto viene! 
nun me fa spanteca'! 
Ca pure 'a rezza vene 
ca a mmare sto a mena'! 
 
Stienneme sti braccelle, 
aiutame a tira'... 
ca stu marenariello 
te vo' sem'abbraccia'! 
 
Vicino 'o mare, 
facimmo ammore, 
a ccore a ccore 
pe' ce spassa'... 
So marenare 
e tiro 'a rezza, 
pe' la priezza, 
stongo a muri'! 
 
Vide che sbatte l'onne 
comme stu core cca'... 
de lacreme te nfonne 
ca 'o faie 'nnammura'. 
 
E vide pure e stelle 
tu faie 'nnammura'... 
ca stu marenariello 
tu faie suspira'. 
 
Vicino 'o mare, 
facimmo ammore, 
a ccore a ccore 
pe' ce spassa'... 
So marenare 
e tiro 'a rezza, 
pe' la priezza, 
stongo a muri'! 


Burbler | Andrea Bocelli - MARENARIELLO lyrics

ONE BEAUTY TREATMENT I WON'T BE HAVING

This kind of pedicure, in which the garra rufa or "doctor fish" eats the dead skin off your feet, is becoming fashionable in Italy.  I'll stick to my human beautician, thanks!

A GIFT FROM LA BELLE FRANCE

My student Salvo the postman returned from his holiday in France on Sunday and brought me this pretty magnifying glass, with which I am delighted:

I might even be able to adjust my Plastichic watches to CEST!  I haven't been able to do it before as the instructions look like this:

I was just going to wait till the clocks go back again to have the "right" time.

Oh, and I'll be able to read the instructions on toilet fresheners, too!

It turns out that Salvo the postman had been a little apprehensive about going to France , as "They say the food is bad" but he was pleasantly surprised.  He did not, however, eat pasta there as it's "too short".

Finché si vive, s'impara - You live and learn.

PEOPLE TRAFFICKERS CHANGE TACTICS

Some of the despicable people traffickers who charge would-be illegal immigrants thousands of pounds for a journey to Italy have changed their tactics during the summer:  in attempts to trick the Coast Guard, they have been using yachts and other, luxurious-looking vessels to carry what I call their "boatloads of sorrow" rather than the small, inadequate craft of previous journeys.

On Thursday night a yacht carrying 51 men, 36 women and 35 children, of whom 10 were under the age of 2, stopped 50 metres from the shore between Riace and Camini in Reggio Calabria.  The "captain"  swam ashore, extended a rope and proceeded to transfer his passengers from the yacht on to Italian soil in a dinghy which he had hidden there. 

The passengers, who were Iraqi and Afghan Kurds,  had  paid €  3,000 - € 5,000 each for the voyage and have been transferred to a detention centre in Riace.

A SUMMER FEAST

What a feast my friend Gina prepared for her friends on Friday evening!  We spent a lovely, convivial evening on her terrace by the sea and, after the feast, the women listened to the men discussing traditional jam-making methods!  Without further ado, I'll let you enjoy the food pictures:

There were antipasti of prawn salad, bresaola salad, anchovy salad [I can't touch the fish dishes because of an allergy but I'm sure they were delicious] and an elegant cold omelette filled with mayonnaise and ham:

Then there were sausages wrapped in pancetta, a baccalà [salt-cod] flan [ a recipe which Gina had invented and it did look good] and baked, stuffed onions:

There were contorni of beans, peppers and aubergines:

For dessert, Gina had made gel al limone,

Chiara and her mother, who always make perfect sponges, had created this one, filled with marmalade

and I took along semifreddo di limone, otherwise known as Jennifer Paterson's "Suffolk Lemon Pudding" from her book, Seasonal Receipts:

To go with the semifreddo, I had made Liz's pineapple shortbread, which was a great success with my Sicilian friends.  Thanks for the recipe , Liz.

E grazie per la bella cena, Gina.

BOOK REVIEW - "HISTORY"

History: A Novel by Elsa Morante

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Monumental in scope, this is a story of ordinary people caught up in world-changing events. Little 'Useppe is born of an anonymous German father and an Italian mother during World War 11 and the novel is as much the story of wartime Italy as it the story of 'Useppe and the mother, half-brother, friends and dogs who love him.



The translation is excellent, except for one or two infelicitous renderings such as "lupini" [lupini beans] as "lupins". The character Davide's diatribe at the end does not work well in English, which is hardly the translator's fault, and is probably too long in any language.



Not a book to choose if you like a happy ending but a must if you want to learn more about life in wartime Italy.



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GIORGIO THE GECKO

This is Giorgio the gecko, who has decided to take up residence in our flat.  He doesn't scare me unless he moves so I can just about live with his presence high up on the wall in the lounge but last night he got as far as the hall, which is too near the bedroom for my liking!

I know geckos are sweet [from a distance] and that they eat mosquitoes but I'd still be happier if he would go and live on the balcony.  I've tried talking to him and cajoling him but he just smiles at me and hides behind the bookshelves.  I don't want him to die or be killed by Simi - which is what would happen if he started exploring the floor - so if any of you have any ideas as to how I can get him to go outside [without having to handle him] I'd be very interested to hear them. 

One of my facebook friends suggested spraying him with water so that he'll lose his balance for long enough to fall to the floor and then catching him in a bowl.  But every time I get the spray bottle out he just giggles and disappears somewhere in my eighteenth century French literature section.  Talking of water, how is he managing whilst he's indoors? Is he surreptitiously drinking from Simi's bowl?

Perhaps he'll become an erudite gecko but if he would only go outside I'd happily provide him with a gecko armchair and enough reading matter to keep him happy for a while.....

SABATO MUSICALE

Even the moon, we learn, has wrinkles.  Comforting though that notion may be, I remain an incurable romantic. Take it away, Renzo Arbore e l'Orchestra italiana, who are playing in Pozzallo tonight:

ICE CREAM OF THE WEEK

Wild strawberry and cherry.

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 10

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

First of all, if you fancy visiting another Italian Mediterranean island, from an armchair or for real, here are ten things to do in Sardinia.

While in Italy, you may want to have your hair done, so here is a guide to what to say at the hairdresser's. Talking of hairdressers, for my Patti Chiari column I interviewed the one and only Raffaele!

Our summer film was a golden oldie , The Battle of the Villa Fiorita, in which Maureen O'Hara was very wayward, but who could resist Rossano Brazzi?

Of the news stories, perhaps the most controversial was Vogue Italia's  running of fashion shots inspired by the Gulf oil disaster.  After the previous week's news of a brilliant surgeon who may leave Italy because of his frustration with the country's bureaucratic procedures, it was good to be able to write about an equally brilliant young doctor who is returning, with Harvard funding for his research.  I liked this tale of two towns at war over an eel and would love to see this exhibition.  Finally, the moral here seems to be, "If you're going to cheat on your lover, leave the dog out of it"!

LIGHTS OUT IN SIRACUSA

It is comforting to learn that I am not the only one finding the electricity bills a bit steep these days:  in Siracusa the Castle of Maniace, of which a photograph adorns this blog's header, has been plunged into darkness in the middle of the summer season of concerts and ballets for which it forms a backdrop because the Province's Cultural Department cannot afford to illuminate it.  This leaves audiences watching outdoor shows in a magnificent setting illuminated only by stage lights.

Sicilian politician Fabio Granata finds the situation so absurd that he has offered to switch the Castle lights on and off himself every evening but alas,  it is not only the money to pay an employee to do this that the Province lacks. According to Cultural Heritage Superintendant Mariella Muti her Department does not even have the funding to send out the daily post and  her staff are reduced to hand-delivering or faxing all communications. Central government cuts are to blame and signora Muti says that,  of 1 million euros needed to clean historic sites and monuments in the area, the Department has received only € 100,000.  With regard to the Castle,  the most she will be able to do for the organisers of the remaining seasonal concerts will be to switch on external  floodlights unless the Town Council of Siracusa comes to her aid.

NO INJURIES IN AEOLIAN ISLANDS QUAKE

Thank God there were no fatalities or injuries in yesterday's earthquake on the Aeolian Islands.  It must have been terrifying, all the same.  Here is my report for Italy Magazine this morning:

An earthquake which struck the Aeolian Islands at 14.54 yesterday caused no injuries but frightened many people, according to Italian media reports. The tremor, measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale, was felt most by bathers on the Valle Muria beach on Lipari, where rocks fell from a cliff into the sea. Some people, running into the sea to escape the falling rocks, were bitten by jellyfish.

Senate Speaker Renato Schifani was in his boat off Lipari when the tremor struck and he saw the falling rocks for himself. Some nearly hit the boat, he said.

A second, small tremor occurred at 21.40 but few people felt it. By that time, tourists and locals alike were out and about enjoying music and refreshments in the streets of Lipari. The rest of the night passed without incident.

Civil Protection Minister Guido Bertolaso lost no time in visiting the area this morning with the Prefect of Messina and the Mayor of Lipari. Mr Bertolaso said that some bathing restrictions on the island had not been observed and that bathers in those zones could have been in danger. Otherwise, he said, the situation is under control.

Geophysicist Enzo Boschi has said that there is no risk of tsunami and that the fall of rocks could have been caused by recent heavy rainfall.

The earthquake that struck Abruzzo in 2009 measured 5.8 on the Richter scale.

Update:  Another seismologist has said that there is a possibility of further, smaller tremors and another tremor of similar magnitude in the area.  Mr Bertolaso has said that it would be hypocritical to pretend that there is no risk, but that the Aeolian Islands will now be one of the best monitored locations in Italy.   He added that it is important for people visiting the area to respect such a beautiful and fragile place.

SWEET & SOUR RABBIT WITH PEPPERS

This recipe is a hybrid of one I saw in a magazine and the recipe for coniglio con peperonata in Il Cucchiaio d'Argento.  If you don't want to use rabbit, you can use skinless chicken joints.

Heat 5 tablesp olive oil in a wide pan and brown six rabbit joints on all sides.  Add a handful of fresh herbs - I used 2 fresh bay leaves, a couple of sage leaves, some sprigs of rosemary and thyme - 1 onion, roughly chopped and 3 or 4 red and yellow peppers, cut roughly into wide strips.  Let the peppers soften - about 15 mins - then add a few chilli flakes and some coarse seasalt. After a couple of minutes add half a glass of balsamic vinegar and half a glass of water.  Cover the pan and let the ingredients simmer for half an hour, turning once.  Then sprinkle over 2 teasp brown sugar, mix everything well and leave to simmer for another half an hour.

"IL PRANZO DI FERRAGOSTO"

I love this film, in which Gianni Di Gregorio, as Gianni, a middle-aged man who lives with his mother, does a ferragosto deal with his apartment block administrator:  if Gianni will look after the administrator's mother for the ferragosto holiday, the administrator will forget about some of the maintenance fees owed by Gianni.  On the day, the administrator arrives not only with his mother, but also his aunt.  Gianni rises to the challenge but, exhausted, calls a doctor friend to give him a tranquilliser - and ends up looking after his friend's mother too!

It reminds me of this episode of the 1980s Richard Briers comedy series, Ever Decreasing Circles:

Ferragosto evening view, from my bedroom:

A WATER DRAMA

It's a while since we had a water drama but of course, there had to be one on the day before the most strictly observed holiday of the year - ferragosto:

At about 3.30 this afternoon the water lorry arrived to refill the condominio's cistern.  The driver rang my bell as someone has to go down and sign for the load, though his arrival just as I'd put my weekly application of fake tan on my legs caused much cursing in every language I know.  I hastily donned a beach cover-up and went downstairs, only to find that some selfish person had parked their car right across our courtyard entrance so the lorry couldn't get in.  Despite frantic beeps from the driver and my neighbour's knocking on doors, no one appeared to claim the vehicle.

The lady from the fourth floor appeared on her balcony just as the driver was saying he would have to come back on Monday, so I shouted what he had said to her and she shouted it to the man opposite, who had interrupted his siesta to come out onto his own balcony.  He, in turn,  made that hands-in-the-air, hopeless gesture to my fourth floor neighbour, who then made it to her son, who was just returning from  his fruitless knocking on doors errand, he made it to me, I made it back to his mother and we all made it to the driver, who flung his own hands in the air and drove off.

Personally, I think he should have driven in and crushed the car.  Could it be that I am still suffering from a little Anglo-Saxon impatience? 

If the water runs out tonight, we face all day tomorrow without any - in 40 C.

Buon ferragosto!