TREAT OF THE WEEK - 6

When a friend offers you one of these perfect, tiny fruit tartlets with a coffee, it would be churlish to refuse - wouldn't it?

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY SAINTS

St Anthony of Padua with the child Jesus
by Antonio de Pereda
Image: Wikipedia

Yesterday there was a good development in my personal life.  I can't go into detail here yet but believe me, it's been a long time coming and the past couple of months have been particularly difficult.

"Ah, it's because it's Saint Anthony's Day", said a close friend here and as I was grateful and continue to need all the help I can get, I determined to find out more about St Anthony of Padua [ Fernando Martins de Bulhões, 15.8.1195 - 13.6.1231]:

Fernando was not from Padua at all but was born in Lisbon.  As a young man, he entered Augustine Canons but afterwards became a Franciscan, having met and been impressed by some Franciscan friars who were on their way to Morocco, where they were later martyred.  It was their simplicity that appealed to Anthony, as he became in his Franciscan order.

Anthony wanted to go and preach the Gospel in Morocco too but was unable to complete his journey because of illness. He therefore decided to visit Italy, the centre of his order but, in another turn of fate, his ship was driven towards Sicily in a storm and he landed at Messina.  I was delighted to discover this Sicilian connection!  Anthony travelled to Tuscany and then to San Paolo near Forli [Romagna], where he worked in a hospice and studied.  Then one day he was called upon to preach a sermon and he did this so eloquently that he was sent to preach all around Lombardy.  He even came to the attention of St Francis of Assisi himself, who gave Anthony teaching duties.  Anthony continued to preach but also served as an envoy to Pope Gregory IX and taught at several European universities.  He died on his way to Padua at the age of 36. He was canonized just eleven months after his death and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1946.  

During my research I learned that Saint Anthony is called upon to find missing objects [which could be very handy]  and you can also enlist his help in finding a husband [wish I'd known before].  He is the protector of orphans, prisoners, the shipwrecked, pregnant women, infertile women, glaziers and new recruits of all kinds.

To bring this back to the personal, I wasn't infertile but life did not bless me with circumstances in which I might have had children.  Few women in this position talk about it and the fact that it is a loss - of hope and so much more - does not seem to be recognised by society.  Whether or not, had I been born in the UK 30 years later than I was, I would have skipped along to the sperm clinic is a question I cannot answer, nor is it the point here. I'm just going to  assume that St Anthony's compassion extends to those of us who did not conceive for other reasons and from today he joins my list of favourite saints.

Now, where did I put my keys?

LAMPEDUSA REACHES OUT

As I said yesterday, no country is better than Italy at its best and the people of Lampedusa have been demonstrating this in recent days:

At the weekend, around 200 students, children and elderly people from the earthquake-stricken areas of the Emilia-Romagna were welcomed to the island for a free holiday so that, away from the constant tremors which continue to shake and terrify their region, they can rest in the sun and recuperate a little.  Some of the students are preparing for their maturità [pre-university] examinations and it is hoped that their stay on the island will enable them to study in an environment in which they can be free of fear.

The idea is the initiative of Antonio Martello of the Lampedusa Hoteliers' Consortium and the Sogni nel Blu travel company, Riccardo Toto of the New Livingston airline company and members of the Lampedusa Business Association.  Mr Martello said that they wanted to show the people of the Emilia-Romagna that the islanders feel close to them in their time of trouble.

I'm sure you will all join me in congratulating the companies who have sponsored the trip and the people of Lampedusa and in wishing the Emilian group a very happy holiday.

AN ASTral ANALOGY

As rumours spread that Italy will be the next roof tile to fall off the Eurozone house of cards, in Sicily we are worried about our local and inter-city bus company, AST, which is reported to be in trouble.

AST services, we are told, are currently operating only with the forbearance of the company's creditors and it has become public knowledge that, as in institutions all over Italy from small businesses to government itself, high-ranking officials of the company have been enjoying considerable luxury whilst carrying out their duties.

Few outside Italy know that parliamentarians, for instance, enjoy privileges unheard of in other countries, from free rail tickets for personal travel to ridiculously cheap meals whilst working and these are among anomalies that the Monti government has been doing its best to correct.  But ask the man in the street what else the Monti government is doing and he will answer, "Taxation" for the popular perception is that everyone is being taxed out of existence and there is little to cheer them up whilst this is happening. Tax evasion on an enormous scale has long been a way of life in Italy and now, rightly, you may imagine, everyone is afraid of a raid by the Financial Police.  However, the average Italian businessman will say that he has to pay so many taxes - and not just once a year - that he hardly deems the effort of continuing worthwhile.

I am the last person who should advise anyone on handling money, let alone a whole country, but what Italy needs is [a] liberalisation of its economy and [b] cheering up.  I personally had much hope of the Monti government but take one look at the sombre faces of its ministers and you would not be inclined to think that they were about to brighten your day. As I remarked when the government took office, the trouble with a government of "experts" is that experts tend to have comfortable, upper middle class lives so they cannot really imagine what it is like to be totally dependent on a meagre wage which is often simply NOT PAID.  Yes, in Italy it is quite common for an employer, even a public one, to pay late or not at all and it is considered,  if not exactly OK, perfectly normal.

And here we come to another "barrier" to a mobile economy:  it is the Italians' ability to tolerate the intolerable.  Is it because almost everyone has a family to help out with the bills when salaries are not paid that they put up with such nonsense from employers?  To go back to our beloved AST, is it because everyone has a car or, if they are elderly, has a relative with a car that they put up with an abysmal local service, at least in Modica?  Why, I have often wondered, does no one complain?

"Only old people use the buses", a student of mine informed me when I first arrived here.

"Thanks very much", said I.

This brings me to another element which I observe creeping into the situation, not just in Italy but all over Europe:  it is an idea that in order to stimulate the economy for the young, something must be taken away from the old.  This idea is dangerous and pernicious and I would hate to see Italy, where the elderly are certainly more respected and better looked after by their families than in the UK, embrace it.  Dear ministers, dear youth, dear friends, old people need to live too and your own old age will be upon you quite suddenly one day and you won't know where it came from.

Of course, that old Italian paradox also comes into play in this crisis:  the very characteristics that I have mentioned above and those that the rest of the world criticises in Italians are those that we most love in them in better times:  their tolerance, their ability to throw their hands up in the air and say, "That's how life is", their determination to spend time with their families and enjoy the sun while the world crumbles around them....  Let us hope, then, that the situation brings out the best in them for no one can better Italy at its best.

Thus it is that Modica's inner city AST buses do not run on time and your driver may well stop off en route to purchase a sack of potatoes or take refreshment.  But let us be tolerant - the potatoes were a bargain and the vegetable seller will go home at 1.30 pm.  On top of that, it's bloody hot today!  Besides, such antics brighten your day in a way that politicians will never be able to do. Let us also cross our fingers - for I am sick of the expression "crosshairs" -  for Sicily's AST company.  After all, as another student of mine charmingly said last year,

"I'm so proud of those buses.  They're almost punctual."

BEAUTY PARLOUR DESSERT

My friend Carmela the beautician gave me this recipe, so in her honour I have named it "Beauty Parlour Dessert".  The honey and the egg wash are my additions:

Take a 230 gr piece of ready-rolled pasta sfoglia or puff pastry and lay it flat on baking parchment on a baking tray.  [The pasta sfoglia we can buy in Italy comes rolled in baking parchment already, so all you have to do is straighten it out onto the tin.]  Sprinkle about 1 tablesp pane grattugiato or fine fresh breadcrumbs on top of the pastry.  Now add 1 tablesp sugar to 250 gr ricotta, mix it and spread the mixture over the breadcrumbs.  To this, add 3 - 4 peeled, cored and chopped apples and drizzle over about 1 tablesp honey. Then sprinkle over a handful of sultanas, a handful of pinenuts and a little powdered cinnamon.  Roll up the pastry from a long side and seal the ends well.  Add a couple of tablsp milk to a beaten egg, mix with a fork and brush the mixture over the pastry. Cook at 180 C for 30 - 35 mins.  Let it cool a little before lifting onto a plate. 

This is best served cold, with a little more ricotta, cream or ice cream. I think I'll serve it with some cinnamon gelato next time.

Grazie, Carmela!

SABATO MUSICALE

I understand there's some footie tournament on, so here's one for Italy:


Gianna Nannini e Edoardo Bennato - Un'estate italiana 

TREAT OF THE WEEK - 5

Wild strawberry and gianduia [chocolate and hazelnut] gelato 

served at the

 Caffè Europeo in Catania last week.

SOMETHING IN THE "ERBE"

Hats off to the person who had the idea of planting a herb garden all around Modica's new shopping centre, La Fortezza:

The herbs are planted in neat, clearly labelled rows 

and this week we learned that there may be more to the herb below right than meets the eye:

Oregano, say researchers in the US, has properties which can combat prostrate cancer.  The herb is used a lot in cookery here and this is how we buy it in its dried form.  [It is the only culinary herb I know of which is better dried than fresh.]

So maybe that's why cleaning lady Rosa's 90-year-old male clients still have the energy to chase her around the kitchen!

JUBILEE PAWS FOR THOUGHT

Hi, folks.

It's Simi here!

Well, I didn't want to outshine those corgis that have the Queenie lady for a mummy so I left my summer haircut till today.  Now they can eat their hearts out, just like that ole black poodle down the road!

Did you all have a nice Jubilee? I had fun barking at the fireworks over that big kennel where the corgis live in London.  I thought it was ferragosto till my mummy told me it was their mummy's barkversary.  Oh, yes, I remember London 'cos I stayed there in a doggy hotel before we got on the great big airyplane to Sicily.  That was seven years ago.

I've got a Union Jack charm, you know!

Soon  I'll be helping my mummy come up with an idea for an Olympics cake.  At least there won't be a corgi on it this time....

Time for a snooze now so see you all soon, fans and remember to keep your humans in order!

Love,

Simi xxxx woof!

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM....

"Always look up in Sicily" was advice I received from my friend Irma during my very first visit to Sicily almost twenty years ago and indeed, she was right for otherwise I would have missed sights such as this one in Modica:

I was reminded of Irma's words last week in Catania, where, sitting on the terrace of the Caffè Europeo on via Etnea, I happened to look up and saw this sign on the wall:

"If you say a Hail Mary to this picture", it reads, "you will receive an indulgence of 200 days."

At first I couldn't see a picture, only the fresh flowers behind the grille below the sign, but as I looked more closely I realised that there was a Madonna in the background.

I have no idea who painted this picture or how old it is.   I've sat on that terrace many times but hadn't seen the sign before because I was not looking up and had missed the picture because my view had always previously been obscured by other customers sitting at the table immediately in front of it.

Anyway, I said the prayer because I need all the help I can get.

A BIT OF A DO

What a fantastic spread we enjoyed at Chiara's house yesterday, in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee:

Quiche, sandwiches with Branston Pickle and delicious sausage rolls

There were other traditional condiments too.

There had to be jam tarts

and a traditional, British fruitcake!

Some beautiful Jubilee cupcakes and some
very special biscuits

Raspberries are difficult to find here so it was
lovely to see them on this sumptuous raspberry cheesecake
- and to taste them again!

I made strawberry tiramisù and I can tell you it's quite difficult to make
a diamond shape out of sugared silver balls!

I also made "Corgi cake" mark 2.

And what Sicilian feast would be complete without
lots of yummy ice cream?

Later, out on Chiara's terrace, there were fine renderings of God Save the Queen,  Sosban Fach [by yours truly and a little less fine] Auld Lang Syne, O Canada, Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory.  

How do I reconcile all this with my Republican sentiments? Easily:  as I explain to my Sicilian friends, I might be against the monarchy as an institution but I have nothing against parties!

SABATO MUSICALE - FOR LONDON

No apologies for the Britishness of my choices this weekend: my thoughts are 1,500 miles away not only because London is so much in the news, but because it is exactly seven years ago today that Simi the dog and I boarded a plane for Sicily there.

Here is one of my favourite songs about the capital city of my homeland:

Frank Sinatra - London by Night

And this has got to be the best version of Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner ever!


The Muppet Show - Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner

Have a happy Jubilee weekend wherever you are.

DON'T PANIC, YOUR MAJ!

Don't panic, Your Majesty - Sicily Scene is ready for your Jubilee bash!

 I've got Jubilee toes

and it's amazing what you can find at Catania market:

By the way, my lovely hairdresser Raffaele would have been devastated if he hadn't received an invitation and, as I know you're very busy, Ma'am, I made sure you sent him one:

Cincin, Lilibet!

OF BUTTS AND GELATO

Yesterday an army of Modican school students, along with their teachers and some of their parents, gathered in the city's Piazza Matteotti to begin a very special clean-up:  yes, it was war on cigarette ends!  Fed up with seeing the streets and piazze of their lovely, historic city being scarred by the presence of carelessly discarded cigarette ends and the pollution that the presence of these causes, the students had decided to take action themselves.

And their reward?  For every 50 cigarette ends collected, each student received a traditionally made ice cream supplied by the Pasticceria DolceSalato.    Hmm... if I'd had time, I'd have joined them!

Piazza Mateotti and farmers' market

AGAIN

Most of you will have read or seen by now that there has been another strong earthquake in Northern Italy, just eight days after the 6.0 quake that terrorised the people of the Province of Modena and displaced thousands, many of whom are being accommodated in tents.  Imagine their fear, then, when a 5.8 quake struck at 9 am today.

The epicentre this time was between Carpi, Medolla and Mirandola, still in the Province of Modena and the quake was felt in parts of  Lombardy, Trentino, Tuscany and even Austria. At 12.56 there was a further, 5.3 quake.

As I write 16 people are reported dead, one person is missing, at least 350 have been injured and 8,000 people are estimated to have been made homeless. The brings the total number of people made homeless by the earthquakes of 20th May and today to a staggering 14,000.  Premier Monti has promised that everything possible will be done to help them.

In such circumstances we must take comfort where we can and at 21.00, exactly twelve hours after this morning's quake, a 60-year-old woman was pulled out of the rubble injured but alive.  The headboard of her bed had protected her as her home collapsed around her.

The University of Bologna, together with the city's schools, will be closed tomorrow whilst safety checks are carried out.  In the city of Modena, where some public buildings have been slightly damaged, schools, cemeteries, museums, swimming pools and theatres will be closed.  I have spent some time in Modena so was sorry to learn that some of the buildings in its lovely historic centre may also have been damaged.

Italians pull together magnificently at times like these and modern technology has also played its part:  when mobile networks in the earthquake-hit area became overloaded this morning, messages asking people to remove their passwords from their wifi systems to enable the rescue services to find people and communicate with each other more efficiently quickly circulated on twitter.  Also on twitter, the singer Laura Pausini urged people in the area whose houses were intact to open up their homes to less fortunate citizens.  If I know Italians, they did not need to be told to do that.

Monday 4th June is to be a national day of mourning in Italy.

TURKEY POLPETTONE WITH ROCKET

Remember the polpettone with spinach that I showed you a couple of weeks ago? Well, I decided to adapt the recipe and make it "mine" by using rocket instead of spinach as I thought it would give a nice peppery flavour and it has the advantage of not needing pre-cooking. I left out the chilli pepper flakes, added peppers to the polpettone as well as the sauce and made some other adjustments too: 

OK, let's start with the sauce: finely chop 1 medium white onion, 2 cloves of garlic and a red pepper. Soften these in 2 tablsp olive oil, then add the contents of a 400 gr can of pomodorini [cherry tomatoes] or of chopped tomatoes. Stir and add the contents of a 200 gr box of passata too. Stir well, season and then add 75 gr washed and chopped rocket, the leaves of 2 sprigs of thyme, a little dried oregano and about 4 torn basil leaves. Now add 12 fresh datterini or cherry tomatoes, squash them a bit with the back of your mixing spoon as you stir the mixture and then let it all cook over a low flame for about 30 mins. Turn off the heat. 

Now for the polpettone: in a large bowl, mix a tablesp of the tomato sauce with 500 gr minced turkey, 1 finely chopped red pepper and 1 finely chopped yellow pepper, 1 beaten egg, another 75 gr washed and chopped rocket and about 8 tablesp pangrattato [or fine fresh breadcrumbs]. Line a baking tray with foil and on top of this, dampened baking paper and here's the fun part! Oil your hands and form the mixture into a long, oval loaf shape. Plonk it onto the tray, wrap the baking paper round it as if it were a sweet and tie the ends with cooking string - it should look a bit like a Christmas cracker. Cook at 180 C for about 50 mins. You can serve this at room temperature with some of the cooled sauce but it will firm up and be easier to slice if you refigerate it for a few hours and serve it cold with the sauce chilled.

This time I remembered to serve the sauce in yellow pepper shells!

SABATO MUSICALE

There's only one song to post today and it is Italy's entry in tonight's Eurovision Song Contest:

Nina Zilli - L'amore è femmina  [Out of Love]

TREAT OF THE WEEK - 4

No visit to Noto is complete without a visit to the Caffè Sicilia, where I enjoyed not one, but two treats last weekend.

The first consisted of citron, basil and orange salad ice creams and I assure you that the basil-flavoured gelato was one of the smoothest I have ever tasted.  Ah, you are thinking of a sweet fruit salad of oranges?  No, the flavour of the orange ice cream was of a Sicilian orange salad dressed with olive oil and I can only say it was fantastico!

And who was I to refuse a slice of bergamot and white pepper cake afterwards?

Such tastes are a "must" if you are coming to Sicily!

NEW BLOG

I have started a new blog for students of English and you can find it here.

WHAT IN SICILY? - 31

The use of this object, spotted in an interior decorator's window, would not have been confined to Sicily but what is it and who would have worn it?  Your guesses in the comments please and I'll tell you the answer tomorrow.

Update -  Answer:


As the two commenters guessed, it is a Carnival version of a medieval plague doctor's mask.  These masks were filled with aromatics which, along with the design of the mask, were believed to protect the doctors - who were often unqualified or at the very least, inexperienced - from the plague.  


It would be fun if the etymology of the term "quack" for "fraudulent doctor" were linked to the beak-like mask but alas, it comes from a Dutch word meaning "hawker of salve."   In British slang, "quack" is sometimes used for any doctor.