UNA VITA TRANQUILLA

I have always loved the Sanremo Music Festival and I have visited that lovely Ligurian town. I can't believe that this festival is exactly as old as I am! This is my favourite entry this year:

VITA TRANQUILLA

POLPETTONA - COTTA!

Here's how one of yesterday's polpettone from the butcher looked after I'd cooked it tonight and you can also see how I chose to present it. One was quite enough for a cosy supper for two [I have frozen the other one].

Note to my students: "looked after I'd [ = "had"] cooked it" - the meaning is I cooked it first, then this is how it looked!

WHAT 40 € WILL BUY

We have had our sun back today, along with a temperature of 22 C outside at lunchtime and so, for the first time in weeks, I felt like sauntering down to the location of "the best butcher in town": it is not far away, but it is an uphill walk back and that is not easy when you are carrying a lot of bags in inclement weather.

Here's what I got there for 40 € :

Back row, left to right: 6 super-sized lemons, 4 arancini [rice balls - all right, pyramids, then], 2 "thingies" [about which more below].

Middle row, left to right: 1 kilo small pears, 1 kilo lamb pieces on the bone, a large pack of basil.

Front row: 6 breaded veal escalopes and a pack of datterini tomatoes.

I have made arancini but in my opinion the experts can make them better and that is generally my philosophy about ready-prepared food: make what you know will turn out well at home but buy what can be prepared better professionally. I would guess that this is the philosophy of most Italians, too. Why make a mess egging and breading escalopes yourself if a butcher will do it freshly on the premises and make a neater job of it? Now, you may be wondering about the "thingies" at the back right of the first picture and so was I ! I asked the butcher if they had a name and he said they were "sort of polpettone" [big meatballs] of pork mince encased in very thin beef fillet. When I cook one I will let you know how it tastes!

I am out of touch with UK prices by now, but wherever you are, I would be interested to know whether you think this was a "good haul" for my 40 euros!

According to survey results published today, you can forget the sushi bars that have become popular all over Italy in recent years because pasta is still the number one food preference here. The percentage of those who eat meat often has increased by almost half since 2007 but strangely the popularity of pizza is decreasing. 77.7% of Italians taking part in the survey said they still buy local specialities, choosing cheeses, salami, oil, bread and wine, in that order. Consumption of liqueurs is down [but I don't think these statistics take into account those made at home, which reminds me, it's about time I got my own little distillery going again!] Wine production is lower than in 2007 because of climactic factors. Consumption of mozzarella di bufala is up in Italy, despite recent problems. Well done, the Italians, for supporting, on the whole, their own, beloved food produced in the time-honoured way.

By the way, I am still awaiting the plumber-electrician man - pazienza!

AND THE ANSWER IS ...

Last night's photo is of a perfectly formed lemon frutto di Martorana made from almond paste. It was given to me in its pretty little bucket as an Easter pensiero by a friend and nothing could have delighted me more.

[I was going to put this on as an update to the previous post but then decided it would take me half the night to rejiggle the spacing if I added another photo to it!]

Thanks to all who tried to guess!

COS'È?

Phew! - Very busy day today, but I think I can just about get a sort of post up by midnight: what is this, then, readers? Guess!

MALTEMPO E MALUMORE

The weather over Easter was just terrible in Sicily, particularly on Easter Monday when winds of up to 100 km an hour were recorded on the Tyrrhenian coast of the island. Here in Modica we had hail that evening and sensible Simi dragged her mummy back from our walk!

For 4 days there were no ferries to the Isole Eolie [services are reported to have recommenced today] and phone lines and electric cables were down in Agrigento. In Palermo a tree fell onto the balconies of a block of flats, an old, uninhabited block just gave up the ghost and crumbled into the ground and trees also fell onto car parks. In Acireale a publicity placard fell onto 4 cars and a motorbike. I am happy to report that I have read of no injuries or fatalities.

Already feeling cold and grumpy, my mood was not helped by the fact that I woke up this morning to find – you guessed it! – no running water. I had not phoned the Comune to order any on Friday as a lorry-load had arrived , to my surprise, on Thursday. [They must have been filling up the cisterns before the holiday.] Once we have a refill, we are usually all right for 9 – 10 days. I have no idea why the supply dried up so soon this time and did not appreciate it when my buzzer sounded at 8am and the angry voice of a co-tenant yelled, “Why can’t we have a little cooperation over the water supply in this block?” [I don’t think the lady was angry at me so much as at the situation, but I am not at my sunny best at 8 am, reader.] I calmly agreed that cooperation would be a fine thing and explained why I had not called the Comune on Friday. I added that I would not be able to do anything about the situation today as I was about to go to work and would be there until late. The lady then said that she would call the Comune herself. This evening I walked stiffly back home, looking forward to a hot shower though without much hope. But - wonders truly never cease – when I tried the taps, out flowed pure, beautiful water! In these circumstances, reader, you just utter a “thank you” to the neighbour, the Comune or whoever wrought this miracle, get in the shower fast and enjoy it!

For the past 4 days I have had no lighting in my [long] hallway as I can only just reach the goddamn light bulbs to change them, even from a ladder. I can’t get a firm grip on them and the fittings just go round and round, as if they were having a fairground ride. So – OK, I admit I’m scared of total darkness – I have had the bathroom light on overnight so that I can at least see the hallway. But now that has failed too [ no, I can’t reach it] and I am generally rather pissed off. Or I was, until dear Raffaele the hairdresser said he would come over and change the bulbs for me! I haven’t accepted the offer as I couldn’t get back from work between classes today, but it was a kind thought. I am being a very bad feminist here!! [Are you cheering, James?]

Amid all this doom and gloom [I know it’s trivial but it isn’t when you have no one you can take for granted] I was immensely cheered in the Altro Posto at lunchtime as I watched a member of staff chalking the day’s specials onto a board: three times she wrote each item and three times, not content with her handwriting [which seemed perfectly fine to me] she rubbed them off and started again – this despite the fact that they were short-staffed today and she was, for a while, bartender, cook and waitress. I do love Italians and their sense of perfection!

POLPETTINE

There are some Italian dishes that are such a joy to prepare, the process requiring so much care, pazienza and love, that I forget about everything else and am completely happy when engaged in the task.

Thus it was yesterday when I made these polpettine - another recipe from the Cucina del Sole book, which I love because it has instructions like, "Add an egg or 2", "Roll the mixture into balls and then, when they feel right, add seasoning " and , most importantly, "Use your hands" [something which my mother always told me a good cook does]. In other words, the book allows the cook her instinct.

I am the first to admit that my food pictures aren't perfect and, just like my meatballs, they are not of uniform shape and size: I do crop out some of the kitchen paraphernalia and sometimes use the "auto enhance" but I don't otherwise "doctor" them - I wouldn't know how! - and I don't steal them from recipe books, either. I tell it like it is in my kitchen!


The meatballs contain: lean minced beef, chopped capers, basil, garlic, pane grattuggiato [very fine breadcrumbs] plus olive oil and egg to bind . After being browned, they are cooked in a home-made tomato sauce [here my summer's labour is rewarded as I always have some in the freezer] to which red wine and sugar is added, along with a little chilli [I used my chilli spray, which I find excellent]. Chopped almonds form the garnish.

EASTER DAY AT CHIARA'S

Today [Easter Monday] has been one of the coldest I have experienced in Sicily and we even have hail!! There is not a soul about outside and Simi dragged me back from our walk tonight [she always did have more sense than her mummy!] The Pasquetta [Easter Monday] picnic has been ruined for many but I was intending to have a nice day at home with Simi anyway.

I still feel warm when I think of yesterday's wonderful feast at Chiara's:


To begin with, we had pizzette spoletine [recipe below] served with excellent prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Of course, you cannot have a festa in Italy without pasta, otherwise the revolution would have reached these shores, so here it is, in picture 3, as prepared by one of Chiara's many aunts. Chicken and two lamb dishes followed [the second one pictured being flavoured with delicate, wild thyme from the Cava.] Truly magnificent Sicilian blood oranges were served next and a great deal of discussion as to how they should be cut ensued: Sicilians do not segment their oranges as we do in Britain, but top and tail, then peel them spirally; if some pith remains, it does not matter, for it is thin enough and soft enough to be eaten too. Finally, Chiara had made this delightful ciambello. I think her idea of decorating it with fresh spring flowers is just perfect.


Here is Chiara's recipe for pizza spoletina, just as she copied it down many years ago. [I don't think she used these gargantuan quantities yesterday, though!]
40 eggs
5 kilos strong bread or type 0 flour
1 kilo grated cheese, such as parmesan, pecorino romano and groviera [gruyère]
500 gr strutto or white vegetable fat
a little lievito di casa [bread starter] - and I am assured it must be di casa, not bought yeast.
Make a dough from the the first 4 ingredients, then mix in the lievito. Mix well, knead and leave to rise. Shape into pizze, put on an oiled and floured baking tray and bake for c. 30 mins at 200 C.

Buon appetito.

ANOTHER EASTER BONNET

Here's someone else who wants to show off her Easter finery. [Her mummy has just realised why fashion photographers earn so much money - it's incredibly difficult!]

Simi says: "BUONA PASQUA A TUTTI I MIEI LETTORI!"

EASTER PARADE

Here the woman is proactive in "getting her man" and the man, for a change, is showered with gifts and compliments. I watch this film every year at Easter and I still love it! [Besides, who else can move like the great Fred Astaire?]

Buona Pasqua to all.

EASTER PARADE - FRED ASTAIRE AND JUDY GARLAND

CRAZY CLIMATE

The fava [broad] bean has been available in Sicily for a month now, and that is much too early in this lovely region where the idea that each food has its season is still respected. Some varieties of plum and apple are ripe 10 days earlier than usual, whilst mulberries, cherries and apricots are ready 5 days before they would normally be on sale. Quality, it is feared, is at risk and already, because of climate change, these days the best cherry tomatoes are said to come from the north , rather than the south, of Italy.

Now, some of you will know that I'm a city girl so farming and environmental issues usually leave me cold, but even I can see that the long-term effects of this situation on my beloved Sicily could be devastating.

2008 is expected to be one of the hottest years since records began and it is reported that the winter of 2007 was the warmest since 1800 here.

47% of Italians fear the effects of climate change more than they do an earthquake.

UN'INSALATA DI PRIMAVERA

This lovely salad was just what I needed at the Altro Posto at lunchtime: the cherry tomatoes were so fresh, the sweetcorn, radicchio and grated carrot so crunchy, the prosciutto so, well, prosciutto-ey that I thought myself in heaven, reader.

MIDNIGHT MUSINGS

Today has been as busy as any other in the shops and bars [Good Friday not being a holiday in Italy] the traffic has been as chaotic as ever and the lunchtime cacophony of which I am so fond did not disappoint. Why, then, did I feel as though something was missing? Why did it seem, somehow, too quiet? Later I realised: I had not heard the bells of the Sacro Cuore Church which normally punctuate my life; these were silenced late on Thursday and will sound again at 00.01 on Sunday morning. When I think of this, I just want to hug my adopted town to myself, for keeping to a time-honoured tradition.

Last week I sent a book about Modica to a friend in the UK and my friend is now having a good laugh at the mistranslations to be found in it. [This happens when publishing houses don't use qualified, mother-tongue translators -professional translators translate into, not from, their mother tongue - and the mechanics of translation may make another post one day.] Among the gems in this tome are the fact that , in the "Syphilis museum" , about which I wrote here, "you can see "butts which cured syphilis" [the "butts" were a version of the French barrels into which mercury was pumped whilst the unfortunate patient sat there] and the news that the town has a district called "Deaf". It does, indeed, have a district called La Sorda ["the Deaf One"] and I live in it! A deaf woman once owned a famous café up here.

Reader, wouldn't you like to live in a town where "butts" cure syphilis, there is a district called "Deaf" and, what is more, people have surnames which translate as Orangeblossom, Honey, Clove, Then-tomorrow [my personal favourite] and April?

FREEDOM FOR FIDO

Pet dogs are generically known as "Fido" in the Italian press and thus it is reported that the Fidos of Tuscany are about to gain their freedom in all sorts of ways, for the local laws banning them [and other pets] from restaurants, beaches, public transport and indeed almost anywhere where they cannot currently accompany their owners are to be repealed by the summer. How cultured the Fidos of Florence will soon become, once they are allowed to visit that lovely city’s art galleries! My Simi thinks all this is quite right but wants me to tell you that she wouldn’t have time herself, as there are squeaky mechanisms to be got out of squeaky toys, water lorries to be awaited and barked at and, most importantly, her mummy’s bed to be kept warm whilst the latter is out earning "bonio" money at the centesimi kennel!

Other regions of Italy are expected to follow suit in ditching the laws which separate dog and owner. I am all for taking my dog nearly everywhere but I do think there is the matter of people with allergies to be considered, especially in enclosed spaces. On the other hand, Franco Zeffirelli has proved himself my hero once again by declaring that he wouldn’t take his dog to La Scala as the sounds might cause pain to his best friend – not a word about the dog’s possible barking upsetting the audience! This being Italy, though, there will have to be all sorts of health and other certificates for the pets and I find it hard to imagine the bureaucracy working smoothly.

In this area there is no problem if you want your dog to sit with you on a café terrace and I can understand the hygiene and safety reasons for the summer beach ban . But I am just dying to take Simi to a chamber concert and we are already planning what she will wear!

MARLBORO BITES?

A colomba is a dove and also the name of a dove-shaped cake eaten at Easter all over Italy. Like the Christmas panettone, they are usually bought, not made at home. Italians, like the French, are very sensible about what is bought and what is home-made; if you can buy a better version of a traditional sweet dish, then you do, and save your culinary talents for the primi, secondi and perhaps for the true, Easter cassata siciliana, which is a sort of tart filled with ricotta. Above you can see some made by Chiara in the past.

Yesterday in the nearby town of Vittoria, a lorry-load of "colombe" was found, by the finanziaria police, to contain colombe all right - only they were "stuffed" with packets of contraband Marlboro cigarettes! I trust they were not bound for my local supermarket.

MORE STATISTICS!

I bring you these, reader, because I think they are interesting:

According to a survey published today, in the south of Italy more than 37% of families organise themselves all'antico, that is, along the pattern common in the 1950s - 60s, with the father being the breadwinner and the mother being a traditional housewife [as compared to 18% in the north of Italy]. However, this figure rises to 50% of families where Sicily is concerned. But - and didn't I tell you that Sicilians are never boring? - what is surprising is that both parents are involved in the upbringing of children to a much greater degree in Sicily. It seems that both parents like to go shopping with their children in Sicily, whilst this is not so in the north: also, it is usually the mother who concerns herself with schooling matters in the north, whereas in Sicily both parents involve themselves in this aspect of their children's lives in 20% of families.

On the whole, I think the Sicilians win - don't you?

SPERMALINKS

The Sicilian male, you'll be glad to know, is alive, well and raring to go, according to recent studies which have sadly proved that sperm counts in Italian men have dropped drastically since the 1970s. There are, however, great regional variations in the figures, and men in Sicily, Puglia and Tuscany seemed to have fared best. The worst results have been found in the Campania region, including Naples, where environmental factors such as the current rubbish crisis are believed to have had an impact on the situation.

CHICKEN WITH COTOGNATA

I got the idea for this dish from the Moro cookbook: I had some cotognata [quince paste] I wanted to use up and the book has an interesting recipe that uses this product in a sauce for roast duck. I didn't see why it shouldn't work with chicken.

Italians, it must be said, do not go in for sweet and sour combinations very much, except as a flavouring for onions and in coniglio in algrodolce [sweet and sour rabbit] and the authors of Moro caution: "... although sweet / savoury dishes can be sublime, it is a difficult balance to achieve."

Well, I am nothing if not intrepid in the kitchen and, not wanting to roast a whole chicken, I more or less followed the Moro recipe for chicken joints cooked with bay leaves, garlic and white wine. I added a couple of shallots and used only the cloves from 1 bulb of garlic rather than 2, and added the chopped quince paste with the wine at the end. Then, deciding that the dish needed one more ingredient, I added some sliced, juicy Sicilian pears. I wasn't sure if the sweet quince paste would combine well with the garlic, but needn't have worried. It was delicious!

If you are in the UK and wish to make this dish, where are you going to get your quince paste from? The type sold in some delicatessens is not hard like the sun-baked product available here but it might just do in this recipe. Otherwise, you will have to go and see Chiara!

BUONA DOMENICA DELLE PALME..

.. and pace to you, wherever you are.

MILLE ARTICOLI!

The post below was my 1,000th!

I've had some wonderful moments in this blogging life and I've had my lows as well. And sometimes I ask myself why I, or any of us, do it. After all, if you pause and think about it, it's rather a strange activity, putting yourself on the net, then opening up about your life and sometimes your deepest emotions to all who care to read. But through blogging I have made some wonderful friends, all over the world, and I have learnt so much from them. So thank you to all who have visited, read and / or commented thus far.

As if to mark the occasion, the water lorry appeared at 8.30 am today! I had rung yesterday to request the coming week's refill, and was told, "We can even bring it tomorrow if you wish, signora". My mother told me never to look a gift lorry in the mouth* [or something like that] so I didn't, reader. [*Note to my students: the meaning of this proverb is explained here.]

Now, who better to celebrate with me - and you, I hope - but the gorgeous Patrizio?

PATRIZIO BUANNE - THAT'S AMORE