In Italy, and in Sicily in particular, food is taken very seriously, as we saw in the "stock cube in the caponata" affair. It is not, however, taken so seriously that we cannot laugh about it and today I was looking at the facebook page on which people continue to voice their horror at the idea of putting a stock cube in this classic Sicilian dish, ironically post photos of dishes they've made "without a cube" or just joke about it. I particularly like the photo of cannoli "without a cube" and the one in which a woman making cassata siciliana says she will put a stock cube wherever the f*** she likes. Then there is the je suis caponata image and you do wonder how poor old caponata feels about being catapulted into the headlines just when it least expected it. You wonder, too, whether it is appropriate to adapt a hashtag that had its origin in such tragic circumstances, but I'm sure the Charlie Hebdo catoonists would be among the first to say that it is. As dado also means "dice", I take my hat off to the person who posted a photo of caponata with a dice in it! If you'd like a look, the page is here.
Italians share with the British an ability to laugh at themselves and this was evident earlier this week on twitter, when a certain extremist group or their sympathisers threatened to invade Rome. Italians reacted with "travel tips", among which I liked, "Don't come today - there's another transport strike" and "Don't use the ringroad - there are traffic jams". "Is it to update your wardrobe?" was a bit cattier but my favourite was, "Is it because you've run out of Nutella?"
The British might have promised to "fight them on the beaches" but Italians responded with humour, which may turn out to be an effective weapon.
"Gli avari e coloro che non hanno niente da offrire, infatti, non ridono. - The miserly and those who have nothing to offer do not laugh."
- Roberto Benigni
2 comments:
Humour can be a good weapon, indeed!
I agree, Jenny.
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