REMEMBERING OPERATION HUSKY

Seventy years ago, on the night of 9th - 10th July 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily began, with the landings from the sea beginning at dawn on the 10th.  Codenamed Operation Husky, the landings involved the 7th US Army under General Patton [the "Western Task Force"]  and the 8th British Army under General Montgomery including the 1st Canadian Infantry Division [the "Eastern Task Force"].  It is worth noting that, with seven divisions, this was a bigger force than that which landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day [1944].  The beaches at Pachino were stormed by 25,000 Canadians and, whilst the Americans made rapid progress in the West, the British and Canadian soldiers met with fierce Italo-German resistance in the East. In the campaign, 562 Canadian soldiers lost their lives.

It is in memory of these soldiers in particular that commemoration ceremonies in Sicily have been organised by Canada Company during this month and volunteer marchers are retracing the route of the original march by the Canadian soldiers. There has already been a commemoration ceremony at Pachino and on Friday it will be Modica's turn. Among the visiting Canadians will be 92-year-old veteran Captain Sheridan ["Sherry"] Atkinson who more or less accepted the surrender of Modica. You can read the thoughts of another veteran, Charles Hunter, on the Canada Company website. On July 30th a morning roll call for the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives will be held at the Canadian War Cemetery at Agira.

In January I visited the Allied Landings Museum [Museo dello Sbarco] in Catania and tonight I would like to tell you that there is a smaller, but very lovingly curated, museum on this theme in Modica:  The brainchild of Andrea Blefari and Antonino Montalto, the museum has a well annotated collection of uniforms, medals, unpublished and personal documents, arms, military equipment and photos.  Andrea and Antonino's aim is not only to keep the memory of Operation Husky alive but, in their own words, "to teach the young about the price that is sometimes paid for freedom."

You can visit the Museo della Memoria in Modica by appointment and you will find details on their website.

Andrea and Antonino have now collected so many memorabilia of the campaign that they need more space for their museum and this Commonwealth citizen hopes that the Comune di Modica will soon provide it.

The museum photos speak for themselves but my favourite is the enormous WW2 field kitchen. The second portable kitchen that you will see is from WW1.

Museo della Memoria, Sicilia 1943 - slideshows

A total of 14,864 soldiers from Italy, Germany, the USA and the Commonwealth lost their lives during the Allied Landings in Sicily.

THANK YOU, NIGELLA

Thank you, Nigella, for the magnificent Tagliata recipe in Nigellissima, a book about which I was, admittedly, cynical at first. I'll eat the tagliata rather than my words!

Hang on a minute, though.... It wasn't till I was looking for a link to the book that I realised that you look rather different on the cover of the Italian edition! Now I wonder why that is....

What do you make of it, reader?

A VERY SPECIAL VISITOR

The island of Lampedusa, which has so often featured on this blog as the hoped-for "gateway to Europe" for desperate migrants, is to receive a very special visitor today. The visitor is none other than Pope Francis who, in a symbolic gesture, has chosen Lampedusa as the destination for his first trip outside Rome as Pope. 

Pope Francis wants this to be, above all, a simple visit and he has dispensed with the usual protocol surrounding a papal visit: he will not be surrounded by ministers or bishops and he wants to meet migrants, Lampedusa residents and coastguard, military and civilians who have participated in rescue efforts or who have helped the migrants in other ways. The Pontiff will lay a wreath upon the water for those migrants who lost their lives trying to reach Lampedusa and the altar at which he will celebrate Mass is made out of wood from a migrant boat. He will be given a pastoral staff which is also made of wood from one of the boats. 

I feel sure that a Pope who sees the poor as central to his mission and who told young people gathered in St Peter's Square today not to be afraid of joy can bring a message of hope to Lampedusa.

SABATO MUSICALE

In honour of Mr Jovanotti, who appears in concert in Palermo tonight, I am reposting one of my favourite songs of his. It is, of course, the theme song of the film of the same name:

Jovanotti - Baciami ancora

"COOL AS A CUCUMBER" SEMIFREDDO

I've been wanting to make a savoury semifreddo for some time and, as it's the cherry season in Italy, invented this one a few days ago. It makes an interesting starter for a summer meal and a semifreddo is a lot less hassle to make than a sorbet!

First, peel and deseed a cucumber.  Then chop it finely, sprinkle it with salt and leave it on a saucer for about 30 mins. Meanwhile,  lightly oil a 2lb, long loaf tin with groundnut or sunflower oil.  Then put 250 gr digestive biscuits in a clipped plastic bag and crush them to crumbs with a rolling pin. Stone and halve about 30 cherries.  After 30 mins, rinse the cucumber very well in a sieve and pat the pieces dry with kitchen paper. Sprinkle about 1 tablesp of the biscuit crumbs into the base of the loaf tin. Whip 500 ml panna da montare or whipping cream to the soft peak stage, then mix in all but another tablesp of the crumbs, the cucumber pieces, the cherries and any of their juice from the chopping board.  Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin, level it with a palette knife and sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over.  Wrap the whole tin in clingfilm and then in foil and put it in the freezer overnight.  When you are ready to serve the semifreddo, unwrap it, run a knife around the edges to loosen it and dip the base quickly into very hot water.  Then - keeping your nerve! - invert it onto a long serving dish. Decorate with cucumber slices and some more cherries.

If you have some mini loaf tins, you can make about 8 small semifreddi instead of one big one if you like:

PAUSA GELATO

Orange and peach

CHICKEN, ZUCCHINI AND MELON SALAD

This is an updated version of the "Sunday salad" I created last year:  This time, I used a packet of frozen, grilled courgettes [blanched for a couple of minutes in water to which I added the juice of a lemon] instead of the grilled aubergines. I left out the mint because I didn't have any and really I'd used it last year only because it is the traditional herb for aubergines here. I used cubes of pecorino and grana cheese instead of mozzarella. I also added balls of canteloupe melon. I prefer this year's version!

WELL DONE, ETNA!

Let's start the week with belated congratulations to Mount Etna, which on 21st June was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, becoming the 49th Italian site listed. There are 981 sites listed altogether and of these 759 are cultural, 193 are natural and 29 are of mixed properties. Sicily now has six sites in the list and these are:

The Archaeological Area of Agrigento
The Val di Noto cities
Siracusa
The Necropoli rupestri  [Rocky Necropolis] of Pantalica
The Aeolian Islands
Etna

Part of the Italian Delegation's submission reads,  "

"Mount Etna has erupted many times in human history; its intense and persistent volcanic activity is at the base of myths, legends and naturalistic observation since classic times. Consequently Mount Etna has been known, studied and visited by innumerable scientists and tourists from all around the world."   

It goes on to say, 

"Mount Etna has been, and still is, a major centre for international research with a long history of influence on volcanology, geology and geomorphology."

You can read the full justification here but anyone who has seen Sicily's most famous smoky lady will need no convincing!

SABATO MUSICALE

I like this little song about the nature of love:

Corinne Vigo - In amore

THE BOOBY TRAP

In 1965 the theatre critic Kenneth Tynan became the first person to use a certain four-letter word on British television. Despite the intellectual context of the remark, the incident caused a sensation and I remember, from that time, a newspaper cartoon in which a man, flicking at leisure through his own newspaper, is unmoved by reports of war, tragedy and disaster. When he comes upon a report of the Tynan incident, however, the man is so ouraged that he starts shouting and threatening all kinds of legal action and protest.  

I was reminded of this cartoon when I read the other day of the 139 people who had complained to the BBC about TV presenter Holly Willoughby's attire in the final programme of this season's series of the British talent show "The Voice".  In the end the BBC had to apologise and even the quality British press had a field day with "boob" puns. The dress in question is revealing and might not be very tasteful but it is hardly offensive or scandalous - or have I become Italianised?

The matter of Miss Willoughby's dress has been reported in Italy, too but with considerable puzzlement because no one can see what is wrong with it. How times have changed! When I first came to Italy in 1969 I was always being told that my dresses were "too low" [I didn't have the legs for mini-skirts but I did have boobs] and I felt I had to cover the upper part of my body wherever I went. [In a photo I've kept of myself in one of these "low-cut" dresses, there is no hint of cleavage at all to be seen.] These days, necklines are not only much lower here but you are nobody if you don't have half of your breasts exposed vertically as well. Even Sophia does it so it must be all right. [You have to have the right bra, of course, and, as I've written before, Italians are absolutely brilliant at bra manufacture.] 

I've still got boobs and am getting to the age when I shouldn't show them, I know. I've got a few low-cut day dresses and every time I wear one I remind myself that I wouldn't get away with it in the UK, where men often deal with femininity by insulting it. My dresses - and my body - are nothing like Miss Willoughby's but , with the help of the Italian lingerie industry, I'm enjoying my final seasons of the "If you've got it, flaunt it" variety!

INTRODUCING GIANPIERO

This is my friend Gianpiero Puma who in May opened Puma Studio Makeup with his partner Enrico Basile in Modica. Gianpiero is from Venezuela where he worked as a make-up artist for the television network Venevision.  So ladies, if you're visiting Modica and want to look and feel fabulous, I recommend a visit to Gianpiero and his team in their beautiful salon.

Via Resistenza Partigiana

1° Traversa DX 53/A

97015 Modica [RG]

Tel: 0039 0932 764863

info@pumastudiomakeup.it

"SAN PIETRO RI PETRA"

Modica is preparing to celebrate the feast day of one of her two patron saints, St Peter, on Saturday and, as part of these celebrations, a very special restoration has been unveiled.  It is a statue of the saint which has stood in a niche on the Corso Umberto  [Modica Bassa's main street] since the 1940s and is known locally as "San Pietro ri petra". I must admit, I had never noticed it before [which again proves the truth of the saying that you should not forget to look up when in Sicily].

The restoration was the inspiration of the Modica Rotary Club and one reason for their enthusiasm for the project was the determination of the war generation to have spiritual representations among the houses where ordinary people went about their daily business and lived their lives.  The restoration has been lovingly and faithfully carried out by Gaetana Ascenzo and the statue is now protected from atmospheric pollution by special glass. [Sorry about the reflection.]

Long may San Pietro, protector of fishermen, fishmongers, cobblers, locksmiths, reapers, watchmakers and doormen, continue to bless Modica. 

SABATO MUSICALE

Tonight we may all be able to see the "supermoon" so, with that in mind, here is a pretty song from the late Alex Baroni:

Alex Baroni - La voce della luna

A LITTLE BIT OF WALES

Dining out with friends the other day, I was surprised and delighted to see these among the condiments:

And what a pretty way to serve a steak!

PERFUMERY

As I walked out early on Saturday morning the scent of orange blossom was so heady and strong that I thought I was in Grasse.  At first, I couldn't work out where it was coming from. Then I looked up.

SEA OF SADNESS - 2

Image: Norman Einstein
Wikimedia Commons

Summer moons and calmer seas continue to bring with them the "boatloads of sorrow" and it is estimated that some 1,000 migrants reached the Sicilian and Calabrian coasts during Saturday - Sunday night.

Among these were the 95 survivors of a tragedy which took place 85 miles south of Malta in international waters. Some of these migrants were on a dinghy but others were clinging to a tuna fishing cage being dragged by a Tunisian fishing boat. Of these, at least seven were drowned when the boat crew cut the rope.  Some of the migrants tried to jump onto the fishing boat but were pushed back into the sea by crew members.  The passengers on the dinghy, by now adrift, and the migrants who were still clinging to the cage were spotted by a Maltese naval plane and, advised of their position, the Italian Coast Guard effected the rescue of the 95.

At first the survivors' accounts were treated with caution while investigations were carried out but they have now been verified. It is still not clear why or for how long some of the migrants had been clinging to the cage but it is possible that they threw themselves towards it in desperation because of the cramped conditions on the dinghy. 

Yesterday Laurens Jolles, the UNHCR delegate for Southern Europe, thanked the Italian Coast Guard for  its numerous actions, which have saved hundreds of lives. Monsignor Giancarlo Perego of Fondazione Migrantes called for "humanitarian channels for people to escape situations in the Middle East and Africa". He would like to see patrols accompanying the migrants in a spirit of welcome and a new European policy which would look upon asylum seekers and refugees more sympathetically. Meanwhile Italy's Integration Minister Cécile Kyenge has said that immigrants should be regarded as an important economic resource for  the country and has pointed out that if their lavoro nero  [illegal work] were regularised, the Italian Treasury would receive an extra five million euros in revenue.

As some of my commenters have pointed out on my other posts on this subject, there are no easy answers: The "Welcome Centre" on the island of Lampedusa - a structure built for 300 people -  is reported to be housing 855 at the moment and there are no immediate plans to transfer them.  Jobs are scarce in Italy and, when times are hard, it is always easy to blame an identifiable community. Yet, despite the problems, I do believe that we are beginning to see a change in attitudes towards migrants in Italy.  

EAVESDROPPING IN CATANIA

There are days when I wonder, "What on earth can I write about tonight?" but I have learnt that, if I pay attention to the detail of everyday life and am quietly observant, a subject will usually present itself. Thus it was in Catania on Saturday, when, stopping for an ice cream at a bar which had become a favourite of mine in that city, I overheard not one, but two conversations which I thought were interesting enough to report to you.  I justify my eavesdropping by pointing out that listening in seems to be all the rage at the moment and anyway, both conversations were loud enough to be heard by everyone in the busy street.

As I sat at an outside table watching the world go by, I noticed a young woman seated at the next table. I suppose I first looked across at her because the unpleasant odour of her cigarette smoke was coming in my direction but there was nothing I could do about that, although we were in a small, confined, space.  The terrace of this bar is enclosed by a screen on three sides, so whether it is "outside" or "inside" is debatable, but for smoking purposes such spaces are deemed to be "outside". [Come on, Italy - ban smoking in outdoor enclosed spaces, too, and ban the stupid electronic cigarettes while you're at it!]  The waitress, using halting English, was speaking to the young woman, who I gathered was Eastern European. I also understood that she had gone into the bar to ask for a job. By now, the waitress was explaining to her that the bar owner also owned a lap dancing club and that he was looking for dancers. "You wan' dance in the local?" [By "local" the waitress meant "club".]  "Yeh!" replied the young woman enthusiastically. Then the bar-owner appeared and, with the waitress still using bad English to translate, offered the young woman a job at the "local", which she accepted. 

First I was peturbed at the involvement of one woman in the degradation of another and then I began to wonder if the young woman really understood what kind of job she had been offered. I thought about asking her but decided against it as [a] she probably did; [b] it was none of my business; [c] she was not a minor and [d] she had polluted the entire terrace with her vile cigarette smoke and I did not feel like risking a nasty scene on her behalf. Well, what would you have done?

Finally, as I asked for my bill, I heard the same waitress tell the cashier, "The customer is Italian". This would indicate that the bar charges foreigners more than they charge Italians, which is quite scandalous. I haven't made my mind up yet whether to boycott the bar in future or ask, next time, if, as a Sicilian resident, I have to pay as an Italian or a foreigner!

SENZA PAROLE

The story of the insulting sexist menu featuring a "Julia Gillard dish" went around the world last week and of course, as this Guardian report proves, it was neither the first, nor will it be the last, time that a woman politician has been the victim of sexism. [Our old friend Silvio naturally appears in the Guardian article.]

However, an appallingly sexist and racist comment aimed at Italy's first black cabinet minister, Cécile Kyenge, the Minister for Integration, did not make international headlines. A quick internet check revealed that the British Daily Mail and the Toronto Sun had the story but I did not find it elsewhere in English. I report it here because every now and then, in Italy, a public figure makes a remark which simply could not be uttered, much less written, in Britain and when I first read about it the incident rendered me speechless.

On Thursday Dolores Valandro, a Lega Nord Councillor in Padua suggested, on her facebook page, that Minister Kyenge should be raped, "so that she would know what it feels like."  [This was in response to an online article about crimes allegedly carried out by immigrants.]  Cécile Kyenge said that such language was an incitement to violence and that all Italians should feel ashamed. Prime Minister Enrico Letta quickly agreed with the Minister and condemned the remarks, as did  Dolores Valandro's own party, who said they would expel her. Laura Boldrini, the Speaker of the Camera dei Deputati [Lower House] also expressed her outrage and said that the original remark was made worse by the fact that it came from a woman with a political role.

Dolores Valandro has since apologised and her facebook page has been taken down. Cécile Kyenge, speaking from Genova's Suq [multicultural] Festival today, said that she would always meet the language of violence with the language of non-violence.  All Italians I have spoken to about the incident have expressed their shame that a remark such as the one made by Dolores Valandro on Thursday could be made by a public figure in their country.

SABATO MUSICALE

Time for a dance, folks:

Alex Britti - Baciami [e portami a ballare]

PERFECT PARTNERS

Asiago cheese and cherries

"ENGLISH FUN WEEK" A MODICA!

LONDON TOWN

CENTRO LINGUISTICO INTERNAZIONALE

MODICA

Via Resistenza Partigiana 25/b, 97015, Modica [RG]

Tel: 0932 905642 / 366 119 6467

ENGLISH FUN WEEK FOR CHILDREN

SETTIMANA DI DIVERTIMENTO E GIOCHI IN INGLESE

PER BAMBINI dai 7 - 11 ANNI

8 – 12 LUGLIO 2013, DALLE 10.00 – 12.00

  

PROGRAMMA

DAY 1 / 1° GIORNO         BEACH DAY – SIMULAZIONE DI UN GIORNO ALLA SPIAGGIA!

DAY 2 / 2° GIORNO         JEWELLERY DAY – FABBRICHIAMO DELLA GIOIELLERIA!

DAY 3 / 3° GIORNO         FRUIT DAY – IL GIORNO DELLA FRUTTA!             

DAY 4 / 4° GIORNO         PAINTING DAY – CI DIVERTIAMO CON LA PITTURA!

DAY 5 / 5° GIORNO         DRESSING UP DAY – CI VESTIAMO A FESTA!

Per prezzi e ulteriori informazioni rivolgersi al Centro:

0932 905642 / 366 119 6467   Email:  londontownmodica@gmail.com

  

Images / immagini [ apart from logo / tranne logo]: WP Clipart

A PEA-SUPER SALAD!

"I eat my peas with honey,

I've done it all my life,

It makes the peas taste funny

but it keeps them on the knife!"

- Anon.

Well, I do eat my peas with honey when I put them in salads, and that's just what I did the other day when I felt like inventing a new chicken salad for the Sicilian summer:

Pea-super* salad

2 tablesp balsamic vinegar

8 chicken breast escalopes, pounded very thin by your butcher

300 gr fresh or frozen peas plus mint sprig

a goodly chunk of Sicilian peppered Pecorino, cubed

6 - 8 plums, sliced

100 gr pack rocket leaves

a handful of other salad leaves of your choice

a handful of basil leaves, torn

about 8 mint leaves, torn

2 tablesp olive oil

Dressing:

2 tablesp olive oil

1 tablesp honey

1 tablesp balsamic vinegar

seasalt and black pepper

Marinate the chicken escalopes in the balsamic vinegar for at least 2 hours, then lift the chicken pieces out and leave them on kitchen paper. 

Cook the peas in salted water with a sprig of mint until they are just tender, then rinse them in cold water.

Drain the peas and put them into a large salad bowl with the Pecorino, plums, salad  leaves and herbs. Put the bowl in the fridge.

Make the dressing by simply mixing all the ingredients together well and put this in the fridge, too.

Heat the oil on a ridged griddle pan and cook the chicken escalopes on it - about 1 minute per side. As they are cooked, lift them onto a plate and leave to cool.  When you can handle them, cut them into small pieces with a kitchen scissors and add to the salad bowl. Just before serving, give the dressing a final whisk with a fork, pour it over the salad ingredients and toss well.

Buon appetito.

*A pea-souper was a thick, London fog which was so polluted that it was said to look like yellow pea soup. I never saw one, as they were largely a product of an age of heavy industry and coal fires. However, when I was a child I heard my parents talking about them and  I thought the fog had got its name because it was so cold and miserable outside that it made you crave a warming pea soup!

IN BOCCA AL LUPO ALLA "NERINA"!

Ortigia, Siracusa

Today a sailing boat left Ortigia in Siracusa for Ancona, from where her very unusual crew will sail her in the ORC International World Championships which will be held there from 21st - 29th June. The crew, made up of 18 young people who have been in prison or have been addicted to drugs, have been trained to sail as part of a social inclusion programme called "Liberi di... liberi da" [Free of.... free from"] which is funded by the Sicilian Regional Government.

The young people were trained for two years and then given work experience placements in various shipyards in Siracusa. There, reports Corriere della Sera, their co-workers imparted to them their own love of the sea and boats. What is more, the experiment worked so well that the young people are now regarded as indispensable by their employers.

I am sure you will join me in wishing the Nerina and her crew good luck. 

SABATO MUSICALE

The Sicilian summer has arrived and everybody's thinking about the sea, so here is lovely Patrizio Buanne to tell us that "You are inside me, like a high tide".  Enjoy:

Patrizio Buanne - Alta Marea

FRIDAY ELEVENSES

.... Sicilian style:

SEA OF SADNESS

The sea at Pozzallo

The Mediterranean - a playground for some, but increasingly, in these times, a sea of sadness for so many. As the Sicilian summer brings clear, moonlit nights with open-air dining, dances, concerts and parties, so it also brings more of what I have come to call, in my eight years here, the "boatloads of sorrow" - that is, inadequate, overcrowded boats of would-be migrants willing to risk everything in order to flee the unimaginable and to seek a better life.

In the early hours of Tuesday one such boat ran into trouble in the Sicilian Channel and was saved because, at 4.30 am., one of the passengers managed to contact the leader of Turin's Egyptian community by satellite phone. Help was summoned and at 6.30 am Italian Coastguard boats managed to reach the migrant vessel.  On board were 119 migrants, including five women and 56 minors. All are thought to be Egyptian. The craft was sinking due to the length of the journey and the sheer numbers on board, some of whom had to be brought to Modica for hospital treatment.

A 26-year-old Egyptian man, whom police found after questioning the migrants, has been arrested on suspicion of people-trafficking.

A new law which aims at protecting the human rights of migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, is before the Sicilian Regional Assembly at the moment.  Among its provisions are measures to ensure migrants' rights to health cover, education, help with housing and cultural integration. Barriers which prevent migrants from working in the voluntary sector would be lifted and there would be a job creation scheme. Anti-discrimination measures are also envisaged. 

If Sicily can pull this off, it would be a shining example to other regions affected by the migration crisis.

GELATO CALLS...

Well, wouldn't you?

SIGH IN THE SKY

I pride myself on being at my cantankerous British best whenever a Sky Italia employee calls, usually at the most inconvenient of times, to offer me a sports package and the conversation often runs like this:

Me: Sorry, but I hate sport.
Sky lady:  What, all of it?
Me: Yes.
Sky lady: But don't you want to see some of it? Didn't you want to watch the Olympics in your own country last year?
Me [for I have to grudgingly admit that even I was teary over the Olympics]: Yes, but I watched them very well on Rai, thank you.
Hapless Sky lady [the idea that you might live alone and dislike sport being too much for an Italian]: Well, isn't there anyone else in your house who likes sport? There must be!
Me: No, I'm afraid not. My dog's not interested in sport either!
Sky lady [despairing]: Allora, buona sera, signora.

But if I am the despair of the Sky sales team, I must admit that Sky often get their revenge - as they did two years ago when they cut the BBC Entertainment channel, for instance, and as they do these days every two months when they send out their bills: There I am after a hard day in the whiteboard jungle, unwinding by watching some inane repeat documentary about British royals, when all of a sudden, a message flashes onto the screen, accusing me of not having paid my bill. What bill? I haven't received one!

Angrily, I rush to the phone and when, after much sleep-inducing music and numerous useless messages, I actually get to speak to a real, live person, I am told that the bills have been sent out but that they must be delayed in the post. That, surely, is Sky's problem to resolve and, as they admit it is happening to everyone, I cannot understand why they do not do just that. Last month, the guy in billing said he was telling everyone to go to the tobacconist's or other Sisal [lotto outlet with a bill-paying facility] shop a few days before the bill is due, ask the shopkeeper to key in their client number on the lottomatica machine and lo and behold, the amount due would show. That's fine, but what about people who cannot get to a Sisal shop or do not have time to do so?  When I went to the tobacconist's to follow this advice on Friday, he told me that everyone who pays their Sky bill in cash has the same problem -  namely, that the bill arrives two weeks after the final date for paying it - and that they are all heartily fed up with Sky, who then add an extra charge!

Come on, Sky Italia: you have brought us HD, "My Sky" and have managed to incorporate Italian digitale terrestre channels into your little box, so surely it is not beyond you to change your private postal service and get the bills to your customers on time?

SABATO MUSICALE - PER FRANCA

This week's sabato musicale is dedicated to Franca Rame, the great actor, playwright and political activist, who died, at the age of 84, on Wednesday.

I was a young Italian graduate when I discovered the theatrical works of Franca Rame and her husband, Dario Fo and I felt that they spoke directly to me and for my generation. It has often been written that the literature of the twentieth century asks the questions rather than providing the answers but Franca Rame had some answers, too;  among them were being politically vigilant, questioning the policies of every political party and never giving up hope.

As the Mayor of Milan said at Franca Rame's lay funeral,

"She had the greatness of one who dreams and one who fights."

Franca Rame fought tirelessly for women and, some years after being abducted, tortured and raped by fascists in 1973, she courageously told her story in a monologue entitled Lo Stupro [The Rape], thus encouraging other Italian women to speak out against this most horrific of crimes. [ Rape was designated "an act of violence against women" in Italian law only in 1996].

At the funeral Dario Fo recited an unpublished monologue written by his wife:  in this story, Eve appears on earth not fashioned from Adam's rib but modelled by God in fine clay. When God asks the couple to choose between the fruits of immortality and the apple, Eve says,

"Just to have consciousness, consciousness, doubts and to experience love - come, death!"

Adam echoes her, saying,

"I have some doubts but I am very curious to discover the mystery of love, even if immediately afterwards I meet my end."

Dario Fo and Franca Rame's son, Jacopo, said, at the funeral,

"Dinosaurs are extinct and people with no love or respect for humanity will become extinct one day too.....I want you to go home with a little faith because, as my mother said, 'God exists and is a communist.' I would add that she is also female."

As Franca Rame had requested, women wore red and sang the partisan song, Bella Ciao at the funeral.  I would like to add my own thanks for the life and work of Franca Rame.

AND NOW, FROM CALABRIA.....

I'm having a very oniony week for not only are the large, white Giarratana onions in season, but it is also time for the famous red onions of Tropea to make their appearance. These onions are grown around the beach resort town of Tropea in Vibo Valentia Province and particularly between Briatico and Capo Vaticano.  

The soil of the area makes the onions sweet and they contain vitamins C and E, iron, iodine, zinc and magnesium. A few years ago it was discovered that they also contain nitric oxide, a component of that pill for the gentlemen.  Sweets for your sweetie?

BAKED ONIONS WITH APRICOT RAGU

Baked, stuffed onions are a favourite in Sicily during the Giarratana onion season and I used the largest ones I could find for this recipe.  The ragù with dried apricots and almonds is my own invention because I wanted to do something different, so all you Sicilians who are shocked by the mix of "sweet and savoury" had better look away now!

First, clean, trim and peel 6 large, flattish onions and then put them in simmering, salted water for 20 minutes or until tender but not falling apart.  Lift them out of the pan with a slotted spoon and let them dry on kitchen paper on a plate.

Heat the oven to 170 C while you make the ragù.  These quantities are enough to fill the 6 large onions and to have some ragù left to put around them:

4 tablesp olive oil + extra for drizzling
200 gr mixed, minced meat [typically pork and beef in Sicily]
200 gr pasta di salame [sausage mince]
125 gr mushrooms, chopped
6 fresh mint leaves, chopped
125 ml white wine
100 gr chopped almonds
100 gr dried apricots, chopped
coarse seasalt and black pepper
mint leaves to garnish

Brown all the meat in the 4 tablesp olive oil and add the mushrooms. Stir well, then add the wine, chopped almonds, chopped mint and apricots. Season the mixture, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 25 mins.

Meanwhile, scoop out the centre of the onions as best you can. [I used a small knife and a teaspoon.] Oil a glass or ceramic oven dish and place the onions in it. Now fill them with the ragù and spoon the remaining ragù around them. Drizzle more olive oil over the contents of the dish and bake for about 30 mins. Garnish with more mint leaves.

Buon appetito!

THE RETURN OF "IL POETA DEL PONTE"

"My poet", Antonio Lonardo, whom I also call "Il poeta del ponte", has been busy since he last appeeared on this blog. Since the collection of poems Il profumo del pensiero, which I translated into English, three more Lonardo anthologies have been published and Antonio has continued to be awarded honourable mentions in, and to win, numerous poetry competitions.

His latest collection is entitled Orizzonti sconvolti [Unsettled Horizons] and is divided into three sections: Storia, about historical events and people in history; Crisi, about the crisis in our values; and Speranze, about hope.  The author of this article calls Antonio a "determined" poet and, whilst I would agree with this, I would also describe his message as triumphant, for he always gives us hope.

Incidentally, I get a mention in the article too!

SABATO MUSICALE

A passionate song from popular Emma Marrone [who at last has a non-weird hairstyle]:

Emma Marrone - Amami

SAPORE DI SALE

Italians don't go in for food crazes in the way that the British do, and especially not in Sicily, where people still tend to eat seasonal food and are convinced that their own is the best.  

Lately, though, I've noticed a growing interest in different kinds of salt and I have collected these specimens.  I was particularly pleased to see grey Breton salt among the range as I hadn't been able to find any in eight years and I have missed it. Now I think the manufacturers should add Welsh seasalt, too.

I'm expecting a salt-admonishing blog visit from my friend James any minute but meanwhile it's time for that summer song:

Gino Paoli - Sapore di sale

"IDEAS LIVE ON"

 Giovanni Falcone
Image: Wikipedia Italia

"Gli uomini passano, le idee restano. Restano le loro tensioni morali 

e continueranno a camminare sulle gambe di altri uomini."

"Men die but ideas live on. Their moral power remains and they walk

 forward on the legs of other men."

- Judge Giovanni Falcone, 18 May 1939 - 23 May 1992

ZUCCHINI MOUSSE

It's always gratifying when a mousse, semifreddo, timballo or any other dish that is meant to turn out actually does just that, so I thought I'd show you this zucchini mousse. Admittedly , it would have looked better if I'd had the patience to cut the zucchini for the top into ultra-thin ribbons but I didn't have the patience tonight and sliced them in the processor. 

The recipe, for those of you in Italy, was in Donna Moderna about three weeks ago but I'm afraid I can't find the date on the pages I kept. You are supposed to use goat's cheese but, as I couldn't find any, I used Crescenza.  The dish also contains eggs, chives, basil, more grated zucchini and panna di cucina [cream for general cooking - it is thinner than British single cream]. 

SYNTACTICAL GALLANTRY

Speakers of other languages are often surprised to find that, in English, it is possible to string several adjectives together in one sentence and that there is an accepted order for these adjectives, according to their meaning.  We say, for example, "a nice young man" rather than "a young nice man".  The native speaker usually uses the correct order automatically and does not have to think about it but the English learner needs some rules to hold on to, so is taught that the "opinion" adjective comes first, then the "size" one, then the "age" adjective, then "shape", "colour",  "nationality", "material" and "purpose" ["a nice, big, new, rectangular, brown, British, wooden dining table"].

We were practising such combinations today in class and, towards the end of the lesson I asked students to use three adjectives together in a sentence describing a person and another three in a sentence describing an object.  One student wrote,

"My English teacher is a beautiful, middle-aged, Welsh woman."

Besides admiring his good judgement in his choice of "opinion" adjective, I could have hugged him for having the gallantry to leave "size" out of it and for not writing "old". What's more, he even remembered that I am Welsh! Could this mean that I am getting somewhere in my campaign to convince Sicilians that "Inghilterra" is not Britain and that Britain is not England? No.... that would be too optimistic!

Weren't these the days?
Image:  WP Clipart

SABATO MUSICALE

Good luck to Italy's Marco Mengoni, who returns to the stage with his winning Sanremo song, L'Essenziale, in the Eurovision Song Contest tonight:

Marco Mengoni - L'Essenziale

And, because the UK will be represented by a Welshwoman, I have to root for Bonnie Tyler as well!

Bonnie Tyler - Believe in Me

ANTIPASTI SURPRISE

As I've written many times before, the stuzzichini or antipasti served in many a Sicilian bar are often plentiful and delicious enough to form a meal in themselves.  Thus it was when a friend and I had dinner out last weekend and it was a nice surprise to get a mini-dish of pasta too:

SICILIANS' FAVOURITE SMELL

If I asked you what you think Sicilians' favourite smell is, what would you say? You might think it was the scent of jasmine or orange blossom wafting through the air at this time of year or one of these in perfume form. Or, talking of perfume, perhaps the island's women finish their toilette with a generous spray of Acqua di Parma's almond fragrance or D&G's Sicily.

Then again, maybe the way to a Sicilian's olfactory nerve is through the kitchen and you might imagine that the unmistakeable scent of vanilla as numerous pasticcerie set to work in the morning or the aroma of freshly prepared foccaccia, pizza or arancini in the evening would be at the top of every Sicilian's good smell list.

All of the above would make the list but I can tell you with certainty that none of them would top it: I recently  had to visit a non-medical establishment which had been spring-cleaned with particular vigour and everyone - man or woman - who came in while I was there stopped as they crossed the threshold, sniffed the air and declared joyfully, 

"Che bel profumo di pulizia!" ["What a beautiful smell of cleaning!"]

And that, dear reader, is Sicilians' favourite smell.  What's yours? Just for fun, do please vote in the poll in the sidebar. Thank you.

Image: WP Clipart

CHOCOLATE GODDESS

And I'm not talking about Britain's goddess of cuisine, Nigella! No, tonight's post is about another of my favourite ladies, the Greek goddess Demeter, and that most divine of foods, chocolate.  

Those clever people at Modica's Antica Dolceria Bonajuto have put the two together and produced a chocolate medallion featuring the head of Demeter. They got the idea two years ago when they worked on a project for the Museo Biscari with Sicilian goldsmith Massimo Izzo and Catania-born designer Marella Ferrera. Back then, they produced a gold chocolate impression of the goddess but now they have decided to produce a whole line of chocolate deities, each made with the same type of mould that Massimo Izzo uses to make his "real" jewels and presented in its own jewelbox. The line, appropriately, is called cioccolato-gioiello.

For those of you who do not know of Demeter and Persephone's connection with Sicily, here is an edited version of a post I wrote about this in 2007:

Persephone [Core / Kora], daughter of Zeus and Demeter [Ceres], was abducted by Hades [Aidoneus / Pluto] whilst gathering flowers at Enna*. Demeter's grief for her daughter knew no bounds and she wandered the earth trying to find her, neglecting her duties as goddess of corn and so causing a worldwide famine. Zeus, forced to intervene, persuaded Hades to allow Persephone to return from the underworld, but she was tricked into eating some pomegranate seeds, the "food of the dead". [According to Robert Graves in The Greek Myths, there was an ancient taboo on red-coloured food.] This precluded Persephone's return to earth. Sources vary in their accounts of how many seeds she ate - Homer says one, Graves seven, Tennyson assumes three, other sources six - but it was agreed that Persephone would spend a month with Hades for each one. Let us believe, for the sake of the story, that it was three or four. Thus Persephone spends the winter months with her husband, returning to earth and Demeter for the spring. She brings much-needed rain for the crops with her as the lucky girl had received Sicily as a wedding present. Therefore it is only fitting that she should take special care of it.

* The Sicilians, and I, believe it was at Enna. It could have been almost anywhere in the Greek world.

SABATO MUSICALE

This is the title track of Alberto Molon's first solo album. In the song he is trying to convince himself that he's fine, even without the one he loves.  Haven't we all been there?

Alberto Molon - Sto bene anche se

OPERATIC PIZZA

Pasta alla Norma is one of my favourite Sicilian dishes and I was thinking of it as I walked home past my local pizzeria last night. The aroma was just too much for me, so I went in and emerged, fifteen minutes later, with this delicious pizza alla Norma.

The pizza was of course enjoyed to strains of Bellini!

GNOME KIDDING

Those of you who know my politics will be surprised to read that I have achieved 15 gnomoseconds of fame in the expat section of the Torygraph and, for those of you who do not hail from Blighty's shores, I should explain that the Telegraph newspaper has this nickname because of its tendency to support the British Conservative party.

Anyway, on the May Day bank holiday I was mucking about on twitter, as is my wont, when I saw a tweet from @TelegraphExpat asking for pictures of garden gnomes belonging to expats. I sent them [the Telegraph people, not the gnomes] a  tweet asking if balcony gnomes counted and a nice lady replied that they definitely did, so I sent her this picture of Pierre gnome and his pals:

I explained that Pierre is from Cardiff, like me and that the dust on him is from Etna. That information found its way into the caption and, although it is true, I only added it because I wasn't feeling energetic or balcony-proud enough to dust Pierre before taking the picture.

Pierre and his little gang are very pleased with themselves but Simi the dog is somewhat miffed at not being in on the act!

The whole gnome gallery is here.

ADDIO, SIGNORA AGNESE

News of the death today of Life Senator and former Prime Minister of Italy Giulio Andreotti has gone around the world but I wonder how many of you have read or heard of the death yesterday of a quiet and courageous woman? Agnese Borsellino, widow of the anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino, murdered in 1992, died in Palermo at the age of 71 after a long illness which she bore with dignity and acceptance.

Agnese Borsellino never wavered in her fight to find out the truth about her husband's murder and, when ill health prevented her from attending some of the demonstartions organised in support of her cause, she chose to send a message to young people, saying that, despite all that had happened and some moments of doubt, she continued to believe in the democratic institutions of her country, as had her husband. In a rare interview which she gave to ANSA last year, signora Borsellino remembered that her husband's sense of duty had led him to ask himself, every evening, whether he had earned his state salary that day. His conscientiousness, sadly, cost him his life.

Mourners in Palermo applauded Agnese Borsellino's coffin as it was carried from the church of Santa Luisa di Marillac this morning and the service was attended by both national and regional government representatives.  Governor of Sicily Rosario Crocetta said that signora Borsellino, who had been deeply aware of the injustices which exist in Italian society, had been an example of courage, strength and values. He said that she and her husband belonged to all who believe in justice.

SABATO MUSICALE

This is the first single from young songwriter Mario Cianchi. I like it:

Mario Cianchi - Sarà abbastanza

AS IT WERE....

I once taught the subjunctive to an Advanced Level French class, all of whom were also studying Advanced Level English Literature, by using French versions of lines from Shakespeare that they already knew, because they were more likely to find the subjunctive in Shakespeare than in modern English. The method, I am glad to be able to report, worked.

Here is a confession: I love the subjunctive. I love its elegance, its sound and the grammatical hoops you have to go through in order to use it.  But what is it? It is not a tense but what is known grammatically as a "mood", implying that what is important in the utterance is not what happens but the speaker or writer's attitude towards it.  A simple example in Italian would be, "Penso che sia buono" ["I think it's good"]. The second verb - part of essere [to be] - is in the subjunctive; the speaker or writer thinks something is good but it may not be - so the subjunctive is often an indicator of uncertainty. Half the fun of using it, in the Romance languages, is in judging the degree of uncertainty. In Italian, as in French and Spanish, the subjunctive is also used in certain set expressions and after certain verbs and conjunctions but the uses are not necessarily the same in the different languages.

Frequency of subjunctive use varies from language to language, too: The subjunctive is a rarity and a formal mode of expression in British English so it may surprise some of you to learn that it is more often used in American English. However, it does survive in British English and most of us are unaware that we are using it in forms such as "If I were you". It also survives in our national anthem, for the line "God Save the Queen" is the expression of a wish. 

Alas, even in French, a language passionately defended by its académiciens, the present subjunctive is drowning out the other forms and it is now quite common to hear "Penso che è" rather than "Penso che sia" in Italian - so much so, in fact, that Rosalba Occhipinti, a primary school teacher from Gela, has formed a Society for the Protection of the Subjunctive. All signora Occhipinti's pupils are members of the society and they have promised to seek out examples of the use of the subjunctive and to correct any errors that they come across. Next year, the school will run a competition based on exercises involving the use of the subjunctive. Long live [there's another one] the Associazione a tutela del congiuntivo and may signora Occhipinti's students continue to have fun with the subjunctive for many years to come!

MAYFLOWER

No apologies for reposting this lovely song on May Day!

Fabio Concato - Fiore di maggio

"Mai" flowers at Camarina

HAPPY MAY DAY, EVERYBODY! BUONA FESTA DEL LAVORO!