Little attention is dedicated to the artistic side of the wine label. Yet the labels are designed with care, research, and talent by many artists whose name is nowhere to be seen. There are many remarkable labels, both, for the Italian production, and international. Italian wines, particularly those most renowned, tend to maintain traditional labeling […]
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ITALIAN WINES Italy is a world leader in the production of wines, especially quality wines. It is difficult to talk about a definitive ranking because in Italy the tendency of wine producers is to continuously improve, day after day and even the rankings we often see new wines come to the fore. HOW TO MOVE […]
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Mr. Andrea Camilleri is the “father” of Inspector Montalbano, an Italian television series produced and broadcast by RAI since 1999. The protagonist is commissario (Commissioner) Salvo Montalbano, and the stories are set in the imaginary town of Vigàta, Sicily. The books might be difficult to read for some Italians as they are written in a […]
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After All About Pasta I thought it was a good thing to look up the other famous “Made in Italy”, his majesty the Olive Oil. Extra virgin olive oil is the most common seasoning on Italian tables. Italy is one of the biggest producers of olive oil; a market worth about 2 billion euros, thanks […]
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Well yes, the artichoke can be intimidating, and it requires a little dextrity in both preparing it and eating. But the rewards are great. I was always a little perplexed that in the East Coast artichokes were so little known, while in California, if you travel from Monterey down south there are fields and fields […]
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What in winter makes me get up with [a little more] enthusiasm is the morning freshly squeezed juice. Besides the very well-known Navel oranges, in Italy we have the oranges from Sicily that are excellent. Besides oranges, tangerines (here called Mandarines) and kumquats, we also have the fantastic, sweet-scented Bergamot. Bergamot A freshly squeezed Bergamot […]
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In Italy there is a close relationship between food and literature. Camilleri described a Timballo in one of his books, but Tomasi di Lampedusa also talks about the Timballo in one unforgettable scene from the book The Leopard (Italian: Il Gattopardo); it is a novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that chronicles the changes in […]
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Not too long ago I published my summer reading list Among all my books there was Camilleri‘s latest book about “Commissario Montalbano“. His books generated a very successful TV series about the adventures of this Police Chief from an idillic town in Sicily and his passion for good food. His books are translated into English […]
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If Nero d’Avola isn’t on your radar, it should be. It’s the most widely planted red in Sicily and, as the name suggests, it comes from Avolain the south-east of the island, in the province of Siracusa. It used to be mainly grown, and exported in quantity, to bulk up weedier northern reds, but it […]
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Life in Italy 