Food for thought

The flavour of every country is perhaps most reflected through its food. Despite the changing times, frenetic pace, Italians still love to relish their food, be it at home or restaurant. Food and wine pairing are part of their culture. So they prefer white wine with fish and red wine with meat. Each Italian will even tell you their family way to dish up, using recipes often passed through generations. Often the extended families would turn up over an elaborate family meal.

Culinary delights are indeed soul curry.  But as one recent Archie Calendar advertisement goes, cupcake is happiness with an icing.

Of course, my happiness lies in thin-crust pizza which anyway is born here in Italy. With it, I need my Neapolitan flip coffee pot. Yes, I know, it was more popular in the last century, but I guess, I got the taste buds from my grandfather who still insists for it. Unlike a Moka Express, a Napoletana does not use the pressure of steam to force the water through the coffee, depending instead on gravity.


For an ideal winter dinner, fish appetizers, yes, that ubiquitous, fundamental part of every serious Italian meal, will involve canapés with various kinds of pâté (olives, artichokes, eggplants, etc.), seafood salad, artichokes hearts and other vegetables preserved in oil (best if homemade), toasted bread with butter and anchovies. Did I forget peppered mussels and fried cod to mention?

By the way, has anyone heard of a dish called Farinacci? This is prepared at Christmas time by making pasta and then rolling them up with tomato paste and cheese. I Love Farinacci and would usher the New Year with it as well.  Then there is Panelle. This is Sicilian fritters made from gram flour and other ingredients. They are a popular street food in Palermo, a city as much noted for its history and culture, as for its architecture and gastronomy. Panelle are often eaten between slices of bread or on a roll, like a sandwich. Panelle are believed to be of Arabic origin. This also reflects the adaptive ways of Italian palate.

Christmas in Naples

Jingle bells, Jingle bells…. There is a nip in the air, but it is wet winter, typically Mediterranean. Amidst the chiming of church bells, the choirs, mistletoes and xmas trees, what stands out are the plethora of cribs. What is sparkling in these cribs is that they don’t have just  characters plucked from the Christmas story, but also have figures of ‘everyday people and objects’ – from house to waterfall to food to animals …. You name it. You can buy as well for keepsakes or souvenirs. Come Christmas and Naples in Italy is the place to visit. It has the largest crib scene in world housing over 600 objects on it. Even, the first crib in Naples is thought to go back to 1025! At the St Mary of the Crib. 

Whoever knows Naples by its thin-crust Pizza, take a dekko. My Naples is quite distinct from the bustling Rome or the cosmopolitan Milan. Its geography is dotted with little terra cotta villages and impossible to reach green mountains. It has an almost three thousand years of history seeped in its buildings and monuments, medieval castles, stately villas, lavish palaces et al. It is an architectural splendour nestled against a blue blue sea in the bay. The historic centre of Naples is listed by UNESCO as a World heritage Site.  

Interestingly, the most bombed Italian city in World War II, Naples is also the birthplace of romantic guitar and mandolin. It has several lovely parks and gardens where I often frequent. Yes, even a lonesome soul becomes wholesome here. Then there are museums, which I feel are the heirlooms for its country. The Naples National Archaeological Museum is one of the city's main museums, with one of the most extensive collections of artifacts of the Roman Empire in the world. 

Not surprising, if Rome is Italy’s heart, Naples is its soul. 

Want to celebrate this Christmas in Naples in Italy, contact us on www.irisreps.in   and www.amandatour.com for more details.