PRESCRIPTION VALID FOR ALL EU COUNTRIES - DOES IT WORK?

I have high blood pressure and the daily tablet has become a necessity I cannot live without. Yes, I know that loosing five to ten kilos combined with vigorous daily exercise would help too and in the end I might not need any pills, but I haven't got that far yet.  

Usually, when I am in Finland I go and see my doctor to stock up on these tablets so that I don't run out. Last time I visited my country of birth, there were several news articles about a new EU directive which says that a prescription given in one EU country is valid in all EU member states providing that you have asked your doctor to give you an EU prescription. 

That is worth trying, I thought and promptly got one. 

This morning I realised that I have only five tablets left and therefore, it will be necessary to go to a pharmacy here in Genoa. I assumed that there might be problems: perhaps it needs to be translated in Italian? Perhaps this type of medicine is not sold here? Perhaps I need all sorts of documents to prove that this is a genuine prescription? Armed with the correct vocabulary and ready to explain, I went to the nearest pharmacy. 

The pharmacist took the prescription and nodded.
He went to get the tablets.

I paid and left. Time elapsed: 5 minutes. 

Perhaps people advocating against the EU forget this type of little benefits the EU membership brings to ordinary citizens. For once, someone out there in that big bunker in Brussels has been thinking about practical problems faced by millions of EU citizens and got it right! 

HUNTING FOR SPICES IN PORTO ANTICO

I really, really like Italian food. 

But there are times when nothing but a curry full of chili and exotic spices will do. For some reason, I get this craving especially when the weather turns hot. 

  When I moved to Genoa, this was a big problem because initially I could not find any hot spices or curry pastes in the shops. Coconut milk was a particular challenge. The mainstream supermarkets stock soy sauce and some very mild Mexican salsa sauce, but that was about as exotic as they are prepared to go. 

This is one of the shops on Via Gramsci in Porto Antico selling spices, all types of rice, curry pastes, spicy sauces and coconut milk. 

   Even though chili is certainly used in Italy  - I have even come across one Italian who actually makes his own mule kick strength chili sauce - it is usually in a very mild form, unless you are in Calabria: there they make nduja salami where one of the key ingredients are roasted hot red peppers. 

   But in Genoa? I found some spices and sauces from tiny ethnic shops in centro storico. The problem was that as much as I wanted to remember the exact street corner and address, I never did and even if I did, I always seemed to arrive on a wrong time of day and the shop was closed for lunch or a holiday. 

We are definitely eating a Thai curry tonight and I already have roasted couple of eggplants for baba ganoush, where tahini is one of the "must have" ingredients. 

Then one day I was on bus number 20 coming towards Porto Antico and saw a very welcome sign for Asia-Africa-South America market on Via Antonio Gramsci. I went back there later and ever since then I have been a regular customer. This is not the only "ethnic" shop on this street, there are at least two others, where the selection is quite similar, but perhaps more catering for people looking for authentic Japanese and Chinese food ingredients. 

FESTIVAL BANDS WITH HAPPY TUNES IN GENOA

I could kick myself for not realising earlier last week that there was an International Music Festival going on in Genoa! Shame, as I missed the party in Porto Antico, where the Copenhagen Showband from Denmark danced on the street ( http://www.ilsecoloxix.it/p/multimedia/genova/2014/07/12/ARbWr5AB-grande_genova_tutto.shtml?hpar=1.) Some lucky friends had also been on Piazza Matteotti on Saturday evening where several bands played happy dancing tunes until very late into the night.

Finally I managed to see some of the action yesterday at Palazzo Ducale - last day of the festival - where bands from Hungary, France, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy and Spain entertained an enthusiastic audience with everything from old classical numbers to jazzy pieces of contemporary film music.

Concert Band of Sarvar from Hungary 

The Junior Orchestr Plzen from Czech Republic has won several band competitions and it showed, they were a joy to listen to. 

This was the sixth time Filarmonica Sestrese www.imf.filarmonicasestrese.com has organised such a huge, international gathering for brass bands, marching bands and youth orchestras. The whole event was free to the general public, thanks to generous sponsorship from the public and private sector.

When one band finished, another one took the stage. Here are members of the German band Fanfarengarde getting ready to play.

SEDUCED BY FRUITS OF SUMMER

Today I felt like a modern day hunter gatherer after a little stroll on our street. 

There are two tiny shops (literally the size of one small room each) selling organic, home grown veggies and fruits. It is always worth going into these shops to see what is on offer and worry about recipes later. In any case, I have stopped making shopping lists since it is a totally useless activity here: I am so easily seduced by whatever looks delicious. Even though I am not always sure what to do with some less familiar vegetables (for some reason artichokes come to mind), I trust that Jamie, Nigella and others have explored this neighbourhood before me and I have never been let down by any of them yet. 

Right now it looks like cherries are on their way out, but on the other hand fresh figs have arrived. Nigella suggests figs preserved in rum and I might try that. I also picked a bunch of dried oregano - the perfume is simply divine and it looks pretty on the kitchen counter too. The blueberries were a bit of a surprise, since they were not particularly sweet, but they will taste perfect in muffins or mixed with yoghurt and sunflower seeds with little bit of honey for breakfast. Garlic makes a regular appearance in almost anything I cook and the cloves of these were big and plump. The lemons are from a friend who came by yesterday and said that there is too much growing in her garden and would I like to have some. Yes, please!