WHEN THE POST GOES MISSING

A friend decided to send me a cookery book from Finland as a present and I was really looking forward to getting it. I knew when she had mailed it, so it was just question of waiting for couple of days. But when I finally went downstairs to check the post, I was suprised to find a small box torn to pieces in the rubbish bin nearby. It had my name and address on it, but no book... 

  Since then, I have heard several stories from friends about parcels and letters which have never arrived through mail. It is not always safe to send anything from Italy to abroad either. If mail is sent to an office address, the chances of it disappearing are greatly reduced, I have been told. It is also wise to send any official, important letters by registered mail. At least you have proof that you sent it!

AUCTION ITALIAN STYLE

Just a few minutes walk downhill from Piazza de Ferrari, in Vico Falmonica, is Cafe Cambi. Step inside and be ready for a pleasant surprise: heavy crystal chandeliers and very skillfully restored frescoes by Bernardo Strozzi from 1618, are instant reminders of a grand past of this magnificent building. Waiters in white crispy uniforms serve customers with trays full of coffee and cakes. As a visitor to Genoa, you could simply sit there, have a break and admire the historical surroundings. But there is more, much more, to this oasis in the heart of centro storico.
   The cafe is owned by the Cambi family and in the same complex is the town office the family business, Cambi Auction House, famous in Genoa. Here prospective sellers might come to meet the auctioneers and discuss some pressing business matters, such as to negotiate a sale of the contents of a family villa full of antique furniture, fine art and hand made carpets from the Orient.

   The Cambi Auction house was founded in 1998 by two brothers, Matteo and Sebastian Cambi. Two other brothers, Marcello - who is said to be the engine and soul of the whole family - and Giulio, are also very actively involved with the auction house.  A new branch was opened in Milan last year. There are 15 experts specialising in arts, design, clocks, books, oriental art and furniture.

This is just an example of items which were for sale in a recent auction held in March.

   The actual auctions happen in Castello MacKenzie, which is one of the architectually most interesting historical places in Genoa. The Cambi family bought this national monument in 2002 and it is now the headquarters of the auction house.

    The Castello was originally built between 1893 and 1905 when a Scottish insurer Evan MacKenzie commissioned a young and relatively unknown Italian architect from Florence, Gino Coppede to design it. Castello MacKenzie is open to the general public on auction days and it is possible to have a tour around the castle. It is worth reading the whole and fascinating story from the auction house's website www.cambiaste.com.

  Italian auction houses may not be as well known as Christie's and Sotheby's in London, but come to an international auction, such as the of Oriental Art auction in June last year, and you realise that Genoa might well be the place for something extraordinary and special. During that particular auction, Cambi sold an 18th century gilded and painted bronze from China for 597000 euro, a record at that time. The estimate was 20 000 - 25 000 euro.

   This year there are plenty of auctions to choose from and even if you end up buying nothing, Castello MacKenzie is certainly worth a trip.

  

   

 

COLOMBA PASQUALE: EASTER BREAD WITH A PEDIGREE

I am amazed how there is a special bread, biscuits, tart or sweet cake for every single national holiday in Italy! And now, as Easter is coming, the windows of local bakeries have all been decorated with special versions of the traditional Easter treat: la Colomba Pasquale.  This delicious sweet bread tastes a little bit like panettone at Christmas time, but it does not contain raisins.  Instead, there are small pieces of candied peel, such as orange. The cake is topped with sugar and almonds before being baked. It is soft, buttery and rich in taste - but surprisingly light in texture. Traditionally this sweet bread is supposed to look like a dove, but the ones I have seen here are more in the shape of the cross, rather than a bird.

Colomba Pasquale is now on the official list of traditional Italian food and it is eaten all over Italy around Easter time.

  There are many stories and legends about the origins of la Colomba Pasquale, which was first created in Lombardia. According to one story, this cake was offered as a sign of peace to the king of Longobards, Alboin, who was at war with the city of Pavia in the middle of the sixth century. 

   Another legend gives the honour to the Irish missionary St Columbanus, who arrived to Lombardia towards the end of 5th century.  He and his fellow monks were invited to a great feast by the King of Lombardia, Agilulf and his wife, Queen Theodelinda, who was a devout Roman Catholic. A big banquet with many dishes were prepared, including meat, but since it was still Lent, St Columbanus and his fellow monks did not think it was appropriate and they refused to eat meat.  did not want to offend the hostess, Queen Theodelinda, and said that they could eat meat if it was blessed. St Columbanus then raised his right hand to do the sign of the cross. The food was immediately transformed into white doves of bread. The Queen was so impressed that she decided to donate a piece of land to honour the occasion and St Columbanus founded a monastery, Bobbio Abbey, in this place.

   However, history tells us that it was actually the King who gave St Columbanus the land: he converted to Catholicism and as a thank you gave ruins of an old church and some land to St Columbanus, where he was able to build the monastery in 614. Umberto Eco's novel, Name of the Rose, is based on Bobbio Abbey.

   Sadly, the origins of Colomba Pasquale may not be so mysterious after all. It is said to have been invented by a business man from Milan, who simply decided to modify the same dough used for panettone to create an Easter bread in 1930s. It was an instant hit and was rapidly adopted by bakeries in all over Italy. Sicily has its own version of Colomba Pasquale and in the past, the cake was exchanged as a gift between lovers on Easter time and during other festivities.

  Nevertheless, it is delicious!

DELI IN THE HEART OF PORTOANTICO

In January/February the old harbour area, Portoantico, looks quiet but there are still good reasons to explore this area. My current favourite spot is Eataly, the delishop  dedicated to regional, mostly organic food produced by small farmers from all over Italy according to the principles of the Slow Food movement.

   The world has many reasons to be grateful to the Slow Food movement, founded in Turin in 1989 by Carlo Petrini: they were the first to make a fuss about the fast food chains and question the nutritional value of industrially produced food. Initially labelled as hopeless romantics, who wanted to take the world backwards rather than forward, it made millions of people to question where did their food come from and who produced it. Above all, the main issues were and still are, taste and quality.

 

A panoramic lift from the streetlevel takes you to the shop on  the second floor of this building, close to the Bigo. By the way, there is an excellent Italian book shop next to Eataly.
They have a small selection of books in English, if you are desparate.

   Eataly was born out of these concerns but gradually it has become a food empire with shops all over Italy. It is now a brand which has managed to get a foothold in the USA and Japan, too. It is not owned by the people behind the Slow Food movement, but it adhers to the same principles in terms of supporting small, local producers. Specialities, such as the famous, fiery chilli salami paste from Calabria called nduja, are stocked here.

   Eataly is not only a food shop. They have successfully combined the idea of a gourmet shop with an eating experience: tables cannot be booked in advance (come early for lunch), all food is freshly prepared there and then, it is easy and casual, yet tastes unbelievably good. Here you can get an impressive variety of artisan cheese, organically produced meat, deliciously fruity olive oil or unusual looking pasta produced with ancient methods. There is an outstanding selection of wine too.

   If I am quite ready to spend 6 -7 euro for a loaf of bread when I can go to my local bakery and get equally good, great tasting Tuscan style loaf with less money, is another question. The 610 euro bottle of some very special red wine would also be quite wasted on me. Eataly is not your everyday grocery store and cheap is ain't.  But as an occasional treat and for special occassion, yes please.

 

 



GENOA CITY ON A SNOW ALERT

Yesterday was a glorious, bright and sunny day, quite warm too. So warm in fact, that you could comfortably sit in a cafe at the passegiata in Nervi, read newspapers, chat with friends and enjoy watching  the sea sparkling in the sun.

However, this morning it is a different story altogether.




This was the view from the window at 8 am.

The temperature has dropped to +2 C, but with strong winds coming from the sea, it feels much colder than that. Today has been declared a day to stay inside: the city of Genoa announced yesterday that all schools will be closed because a big snowstorm is expected to hit Liguria today and therefore, everyone is on a "snow alert". During the night the mountains got covered in snow and no doubt it has snowed little bit in Genoa city too.



At noon it started snowing a bit more...

Usually, the snow quickly melts away and there is not even enough to make a snowman! This will probably be the case this time as well, even though people may have to dig out their cars from snow and there is probably some traffic chaos too.



By 5 PM the mountains had become quite a pretty sight.

When I was a child I often wished that school would be cancelled because of a snow storm, but that never happened even though the Finnish winters can be pretty harsh with temperatures well below -20 C in January/February. But on the other hand, we had central heating, snow ploughs and winter coats... no excuses whatsoever to take a day off and stay at home!  



A DIFFERENT BEAT ALTOGETHER

"Dad, have you already told Mum about the lady who shouted at you in the shop?" Daughter asked.

That prompted another story about a clash of cultures, while I had been away.

One day John had gone to a local supermarket to get some fish. It was around noon.  On arrival to the shop John noticed that it was quite empty and that there was nobody to serve him at the fish counter. Instead, a shop assistant was clearly having a cigarette and a well earned break nearby on the doorway. John waited a while and finally, the shop assistant came to tell him in Italian that it is closed.

  So, John thought that this applied to the fish counter only and carried on shopping. The shop assistant waited at the till for five minutes. When John did not approach the till, she lost her temper and started shouting at him. The message could be translated to something like: "Get out of the shop, you moron!"

  At this point the manager arrived to see what the problem was. He spoke English and explained that THE WHOLE SHOP was closed and would John mind coming back later, please. The shop assistant's goodbye was an icy stare and clearly, she did not wish to see John back any time soon.

  John knew that most shops close around noon for lunch and open again at 3.30 PM until 8 PM. However, there are exceptions and the larger supermarket chains, for example, stay open all day long. Since this was a supermarket type of a shop, John was not too concerned about the time and assumed that they would be open the whole day.

   There is a different beat to the day in Italy and it has taken a while to get used to it. The day starts early and morning buses to the city centre are full of people going to their place of work at 8 am. In the morning time coffee shops are busy offering shots of espressos at the counter for people. Then everything stops around noon as the lunch hour approaches. It is still quite common for school children to go home to have lunch as many Italian schools do not offer a meal for the students. The Italian mothers prefer this system, too. Most shops are closed for couple of hours. Everybody are having a lunch and a rest.  However, life returns to normal at 3 PM: shops open their doors, children return to the school for couple of hours and work continues in the offices.

  As dinner is typically not eaten before 8 PM earliest, there is a possibility to have an aperitivo between 5 PM and 7 PM. You buy a drink, which might cost a touch more than normally, but it comes with little nibbles such as pieces of bread, cold meats and cheese. Sometimes it is a whole buffet full of finger food and this might be eaten instead of a dinner.

   Any kind of an evening entertainment (concerts, plays, shows) start at 9 PM to 9.30 PM. Having a good night out means that you need to be prepared to stay up at least until midnight. Nobody arrives to a disco or a nightclub before midnight and then they dance the night away until the early hours.

   With a schedule like this, you really need your lunch time nap.

   We have learned our lesson.

  

  

  

 

 

 

BLESSED IS YOUR HOME

I took this pic on a very cold, but bright and sunny day in Nervi. Even though the weather has been quite cold in January, there has been relatively mild and sunny days in between.

 

 

I came back home from a short break yesterday and while I was away, the family stayed behind. An innocent question enquiring about everyone's health and if there were any news, was greeted with "wish you had been here" - type of hysterical laughter. And this is what happened:

One early evening, the doorbell rang and John opened the door. It was our neighbour, the very nice Italian lady, accompanied by an Italian gentleman. John thought he looked a bit official, but could not immediately say what triggered him to think that way. Cordial greetings were exchanged and the lady started to explain the reason for the visit. John's Italian has not improved much but he has had a very good reason to be grateful of the studies in Latin at school and later at the university while being in Italy. This knowledge enabled John to pick up couple of key words such as "benedizione" (a blessing).  After a lengthy attempt of a conversation, John finally understood that the gentleman in question was a priest from the local Catholic parish who was doing the rounds in our apartment block in order to bless the families and their homes. John got the impression that this was a traditional visit in the beginning of a new year, but he was not sure. Unfortunately, they had to part without any ceremonies as the language barrier turned out to be too difficult this time. So, for the time being our home has not yet been blessed, but I have a feeling this is a temporary state of affairs until we learn enough Italian to understand how to receive a blessing.

   Clearly the first weeks of January are not just about getting back to your everyday life as quickly as possible in Italy. One sign of this are the numerous exhibitions of nativity scenes which are open in many churches in Genoa and elsewhere in Italy in January. I am told that the  biggest and most beautiful "presepios" are in Napoli. Genoa also has  its own permanent and much appreciated crib, Madonnetta, which is located at the Santuario della Madonnetta church. The nativity scenes are usually carefully built by local artists who take considerable time and effort to create small statuettes  based on local people, their homes and places of work as a backdrop to the crib. A touch of humour is certainly allowed and a scene of men playing cards with one of them cheating the others is an often told example. The nativity scenes come complete with every possible miniature accessory from palm trees to shepherds.

  There is even a permanent shop in the old historical centre of Genoa called Buttegheta Magica (Via Della Maddalena 2) selling everything possible needed to build a nativity scene at home. And if you think this might be too much of a hassle, they are happy to come to your home and build it for you!