ARRIVEDERCI!

Hello taste explorers!

Hope you are ok and that you are up for a bit of Italian culture in tomato sauce. This may be the case if your long journey in the cyber space brought you here so why not follow this blog on its new home: http://papunette.wordpress.com/

See you there!

Childhood Food: Cotoletta alla Milanese e Fior di Fragola

Well, in a way it could be worse. Broken heating in January for example. For now, there is just something wrong with the hot water system. I think it may be something related to the pressure. The hot water doesn’t run if the radiators are not on and because it’s July, although in London, the heating system only gets on at 30C!
It’s bloody hot now in the flat, it looks like a hot Italian summer night. When you keep turning in the bed because it’s simply too hot, and that’s just an excuse not to sleep. From the open window someone is speaking loudly, but all inside is quiet, just the rest is noise.
Back in time, I used to spend summers with my grandparents when the schools were closed in this big house in a North West village near Turin, with 19th Century factories still up and running, in a period, late 80s, when there was abundance, people were carefree and didn’t care about global warming, gasoline’s price or mortgages.

LOST IN ROME- PASTA ALL'AMATRICIANA

Is Rome the most beautiful city in the world?
It is difficult to say, as every great city has got its own soul and beauty, but for sure Rome is one of those worth a visit at least once in a life time. Some places are so stunning to have become an icon of the city itself and evenly swarmed with tourists. What’s more than a strolling under the ancient Latin walls of the Coliseum, with fancy gladiators posing next to you, a challenge to the mysterious pagan Mouth of Truth or throwing a coin in the baroque magnificence of the Trevi fountain?
Its continuous flux of tourists shows that Rome is still an all desired destination in the hearts of the many, but sometimes a sweaty and loud crowd can really put you off even in front of such wonders.

Mirto Liqueur

Sunday evening, BBQ on the roofs of Shoreditch. Even though the weather was awful. Thanks to my intrepid friends. In this big city, in this multicultural mix that is London, I bring a taste of Italy in a bottle of Mirto.
A faithful friend of sleepless and sweaty nights spent under the moon of warm Sardinian summers. I can feel the warm breeze from the Mediterranean Sea, sit in the old town centre of Alghero, the voices of my Sardinian friends and the cool sweet taste of mirto liquor.
It is bizarre how everyone seems to know Limoncello and not this sweet aromatic counterpart from Sardinia. A sweet natural liqueur with digestive properties, made by macerating myrtle berries (myrtus communis), which grows generous and wild in the Sardinian island, with alcohol and sugar.

PUFF-PUFF

What if the world paid attention before it was too late?

What if we start to fight injustice and raise awareness of social issues using the arts? What about taking arts back from pure commoditisation to their political and social purposes?
These are the questions and aims of the Artivist Collective, an American born group of concerned global citizens which combines visual arts and activism in the belief that the arts can change the world. It may sound overwhelming or the dream of a bunch of old-fashioned hippies, but it is a real project, which has taken concrete forms like the Artivist Film Festival.

Showcased in London at the Shawn Theatre, the festival was an international occasion to raise public awareness of human and animal rights and ecological issues and it truly represents an invaluable chance to watch independent films, meet socially conscious artists, have your say and shed some light on the hottest issues of our contemporary world.
Since its first iteration in 2004, the festival has travelled all around the world, representing over 45 countries, reaching and connecting millions of people.

DELIA'S PORK CHOPS WITH MUSHROOMS AND CREME FRAICHE

What is culture? For most of the people, culture is philosophy, painting, poetry and all the so-called high or noble arts. However, culture is part of our daily life. Even when we don’t think of it, we assimilate, share and exchange culture in countless little ways.
Food is one of these. When we share our food, when we try a dish from another country our knowledge get richer, besides the pleasure of a nice meal!
That’s the mission of this blog, just to try to get to know each other a bit better. Let’s face it. Socialization is not easy in a big city, especially when we commute to work drowsy in the morning and back home tired in the evening, but also during the worst day we keep learning something.