The Italian Voice

In this period, I am again dealing with the constant thought of the job hunting.
It is really psychologically stressful, especially if you live in Italy and if you already changed your job some times, like I did for several unwilled reasons.

photo by abuigues

Here you never know what to expect from an interview; in fact, if you changed a lot of jobs, some recruiters may think:

1) that you are very adaptable and flexible and is obviously good;
2) that there is something wrong in you, so maybe you are a goof-off.

So what is the right behaviour to have? What to say exactly during the interview? How to introduce yourself and your working experiences?

I guess that in Italy nothing is ok when you talk about the job, never! If you say that you are flexible, they will think that you are not reliable; if you say that you want a steady job, they will surely end up looking for someone with a more modern mind.

I am also noticing a substantial difference about the job offers in my region, which is the Emilia-Romagna, and my future place, which will be in Piedmont. Maybe I am prejudiced, but it seems that here we have more varied job offers, in many more fields, while there they only offer positions in two or three fields…

Well, I do not mind. I know the job hunting is always hard, I guess everywhere, especially in this era, but I also know that it can be quite stirring in my situation, as I will have the chance to start all over again, choosing exactly who I would like to be and this opportunity comes only a few times in life or maybe only once.
I absolutely do not want to waste my time, I have so many ideas in my mind to explore just before and after my relocation to low Piedmont.

Now I only need a 10 days-vacation to Belgium with my parents (fortunately I was able to plan a little getaway this year, I will say good-bye later, as we will leave only on July 31st), then I will start to move the last things and to really think about my future in Novi Ligure.
Yay, it sounds very exciting!

Italians are very keen about photography, we love to take pictures of what we see and what we like, so much that the act of flipping through the pages of the albums becomes a real passion and a vital sharing moment for families.

That is why I strongly believe in the union Italians-scrapbooking.

This “meeting” is happening in these last years, but we’re quite far from the other Countries with that fabulous hobby.

Anyway, it is showing a growing interest and I am sure that it will gain ground quickly, because it offers a great chance to preserve memories and even to work in that field (I am one of the ones who wanted to take that job opportunity as scrapbooking consultant immediately thanks to a wonderful Italian company so, if you are in Italy and are interested in creative meetings, markets, weekends, I will be really happy to see you where you are and to show you our great products, to suggest very nice ideas for your pages and albums and even to offer you the same opportunity to work for us if you live in Italy, simply contact me via email).

I would have so much to say about scrapbooking, it emotionally affected my life and I guess it will never leave me, I am also affecting my friend with my crazy addiction, so I will surely have the chance during the next months.

As today I am already quite in a hurry, even if it is only 6 am, because my boyfriend is coming home for his couple of days off, I will not be able to write so much, but I certainly want to show you a layout which I created about the 13 points about How to know that you live in Bologna, do you remember my entry?
Well, that entry inspired me this page:

I used two nice postcards of my capital of province, some flowers in tissue and felt, some glitter powder, doodlings, some paper clips, some letters of the alphabet in die cut style and so on.

Enjoy and I will talk to you later about my great hobby and activity, my friends. Ciao!!

In these days, it is quite hard to find good news to report, as the current Italian government is approving several “ad personam” laws.
I find it scandalous, anyone does not seem able to stop it.
Someone already told that we are going straight toward another era of Fascism.
I must admit that I totally agree, but I will try to stay calm and to write and show you the best part of this Country, which surely deserves a nice treatment, especially people who are totally different from the political class.

Some days ago, for example, as you can see here above from the small outline which I took yesterday during an online research, the undersecretary at the presidency of the lower house of Parliament, Carlo Giovanardi, approved a testing which will surely bring great benefits to the attempt of saving more lives.

In fact, four Italian cities (Cagliari, Verona, Perugia and Foggia) from September 2008 will experiment this advance test to verify the presence of drugs or alcohol into the blood of the ones who will get for the very first time or will renew their driving licence. Then, the test will become compulsory for the whole Italy starting from the 2009.

Mr Giovanardi explained that this necessity comes from the fact that Europe will approve the same important measure in 2011 and Italy wants to anticipate it to contribute to the hard process of saving always more and more lives and of educating people while driving.

In my personal experience I can say that in Italy people drive in a very bad way, drivers often break the laws of the highway code, they do not seem to mind about fines and reduction of the points from the driving licence, they cause accidents which are due often to unscrupulous use of drugs and alcoholic drinks which are usually fatal.
Someone has to stop this situation.
That is why I totally support this experiment and the consequent measure, it will surely help our roads to be safer and our lives to be healthier. Good job!

I am bolognese, so I was born with the bolognese habits, one of them is using massive quantities of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese onto the dishes, it is perfect for their taste and it is wonderful also if eaten alone!

I tried to search for foreign online news about the “Parmigiano Reggiano case“, but it seems that anyone abroad knows nothing of what happened, so I am here to inform you and to find a solution for my own little world.

Some months ago, Greenpeace published an article with the news item that the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese woud be at risk of OGM; it does not mean that it is made with OGM, but the problem is due to the fact that the cows which produce milk eat the genetically modified soy produced by the Monsanto company (read the translated article HERE, if you find errors it is because the translation has been made by the Google’s automatic service).
By now, this Monsanto firm is famous to work with OGM without scruples only to get rich.

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

I will not write here my thoughts, even if you can easily imagine, together with the citizens’ reactions to this bad news item, especially because it is about a famous great product which everybody abroad envy us, but I wondered how will I act when I will move to low Piedmont.
Now I am already trying to avoid the Parmigiano Reggiano, here we do not have a great choice which could replace that cheese, but other Italian regions surely have!

My boyfriend, who lived with his family in low Piedmont for more than 20 years, affirms that there is a great valuable product which comes from Lombardy with a nice flavour and even a nice price, if compared to the Parmigiano Reggiano: it is called Bella Lodi.

Bella Lodi cheese

Well, the unique evident difference is the rind; while the Parmigiano Reggiano’s one is yellow-light brown like the rest of the cheese appears, the Bella Lodi’s one is black.

Absolutely nothing to say about the flavour, as my boyfriend told me that, every time I visited his parents, I ate it onto the first courses.

Well, I can not be 100% sure about its cows’ nutrition, but they seem reliable, I also found their website which is available in 3 languages.

Extraordinary discovery, I am pretty satisfied today, I can not wait to buy and use it again, when we will establish into the new flat.
For me, without doubts, Bella Lodi knocks down Parmigiano Reggiano!

P.S. I would like to thank the wonderful Joy O’Hare who some days ago wrote a nice review about my blog and the ABolognaNet’s staff which discovered my previous entry and mentioned it into their Italian blog, thanks a lot for your kindness!!

This morning I thought again about my capital of province, Bologna.

photo-postcard by Alessandro Canova

I can not stop to realize that I will miss it a lot.
Well, this morning, almost involuntarily, I started to note down a list of points about “How to know that you live in Bologna or province” which I absolutely want to share with you now; some of these points are even hilarious, but you can also learn more about the city.
Enjoy!!

• when someone tells you about Neptune, you do not think only about the god of the sea, but also about the big statue in the middle of the Piazza Maggiore (Major Square), which is one of the symbols of the city;
• when someone tells you about the Piccola Venezia (Little Venice), you immediately understand that he/she tells about part of the Aposa torrent which flows at the open air between the buildings of the city;
• when someone tells you about the Due Torri (Two Towers), you do not remember only the ones which collapsed in NY, but also the Twin ones downtown (called Garisenda and Asinelli, from the ancient two families’ names who owned them), which are other symbols of the city;
• when you think about the most ancient university of the Western world, you picture in your mind all the ones of the city;
• when you can not decide if the appellation of La Rossa (The Red One) is attributed more to the colour of the red houses and their roofs or more to the historical preference for the Left wing of the citizens (both true);
• when you do not worry too much about reaching every place you want in Italy, because the major part of the trains passes through the Central Railway Station of Bologna;
• when it rains, you do not soak even if you do not have an umbrella, because you can walk along the long porches almost everywhere;
• when you do not find into the menu the dish called “spaghetti bologna” which does not exist, because here spaghetti are eaten with tomatoes, vegetables and other sauces, everything but not ragù (!!!);
• when you can not breathe because of the dampness all day and night long for at least 4-5 months a year, when the fan becomes your best friend in that period and when you see never-saw sort of African insects walking onto your mosquito nets;
• when you have to leave, driving along the A14 highway, at improbable hours of day and night to avoid the traffic jams everywhere, especially from Easter to the beginning of school;
• when you can not find open shops and shopping centres on Sundays (except during Christmas holidays) in the whole province, except the Outlet Factory Store and the Ikea Store;
• when, driving to the Ikea Store coming from the Eastern part of the province, you turn your eyes trying to catch sight of football players at the head office of the Bologna Football Club;
• when you speak the bolognese dialect, you are totally able to talk with French people.

I could go on until tomorrow, hahaha!!
I hope you liked these points, they are very important to remember if you decide to move here =)
Have a nice weekend and see you soon with great news!!

Here I am again after a long weekend without internet at home, I took the chance to care about several important things for the upcoming relocation and especially…we ordered the kitchen, how exciting, I will show it soon!!

Today I already had a very busy morning, paying bills, doing the grocery shopping, looking for other stuffs for the other rooms of the new flat.
In the meanwhile, the weather didn’t know what to choose between being sunny or cloudy, with the result that this morning I was out with a big annoying dampness, which is quite typical in the area of Bologna in this period of the year.

The result was that I came home with a light headache and a strong desire to relax on the sofa or maybe to take a nap for a couple of hours.
I just laid on the bed at about 3 pm (Italian time), when my all-rounder neighbour decided to turn on the mower and to start to mow the grass behind our block of flat, which is just under my bedroom’s window. He didn’t stop it yet after 1 hour, grrrr!!

Ok, I am learning the lesson, evidently this is not the right day for a nap, but I am in lack of physical force, I really need something, but what? Hmm….
Easy! Nothing better than a good caffè italiano to keep my mind active during this afternoon!

Tourists who visit Italy always remember, together with pasta, pizza and desserts, the fantastic wholesome taste of the caffè.

I always wondered why everybody think that we are so good at making coffee, as the ingredient is not native of Italy, but you know what?
In the last years, since the moment when I left my parents to live with my boyfriend, I discovered the secrets which makes the difference and I am here to reveal everything I know.

photo by KevThaBass

So take your book of recipes or your notebook and write down my suggestions.

Before any other step, you have to follow some important expedients:

1. buy a moka (if it is new, be sure to wash it and to try it at least twice without coffee and simply with water);

2. buy a good quality coffee, which has been freshly roasted and freshly ground (it is good also the packed one, but you have to open it and use it in a few months); for this aim, I can suggest to look for it at your local markets and supermarkets and, if you are not able to find the Italian quality of coffee, you can order it at Amazon, the best and most famous brand names here are surely: Lavazza, Illy, Nespresso (wonderful George Clooney during its commercial at the Italian tv), Nescafè, Hag, Pellini, Segafredo, Kimbo, Palombini and so on (I guess you will find only the first ones);

3. use only fresh cold and clean water.

Now you are ready to prepare your caffè:

1. open your moka in 3 parts (container, filter and boiler) and fill the base of the pot with cold water up to the safety valve which is inside the boiler, this is the correct quantity to have a good taste of coffee, to avoid it to be too watery or too strong;

2. insert the filter, use a teaspoon to fill in completely the filter with the coffee powder, but avoid to compact it, because the water has to pass easily withuot leaving a burnt taste;

3. screw the two parts of the moka and tighten them strongly to get a perfect seal;

4. put the moka on the stove with a very low flame and wait until the coffee come out from the upper portion of the pot; for a better taste, remember to keep the cap lifted, so that the heat avoid to create a condensation which would alter its aroma (for this purpose, it is suggested to use a couple of metallic little caps to put onto the hole from where the coffee exits, to ward off the splashes);

5. when the moka is almost completely filled up, turn off the stove, ease the coffee pot onto another cold stove and mix the liquid for one minute with a teaspoon, then pour it immediately into the tazzine, which are the little cups for coffee, and taste it with you preference (with sugar, milk, whipped cream, corretto with the add of alcoholic drinks, with cocoa on it or simply black).

There are also some fundamental hits to remember, also for the post-preparation:

1. use only the necessary coffee for your immediate needs, to have it always fresh, and prepare it again if it is not enough;

2. avoid to reheat it, because its taste surely will change and it will not be so good anymore;

3. just in case the coffee is abundant, put it into a sealed bottle instead of leaving it inside the pot, because with the days it generates toxic substances when the coffee gets in contact with the air and the steel of the moka (so simply wash it as soon as it cools off);

4. avoid to wash the moka with the washing-up liquid, because it will probably place itself into the filter, altering the aroma of the coffee; simply wash every part of the pot with water and also vinegar if you want.

Well, I must admit that it is easier to do it than reading it, all what I wrote it can happen in just 10 minutes!
So why do not you give my suggestions a try and prepare your good caffè italiano?
And please send them immediately, hihihi!

You already know that I am going to move to low Piedmont, but you do not know yet that my boyfriend’s parents are from Catania, in Sicily, living in low Piedmont.
Everytime I visit them, I learn something about that wonderful island of the Southern Italy.
Today I want to write about the ricotta cheese.

In Italy, we have different regions which produce that fantastic versatile cheese, but I think Sicily has a real primacy for its taste and value.
Sicily uses the ricotta for several typical dishes, especially for pastries and desserts; you can easily remember the heavenly taste of the cannoli siciliani, which are cylinder-shaped pastries stuffed with ricotta, chocolate drops and sometimes also patties (candies).

In my region, which is the Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy (where the capital of province, Bologna, is situated just between Milan and Florence), people use the ricotta cheese, but especially to eat it as normal cheese, maybe together the second course; its use is connected mainly to its salty flavour.

Well, my future parents-in-law teached me to eat ricotta during the meal, tasting it together with sugar.
So what do you understand? Yes, that you can eat pasta which is salty and immediately after a sugared cheese and maybe just after them even another salty dish!!
This mix can sound a bit odd, but I guarantee that an attempt is surely worth the while.

Just to explain better what I mean, here is my suggestion of what you have to do with your ricotta cheese:

usual shape of the ricotta cheese

First of all see that you buy a shape of ricotta made by sheep (avoid any other kind of cheese, such as the one from cow or mixed types, because its taste is the best one).
Then simply put it into a bowl or a dish, add some spoons of powdered sugar (avoid any other one, so that the sugar can be totally absorbed by ricotta) and mix it for some minutes with a spoon.
All you have to do now is enjoy your dish!

To me, this seems to be originally a poor dish, which could be prepared in the past as meal by poor families because they had sheeps and beets for sugar and just because it is quick and easy to serve; in addition, it offers immediate energy given by the cheese together with the sugar.

The unique expedient to remember is to eat just a few spoons of ricotta, because its calorific value is quite high: 170 calories for 100 grams of ricotta (produced by sheep, so simply made with serum and not with the add of milk and cream)!

Anyway, I thought to hand down this nice “recipe” to the ones who are interested in typical Italian dishes because I imagined that you will be happy to discover, like I did, this Southern Italian habit to add sugar to the ricotta cheese everytime, even if it is tasted during normal meals. I hope you will enjoy it.

And if you want to try other great recipes with Italian foods, you can visit GaidaR’s blog (for example, her latest entry reports a fantastic recipe of “mushroom tortellini bake recipe“), you will not be disappointed! She is a new dear friend from Sydney, I met her on BlogCatalog and she is going to cooperate with HerProBlog as blogger.

DETAILS

Directed by: Matteo Garrone
Produced by: Domenico Procacci
Subject: Roberto Saviano
Written by: Matteo Garrone, Roberto saviano, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato
Music by: Massive Attack
Cinematography: Marco Onorato
Editing by: Marco Spoletini
Scenography: Paolo Bonfini
Costumes: Alessandra Cardini
Makeup: Alessandro Bertolazzi
Production House: Fandango, in cooperation with Rai Cinema and SKY and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Assets
Release dates: Italy May 16, 2008 - France August 13, 2008 - Germany September 11, 2008
Running time: 135 min.
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Year: 2008
Series: Dramatic
Prizes: Grand Prix at the Festival de Cannes 2008 and Premio Città di Roma - Arcobaleno Latino
Official website: Gomorra

Roberto Saviano, writer of the book which inspired
the movie called Gomorra, with the homonym title

Watch the official trailer HERE

MY BRIEF REVIEW

Gomorra is the docu-movie, based on the famous homonym bestseller written by the young journalist and writer (under police’s escort service) Roberto Saviano; it is a book-denunciation against the criminality of the camorra, set in Scampia, a quarter of Neaples which is situated in the northern suburb of the city.
The movie shows exactly the operation of the illegal traffics and of the inner equilibriums of the Italian criminal enterprise where anyone is excluded, because the emotional bonds do not mind, everyone is submitted to the hard-and-fast law of the camorra.

The title is a wordplay among the name of the city of perdition, Gomorrah, together with Sodom, which are mentioned into the Bible, and the consonance with the name of the camorra.

The plot of the story is a weave of lives who contribute in different ways to fuel the crimes of the families’ clans.

The main characters are: Franco, seasoned professional of the international toxic garbage disposal; Pasquale, always exploited dressmaker of haute couture; Totò, promising young who does not want to lose his innocence; Don Ciro, consignee of money to the families into the war of clans; Marco and Ciro, two young ones who want to prevail on the boss.

The movie goes at the heart of the matter, the scenography makes it an exploitation one, but very realistic and for this reason it is very appreciated by the public; it offers perpetual suspence, also due to the fact that the cameras are always on the move, it makes you stay literally glued at the seat of the cinema for 2 hours.
The colors of the shots are not too brilliant to give a sense of urban blight of the area and also of the corruption of the life, they highlight the typical high shabby buildings, stairs, corners, tiny streets, sheds, pits and so on.

So my message for you, folks outside Italy, is: stay tuned for the release date in your Country and do remember the name of this Italian movie, because you will esteem it very much, as everyone already did it with the Saviano’s book; as soon as it arrives in your cinemas, you will not forget its subject so easily!

* * * * *

REMINDER FOR MY READERS: Tomorrow I will leave by train to reach my boyfriend at the new flat and I will be back on Saturday late evening, so see you on Sunday with my updates. Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Bologna is my capital of province, I am always happy to write about it.

Today I am glad to suggest you a nice event all’italiana, which means “in the Italian way”, which will take place just here.

For the ones who are in Bologna during this weekend or who are planning a getaway here, it will be funny to attend a particular bolognese evening called “CENA Stuzzicando all’italiana”.

On Saturday May 24^th, 2008 at 8:30 pm the Mokita Cafè will offer an odd dinner based on salty and sweet appetizers with rigorously homemade and well-groomed foods, for an amount of Euro 22 per person (all inclusive, only with reservation).

The menu will be composed of:

- Antipasto and Aperitif
- Mixed Croutons and Fantasy of Appetizers
- Salty and Sweet Fritto Misto all’italiana
- Poker of Desserts
- Water, Wine and Coffee

info and reservation, please call Daniela at +39 31974600 or +39 051 6332471, website (in Italian): http://www.mokitacafe.it/mokita-eventi-bologna.asp - email: info@mokitacafe.it.

I heartily suggest this nice event if you are around Bologna, it is a wonderful occasion to spend your Saturday evening and to discover the ancient dishes of the bolognese area.

You can easily reach the Mokita Cafè, which is not too far from the Fair District in Via Caduti di Via Fani n°15, between Viale della Repubblica and Viale Aldo Moro (from the airport, take the airport shuttle called “Aerobus BLQ ” - from the railway station, take the buses n°10 or 35 or 38 with the tickets bought before going aboard - from Bologna downtown, take the buses n°10 or 28 or 38 with the tickets bought before going aboard - from the highways coming from Milan, Florence and Ancona, exit at the new tollgate called “Bologna Fiera” – from the highway coming from Padua, exit at the ring road n°8 for Ingressi Nord, Michelino, Moro and Parcheggio Michelino or at the ring road n°7 for Ingresso and Parcheggio Costituzione).
They have a comfortable parking just in front of the restaurant bar.

The Mokita Cafè is always open Monday to Thursday 07:00 am to 01:30 am, on Friday from 07:00 am to 03:00 am, on Saturday from 05:00 pm to 03:00 am, during the periods of the fairs it is open on Saturday and Sunday 07:00 am to 03:00 am.

Prices for food are increasing exponentially world-wide, it is not a secret anymore.
Italy is not exempt from this matter, families have serious problems to do the grocery shopping, that is why the food expenses are decreasing rapidly, when it is necessary and possible.
We all must find good solutions.

In Italy there is a fantastic reality which started to grow slowly some years ago, thanks to the consciousness raising of the citizen of small municipalities, and which is creeping in the whole peninsula because it offers a cheap and healthy basic food: raw milk.

shot taken from Cox & Cox

I found a wonderful website about this reality, it is called “Milk Maps “.
It offers the map of the milk stations located in the whole Italy, a page with the explanations of the service and the advantages, a page with the comments of the ones who already tried the raw milk, a page with the contacts and the blogs which mentioned the service and the area for the cattle farmers.
As the website is written in Italian, I will try to report in English its most important parts.

What is the raw milk

The raw milk is the milk at the natural state, as it is just milked from cows, before its pasteurization and packing.
Practically, you can fill up your bottle of daily raw milk at an automatic machine with coins, at the equipped cattle breedings.
It is milk which did not have heat-treatments: raw, whole and genuine, tasty, creamy, active, with lots of vitamins.

Quoting William Campbell Douglas, well-regarded American doctor and credited expert in the field of the milk products: «Today our most serious agricultural loss is due to the senseless destruction of the raw milk through the pasteurization, the radical pasteurization (UHT) and now the radical pasteurization at high temperature, which convert a great food in a white drink with milk flavouring, which is nutrient more or less like the milk of magnesia».

FAQ

Q: For how many days you can store the raw milk?
A: 2 days if raw, 4 or 5 if boiled (it is suggested to boil it lightly after the purchase).

Q: Can I buy less than a litre?
A: Sure, depending on how many coins you put into the automatic machine. If 1 litre of milk costs 1 euro, with 50 cents you can have one half-litre or even 20 mls introducing 20 cents.

Q: With what frequency the automatic machine of raw milk is filled up?
A: Daily. Every day the bin of left milk is replaced with another full one.

Q: Where does the left milk goes at the moment of the replacement?
A: It is used to make the ricotta cheese and other cheeses.

Why to buy the raw milk from the automatic machines?

1. It maintains all the natural characteristics;
2. It is creamy and intense flavour;
3. It is cheaper than the milk which you can find in the supermarkets.

Environmental Benefits

1. Less trucks on the roads! The raw milk is not shipped for kms and kms, it comes from your surroundings;
2. Less garbage! The raw milk is not packed (you can go to take it with your glass-topped bottle, which is washable and reusable);
3. No waste! The milk which is not supplied at the automatic machines after 24 hours is used to make the ricotta cheese and other cheeses.

The comments of the ones who already tried the service of the raw milk at the cattle breedings denote enthusiasm for the flavour and the 24-h availability of that food, they told that it reminds the past times and that it gives intestinal regularity just because it is totally healthy.

I experienced it myself too, as we have two automatic machines in my area, and I must say that this service represents a wonderful opportunity to save money and to learn to have again healthy breakfasts.

So what are you waiting for?
If you come to Italy for a getaway or a longer holiday, visit the “Milk Maps ” and check if there is one or more automatic machines of the raw milk in the province (choosing it from the left column of the main page of the website) where you planned your trip and try this wonderful back-to-the-past, you will not be disappointed!