Unrolling Pasta Bundles

Last week, we tried to distinguish different types of “dry” pasta so we can stop asking the same questions every time we go to an Italian restaurant. But the truth is stuffed pasta presents the same confusion whenever we eat out.

That is why this week I decided to focus on this delicious dough once again so we can put it into place for once and for all.

Curiously, I found out that the recipe for the basic dough for all these different types of pasta is the same. The only thing that varies is its shape and its varied fillings: from traditional such as chicken, meat, vegetable and cottage cheese to more peculiar ones such as cabbage, blood sausage with apple, and eggplant with cheese and nuts.

Here are some pictures to help you differentiate different types of stuffed pasta so next time you visit an Italian restaurant you can venture into this delicious cuisine without having to ask about the difference between agnolotti and ravioli.








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Christmas Around the World: Macarroni Angels, Olentzeros Instead of Noel and Presents inside Trees

Naples, Italy
Napolitani say that during harsh times, they traditionally made angels out of different types of pasta found around the house. Then, they offered these pasta angels to their friends during Christmas time.

Those who received the pasta angels wrote a wish in a piece of paper, which they placed inside the body of the angel so it could “fly away” and make the wish come true. Afterwards many people used these cute presents to decorate their Christmas tree.

Vasque Region, Spain

In the Vasque region, Christmas’ symbol is not Santa Claus as in most Christian cities, but the Olentzero, a chimney-sweeper with beret, overalls, crossed sandals and a chequered hankerchief tied in his neck.



Catalunya, Spain

On the other hand, catalans place their Christmas presents inside a tree trunk with a painted face (also known as “tronc”, “soca”, and “tió”).

On Christmas Eve, each child rinses a stick with “magic water” in a room, and after adults give them permission, they enter the room where the tree trunk is placed and hit it as they sing a song in catalan to free the presents hidden inside the tree.

According to Pamela from pandeblog.net the translated version of the song reads something like (the translation puzzles me, so if someone can/may, please verify the translation is correct):

“Tree trunk, Christmas tree trunk

Shit culin

And pee white wine.

Don’t shit zool herring, that is salty

Shit culins that are really good.”

Interestingly, the tree only liberates one present at the time. So the children run back and forth from one room to the other to rinse their stick with “magic water” so they can hit the tree with it until it delivers an onion or a potato as an indication it will not deliver any more presents until the following year.

Fernet: Ex-Medicine Transformed into a Popular Drink

Many times it seems like Argentineans enjoy suffering; for that reason “el gaucho” feels good in the loneliness of La Pampa, the tango dancer identifies himself with the melancholic tango lyrics, and most of us choose the bitterness of mate and Fernet to share our time with friends.

I am not surprised Fernet, an alcoholic beverage made of a combination or more than 40 herbs (including rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, saffron) based on grape alcohol, was originally a medicine. The herbalist Bernardino Branca, and his sons Luigi, Giuseppe, and Stefano along with his wife María Scala developed this bitter medicine in 1845 in Milan, Italy.

Maria Scala, known as Maria Branca, helped commercialize the drink among women, offering it as a relief for menstrual pain. She also sold it among men as a digestive medicine, also helpful to cure anxiety, back pain, headaches and stomachaches.

Although the drink was created in Italy, it became very popular in the New World. Immigrants used to smuggle it into United States and South America in their suitcases and even inside baby coffins to offset custom officials when alcohol sale was prohibited.

During the alcohol prohibition of 1920 in the United States, the fame of Fernet-Branca as the miracle drink helped it stay alive since doctors kept prescribing it as a medicine, despite its high levels of opium in it.

Nowadays, the drink has become so popular in Argentina that it is almost considered its national drink. Fernet is also gaining popularity in San Francisco, California, but according to Fernet-Branca officials, Argentina is the drink’s number one market.

In Italy, the drink is not as prestigious as in the past. “It’s drinked more in the north than center or south of Italy. This is specially because there are some better home made liquors here, especially in the south where my parents live, that are pretty much tasty and flavoured..” Pietro, economist, Bari, Italy.

What’s the taste like? Why is it so popular?
According to Nate Cavalieri, author of “Myth of Fernet”, San Francisco Weekly December 7 2005, “When you hold a shot glass of Fernet-Branca to your nose, the first thing that strikes you is the physicality of the smell, which, if such a thing existed, is like black licorice-flavored Listerine. Put it to your lips and tip it back, and the assault on the throat and sinuses is aggressively medicinal.”

Fernet has a strange taste, almost indescribable, especially because no one knows what it is made of. "There are only a small amount of people in the world who know the recipe to Fernet-Branca, and they are no telling," says Ricardo Destesano, CEO of Branca Products Argentina and family spokesperson.

"When people asking me what is in the Fernet-Branca," Destesano says, "I tell them life!"

It is possible that there might actually be “life” inside this dark beverage, but the truth is one must train his/her palate to enjoy the taste.

“I confess the first time I tried it I did not like it. In fact, my exxxx boyfriend was addicted to Fernet! Haha…and after we split.. I started to go out more often…I started drinking Fernet-with-Coke.. and I loved it! I even discovered new taste.. a mixture of herbs…and together with Coke, results in a bitter and sweet beverage…yummy, yummy…” Aldana, communicator, Caballito, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“The first time I tried it I found it disgusting…very bitter and it wasn’t something I enjoyed. Little by little I got used to the taste of Fernet and I learned to enjoy it, but only premium brands, the other ones continue to be undrinkable…and now I like it a lot. Its bitter taste reduces the sweetness of Coca-Cola, making it a nice drink. Its menthol flavor is also very good because it is more refreshing. I drink it almost every weekend. I drink it with friends and by myself. My friends don’t like it, but I keep on drinking it…” Leandro, industrial engineering and business student, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On the other hand, there are people who are not capable of taming their palates to the drink’s bitterness, “The first time I tried it was in 2001. They asked me if I knew what it was, and obviously, having grown up outside of Argentina I had no clue what they were talking about, so they treated me one. We made a toss, and drank the first gulp. The first reaction was of total rejection, the taste was less bitter than what I expected…but I did not like it at all, although I still drank it. It was an unpleasant experience in my case… and since that day I never ordered a Fernet. I have tried it in other occasions, with friends and family, but I have not been able to loose that taste that it left me the first time,” Johnny, international commerce, Venezuela-Argentina, currently in, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I hate Fernet. Not long ago I drank a glass thinking it was soda and when I tasted it in my mouth I almost felt sick. It is too bitter for me, even when I mix it with soda, it still has that disgusting syrup taste. It displeases me so much that when my husband, fan of Fernet-with-Coke, is drinking it, I avoid him so I don’t have to smell it or taste it. But I would be unfair if I say it does not move the masses,” Cecilia, journalist, Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Despite the love-hate relationship generated by this drink, its popularity continues to expand across the globe. Nowadays its popularity is rapidly spreading in Venezuela, where it is also used as a medicine as in its origins.

A little while back, a Venezuelan friend who lives in Argentina wrote to me about a curious fact I was unaware of: “Early July one of my best friends from Venezuela came to visit me in Argentina. He asked me about Fernet, since apparently, it is gaining adepts in Venezuela. In fact, in my recent visit to Venezuela I confirmed that you can find Fernet-Branca in various liquor stores. I found it curious, and when I asked my friends there, most of them knew the drink…and more than one of them loved it… They even use it to relieve stomachaches…it is incredible since when my dad was small, they used to give you a shot to cure stomach aches… HOLY REMEDY!!!”

Fernet, once a bitter medicine that today generates clashing, but indisputable passions.

What does Fernet mean to you?

Two Romes on the Mirror: Twin Cities

A couple of years ago I got permission to use my scholarship in a study abroad program in Rome, Italy.

I was excited about the opportunity of visiting my relative's land for the first time, about having the opportunity to come in direct contact with this distant culture that was also my culture, about meeting my far relatives, about traveling, about growing, about everything...

At the same time, I new that since I was only going to be in Rome for a semester, I wanted to internalize and absorb everything as fast as I could: I wanted to learn about the culture, compare “Italian” food in Italy with the one I eat in the new continent, see how Italians lived, how they studied, what it was like to work in Rome…

For that reason, I was eager to find a job in Rome through the Internet. After sending many e-mails, CVs and applications, I got an e-mail from a History Museum that was looking for a communications intern in Rome. It seemed like the perfect opportunity: I was going to be able to practice Italian (very basic at that time), I was going to learn a lot of history about the country, and I was going to gain experience in my field.

A month before flying to Rome, I wrote to the Museum’s managers asking them if they could help me find accommodations in Italy. They cordially responded something like: Unfortunately, we cannot help you find a place in Italy because we are located in Rome, Georgia, United States.

Those few words were enough to kill my perfect plan of having a full immersion into Italian culture. However, they were not enough to attenuate my excitement f traveling to the old continent.

From now on, whenever you are searching for a city in Internet, you should double check to make sure it concerns the desire city, otherwise you might be looking at the unreal reflection of a name that counts twice.


Places on a Mirror (includes cities and states):

• Ennis, Irelanda vs. Ennis, Texas, USA
• San Francisco, California, USA vs. San Francisco, Cordoba, Argentina
• Valparaiso, Zacatecas, Mexico vs. Valparaiso, Chile
• Oran, Salta, Argentina vs. Oran, Algeria
• Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico vs. Guadalajara, Castilla - La Macha, Spain
• Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia vs. Medellin, Veracruz, Mexico
• Valencia, Spain vs. Valencia, Venezuela
• Bolívar, Venezuela vs. Bolívar, Colombia
• Ayacucho, Perú vs. Ayacucho, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Armenia, Quindio, Colombia vs. Armenia (country)
• Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico vs. Monterrey, California, USA
• San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina vs. San Rafael, California, USA
• Aguas Calientes, Mexico vs. Aguas Calientes, Peru
• Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina vs. Santa Rosa, California, USA
• San Jose, Costa Rica vs. San Jose, California, USA
• Santa Barbara, California, EEUU vs. Santa Barbara, Antioquia, Colombia
• Krakow, Poland vs. Krakow, Wisconsin, USA

Trios:

• Cordoba, Spain vs. Cordoba, Argentina vs. Cordoba, Mexico
• Merida, Spain vs. Merida, Venezuela vs. Merida, Mexico
• Paris, France vs. Paris, Texas, USA vs. Paris, Tennessee
• Trujillo, Venezuela vs. Trujillo, Spain vs. Trujillo, Peru
• Sucre, Perú vs. Sucre, Venezuela vs. Sucre, Bolivia
• Athens, Greece vs. Athens, Ohio, EEUU vs. Athens, Texas, USA

Multiple:

• Humboldt, Germany vs. Humboldt, Santa Fe, Argentina vs. Humboldt, California, USA vs. Humboldt, Nevada, USA
• Providence, Rhode Island, USA vs. Providence, Colombia vs. Providence, Chile vs. Providence, Santa Fe, Argentina
• Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina vs. Rosario, Sinaloa, México vs. Rosario, Chihuahua, Mexico vs. Rosario, Filipinas vs. Rosario, Uruguay

Using Public Transport in Argentina, Spain and Italy

“Che, ¿tenés monedas? Dale, ¿No me cambiás?” says one Argentinean to the other.
(Reproduction of a common conversation among porteños, on a daily basis)

Every day thousands of porteños (people who live in Buenos Aires) repeat phrases like this to get coins so they can take the bus to go to work, visit a friend, go to the city center to run errands, etc.

In Spanish cities, where monthly passes are available, and people can buy their ticket from the driver, citizens carry the weight of coins in their pockets for no reason. However, in Buenos Aires, it is necessary to feel the metallic wieght. In fact, porteños begin to worry when they can no longer feel the coins clinking in their pockets, wallets or purses. No coins, no ride.

In Buenos Aires, passengers get on the bus through the front door, tell the driver where they want to go or specify the amount of the fare, place their coins in the ticket dispenser, remove the ticket and then fight their way through people until they reach the back of the bus.

In Rome, the situation is completely different, and many times tourists and Romans ride for free due to the transportation system’s ambiguous rules.

Passengers need to buy their ticket at“tabacchi” before they get on the bus, and then can get on the bus using any door.

This system trusts that people are honest citizens who will follow the rules. To enforce the rules, the government hires a group of inspectors to control random buses, to ensure that passengers are buying their tickets

However, not all passengers follow the rules, and many take advantage of the system and ride for free risking to pay a 50 Euro fine if they get caught.

Everywhere, people utilize public transportation to move around the city, but in each country, they have particular rules and ways of traveling. For that reason, when you arrive to a new destination, I recommend you to ask a local how the transportation system works in the place you are visiting.

This reminds me, if you are coming to Buenos Aires, do you have your coins handy?