AUNTIE PASTA: Come On a My House

CHIAVARI, Italy - From Rome to Paris people are going out to eat, not at restaurants but in the homes of people just like you and me. Men and women who rely on traditional family recipes are cooking up the specialities of their region and offering them to strangers. They are not just your hosts, they are your chief cooks and bottle washers too.  

Welcome to Our Home Restaurant 

In Italy, the women are called Cesarine or if it’s the man of house who wears the apron, they are Cesarini. But man or woman, this type of activity was tailor made for Italians because everyone knows we are compulsive feeders by nature.

Ninety-six year old Signora Leonida Tomasinelli is a good example. She just opened Genoa’s first “home” restaurant where she cooks what she knows best. Her Genovese specialties include artichoke pie, ravioli, braised rabbit with olives, and of course focaccia al formaggio and farinata. 

Signora Tomasinelli - Genova's Only "Cesarina"

“Home” restaurant groups are small, usually no more than ten people, and because everyone generally sits at the same table, it’s easy to get to know your fellow diners. It’s more like going to a dinner party than a restaurant. A definite plus. The idea started out as an underground movement, and you could only find out who was cooking and where they lived from another person. But now that the idea has spread and has become very popular, it’s easy to find  homes where they offer home cooked meals. 

Here in Italy an association called Home Food (http://www.homefood.it/en/) lists about 500 Cesarine. They are located all the way from the top of the boot in Piedmont to Sicily, so no matter where your travels take you, you are sure to find a Cesarina, and a delicious home cooked meal, nearby.

Company is Coming 

You can book your culinary adventure via the Home Food website, but first you have to register - which is free - and then you will receive confirmation of your membership. Choose your location, date and time (lunch or dinner) and then check to see whether a Cesarina is available. 

Payment is via PayPal. Home Food will send you a confirmation of your reservation and payment with the address and phone number of your Cesarina. The cost for an evening meal is about 40 euros per person, wine included. Not bad for a real Italian meal cooked by an Italian Mamma in her own home using local ingredients and family recipes. 

Is There a Spagetti alla Carbonara in Your Future?

You may find yourself dining in a spacious mansion or a cosy apartment, but big space or small there are four common sense regulations guests are asked to follow:

1. Please arrive on time, it’s just good manners; 
2. Don’t cancel at the last minute - remember you are going to someone’s home, so a housewife or househusband has done all the shopping and cooking just for you; 
3. You will be served a fixed menu, please don’t ask for substitutes;  
4. if you have a food allergy, please warn your host in advance.

And last of all, don’t worry if your Italian isn’t the greatest - most likely your hosts’ English won’t be all that great either. But trust me, you will muddle through just fine. Truthfully the only words you really need to understand are “mangia, mangia” (eat, eat),  “bevi, bevi” (drink, drink) and grazie (thank you), but I think you know those already.

LIFE: A Vatican Easter

CHIAVARI, Italy - For the past few days the Italian television airwaves have been taken over by the religious Easter festivities in Rome. Here in Italy the celebrations officially start on Holy Thursday with the Mass of Chrism, (holy anointing oil).  This mass includes the reading of the Passion, which  chronicles Jesus’ capture, suffering and death. 

 

 Vatican, Rome

Later in the day, at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Pope Francis will wash the feet of 12 men, following the tradition of Jesus and his Apostles. Both masses mark Christ's founding of the priesthood at the Last Supper on the night before he died.

On Good Friday, the day of Christ’s crucifixion in 33AD, the Pope says mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano). St. John’s was built by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4^th century. Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity and St. John’s is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. It is known as Omnium urbis et orbis Ecclessarium Mater et Caput – the Cathedral of Rome and of the World.   

 Via Crucis, Rome

 On Friday evening the Pope leads a torch-lit procession from the Colosseum to Palatine Hill (Via Crucis Procession), and at pre-designated stops, they recite the prayers appropriate for each of the Stations of the Cross.

The Easter Vigil mass at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica will start at 9PM on Saturday night. No lights will be lit. The Basilica will be shrouded in darkness until Pope Benedict XVI enters. He will be carrying a long, white Paschal, a special Easter candle decorated with gold leaf. 

 

 Pope Francis, Holy Friday Mass

From the single flame of the Paschal, twelve candles are lit and from those twelve, hundreds of other smaller candles will be lit, one by one,  until the entire church is bathe in candlelight. As the candles are being lit, the Pope will proceed to the altar and begin Mass by saying: 

 “Brothers, on this most holy of nights, in which Jesus Christ our Lord passed from the depths of death to life, the Church, in every part of the world, calls on its children to keep watch and pray.” 

 

 Pope Francis

He will be dressed in a gold robe, called a chasuble, with a white and gold stole around his neck. On his head will be a precious gold and white mitre encrusted with jewels. Versions of the chasuble and the mitre were part of the normal clothing worn by the Romans in the early days of Christianity, and were adopted by Christian clerics.  The Romans wore hats that were very similar in style to the mitre, and the chasuble is simply a variation of the robes worn throughout the Roman Empire. 

The colors of the Pope’s chasuble and mitre are important as colors represent qualities such as virtue and holiness.  The gold color of the Pope’s chasuble symbolizes what is precious and valuable. It also symbolizes majesty, joy and celebration, and because of its brightness, metallic gold, like that found on the Pope’s miter, symbolizes the presence of God. 

Under the chasuble he is wearing a white robe.  Visible is a part of the collar around his neck and the edges of the cuffs under his sleeves. The color white has long symbolized purity, holiness and virtue, as well as respect and reverence. It is used for all high Holy Days and festivals.

 Easter Mass, Vatican

Easter Sunday is joyful. The Vatican altar is filled with flowers in anticipation of the mass that will be said there to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and his Ascension into Heaven. The Pope shares this special day with the thousands of faithful followers who gather in St. Peter’s Square to see him. He stands before the crowd and delivers his message of peace for the Urbi et Orbi (the city and the world).  After the Urbi et Orbi message, which is broadcast throughout the world, the Pope blesses the crowd.  

You can participate in all of the Easter events  and and information on how to do that is available on the Vatican web site (www.vatican.va). And it is all free. You do need to make reservations for everything however, including the Sabato Santo (Holy Saturday) mass at the Vatican. 

You can also make a reservation for a Papal audience on the same web site. Some tour operators have been known to charge large amounts of money for a Papal audience, but there is absolutely no charge . Actually you are better off if you organize your own visit.  You just have to do it well in advance as tickets are limited. 

 Invitation for a Papal Audience at the Vatican

To reserve a place at a Papal audience go to this page of the Vatican website http://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/index en.html and click on the “continue” button at the bottom of the page. It will take you to an application form that you can download, fill out and return to the Vatican office. The form must be sent by fax or mail (no email) - the instructions are on the site - and when your application has been processed you will receive instructions regarding your audience and where to pick up your tickets. 

It's a good idea to stay until the end of the audience as that is when the Pope will bless everyone in the audience and those who can’t be there. And if you take your medals and rosary beads and other items to the audience, you can then give them as gifts knowing that they have received the Pope’s personal blessing.

Happy Easter.

LIFE: Re-Entry Blues Redux

CHIAVARI, Italy – FAWCO, the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, is a worldwide organization which provides an environment for Americans, and other English speaking women, living abroad to meet. The alumni division is called FAUSA and it helps FAWCO members re-adjust to life in the USA after living out of the country for a while.

 Some expats live in Pieve, in the heart of Umbria,

One of FAUSA’s missions is to help bridge the re-entry gap back into the American way of life by maintaining connections with other returned FAWCO members who have shared an expatriate life. Going home is not as easy as you may think.

What is true is that after surviving an out-of-USA experience you see the world through different eyes, and as Pam Perraud, FAWCO’s NGO Director and UN representative writes, “repatriation shock is real and often more painful than ‘culture shock’ was in moving to a foreign country. It has been defined as the shock in realizing that nothing at home is the same as before.”

 Others live in Rome,

“You may find that your newfound skills don’t carry much weight,” wrote one expat who lived in England for several years. “Friends give you a blow by blow of five years of marital discord and vacations to the Jersey shore, but don’t seem to be able to sustain more than a few minutes interest in where you have been. Things have changed while you were gone and you begin to wonder if you are an old timer or a newcomer. I wanted to take out an ad in the American Women’s Club Newsletter warning everyone to STAY WHERE THEY ARE,” she went on to say.

 One or two, or most likely more, live in Florence,

Another article, written by a woman who lived in Germany for two and a half years, pointed out that for many of us, when we think about going home we think:

- Finally I will really understand what’s going on.
- I can’t wait to do business where people are efficient and courteous.
- Everything works better in the USA.
- People will be interested in hearing what I’ve been through – both good and bad.
- If I could adjust to life and work overseas, surely I’ll be able to handle this so-called repatriation adjustment.

“Sometimes,” she writes, “these things are true, but sometimes they are not.”

 While Ravello has attracted its share too,

 

For better or worse we change. No matter what the quality of the overseas experience has been, we are affected by it. We return a different person than when we left.

An article written by expat Helen Bachman cites several cases in which people, after having returned to America, moved back overseas. One woman, who had lived in Paris, was quoted as saying: “I felt the shock of my life. I couldn’t fit in or find a niche for myself, and the American lifestyle I thought I missed so much didn’t seem to suit me anymore.”

And more than few call Pisa home,

Once you have returned to the States a move back overseas is sometimes hard to explain to family and friends. Often even the expat doesn’t realize that what they may consider a return for an undefined period of time may end up being a lifetime.

 
But what is gained by living in another country goes far beyond the telling of tales of moonlight trips down the Grand Canal and espressos sipped in sidewalk cafes. Just being challenged on a daily basis, solving problems and dealing with issues you could never have imagined existed, strengthens you. Even if you crawl home and collapse in a heap, the next time out you are stronger and wiser.

The confidence you acquire in learning another language, to shop in kilos instead of pounds, in overcoming cultural barriers and just getting from point A to point B without getting lost is something that is yours forever.

So why is it so hard for some to go back to the US? I think it’s the very things we all complain about that we miss the most: the unexpected – the satisfaction of finally resolving and overcoming yet another bureaucratic folderol, the sense of accomplishment that comes from making it through another day.

But be it north or south or on an island like Palermo, you'll find us everywhere

 
In other words home is predicable, safe and do I dare say it - boring. I can hear expats here in Italy hooting – oh, for a safe, predicable, boring day. But even they have to admit no matter what the quality of their overseas experience is, they are affected by it.

I know that when I moved to Italy I had no idea how long I would be here. The plan was to stay until I didn’t want to be here anymore. Has that happened? Am I tired of living abroad? Well no, not yet, but you see I’ve only been here 20 plus years. And truthfully there are still some days when I feel as though I’m just getting the hang of it. But who knows, things can change, especially here in Italy. So let me get back to you in… 2025?

LIFE: Pretty Parma

SARONNO, Italy - Parma is one of Italy’s little cities of art. It’s not a city that gets a lot of tourist attention, and that may be a good thing. It’s an easy city to visit, the train station isn’t far from the center of town, you can walk there in less than ten minutes, which is exactly what I was doing just a few weeks ago. The only problem is the street from the train station to the center of town is lined with food shops, and it is very, but very easy to be distracted by glowing wheels of Parmesan cheese and mounds of home-made tortellini. But if you are strong, and resist, you will be rewarded.   

Pretty Parma

It is true that over the years the city has been ravaged by fires and earthquakes, but there is no trace of them now. What you will find within the walls of the old city, are buildings dating back to the 11^th and 12^th century.  One of them is the Palazzo Vescovile, an 11^th century bishop's palace. The palace is in a medieval square which it shares with the town’s Cathedral and Parma's great octagonal baptistery, both of which were built in the 12^th century. 

 Cathedral of Parma

I decided to go into the Cathedral first. As I pushed open the heavy door , silvery musical notes were hanging in the air. I looked up and saw an organ tuner running his fingers over the keyboard of the church's organ. He would randomly hit keys and then stop and then step back and wait. When the ancient pipes finally pushed out musical notes they floated upward toward the dome and then faded away like a whisper as they reach Correggio's fresco of the Assumption that is painted there. I walked around and then sat for a bit, thoroughly enjoying the fact that I had the church to myself. When a young couple came in I left and walked across the square to the Baptistery.

The pink Verona marble Baptistery is considered one of the most interesting buildings in Italy. It was started in 1195 under the supervision of sculptor Benedetto Antelami, or as the architrave over the north door puts it: "twice two years before 1200 the sculptor Benedetto doth began this work.". Antelami was also responsible for all of the Baptistery’s elaborate  carvings, both inside and out. On the inside he intricately sculpted representations of the four seasons, the signs of the zodiac, animals and fabulous beasts, creatures from Hell, sea monsters, centaurs, mermaids, and unicorns. A miraculous marble menagerie. On the outside of the building scenes from the old and new Testament crown each portal.

Detail  Parma's Baptistery

Parma is a city that has been dominated by Spain, France, Austria, the Catholic Church, and through the church, the Dukes of Farnese. But unlike its other rulers, the Farnese were patrons of the arts and under their influence Parma entered its golden age. The rich heritage they left behind changed the medieval character of the city forever. 

The Farnese were already a well established family back in 1513 when Parma was part of the territory controlled by the Popes and the Catholic church. They were a family of successful mercenaries, and through their ties to the church and a series of well-planned marriages they managed to achieve considerable wealth and power. But it was Julia Farnese, the Papal Venus as she  came to be known, who was responsible for bringing Parma under the control of the Farnese family. 

Portrait of Giulia Farnese by Raphael

When Giulia Farnese was born in 1474, she was promised in marriage to Orsino Orsini, the son of the Count of Pitigliano. They married when she turned 15 and he was 18. He was dark and handsome, she was beautiful and fair. Giulia's father was particularly happy with the union as Orsini was related to some of the most powerful families in Italy, including Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, father of the infamous Lucrezia.  

At the wedding the Cardinal, who was almost 60 years old at the time, fell head-over-heels in love with Giulia. And it wasn't long before she became his mistress. The powerful Cardinal and Giulia had a long relationship, and when he became Pope, taking the name Alexander VI, he favored his mistress by making her brother Alessandro, a Cardinal. Alessandro went on to become Pope Paul III, and the Farnese family legacy was insured. It was not many years later that Parma was given to Pope Paul III's son, Pier Luigi Farnese, in payment for services rendered as a knight for the Catholic Church. And thus the Duchy of Farnese was created. 

Parma is also the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi, one of Italy’s leading composers of opera. So it is not surprising that the resourceful Parmigiani managed to combine their two main loves – opera and food – in one happy place.  At the Teatro Regio, Parma's historic opera house, the back of one of the opera house boxes is fitted like a restaurant, its walls decorated with photographs and posters of scenes from past operas and their stars. 

 Always a Crowd at the Teatro Regio

During the intermission of an operatic performance, the Club of 27, a private group of opera lovers whose membership is limited to 27 as that was the number of operas Guiseppe Verdi wrote, gather in the restaurant. Here they discuss and argue the finer points of the opera being performed, and its cast, as they devour gastronomical delights and drink down glasses of sparkling Lambrusco wine. This is not a tradition that originated in Parma but  the Teatro Regio Parma is the only opera house in the world that has continued this ancient tradition of high-spirited dining in the back of the boxes. 

It goes back to what I said before, the biggest problem with Parma is it’s much too easy to be distracted by the food. Under ‘What to Buy” in the Geografico DeAgostini Guide to Parma, the food and pastry shops are listed first. Not only is it home to Parmesan cheese and Parma ham, it is also home to Parmalat, Barilla pasta, a large sugar industry, a company that sells Borgotaro porcini mushrooms, Italy's third largest Christmas cake factory, three food museums and the European Union’s Food Safety Authority. Is it a surprise the saying "you live to eat well, you don't eat to live" originated here? I didn't think so. 

 One of the Many Food Shops in Parma

It was getting late and I had a train to catch so I reluctantly made my way back to the train station.  The sky was darkening as I boarded the train that would take me back to Milan and a spring fog was starting to settle over the city like a soft feather quilt. I watched as the gray sky outside the train window deepened to charcoal and then went black. In a little more than an hour I would be back in Milan. There are some days when I feel incredibly lucky to live here in Italy, and this was one of them.