An update from last year’s Italian Summer Music 2007 roundup: Check out my Italian Music section to immediately buy some popular albums!

I usually use the FestivalBar CDs as a bit of a barometer for the Italian hits of the summer. They must be hard up for money, as they are also shameless enough to have the FestivalBar site hosted by MSN and they are taking a “year off” of doing the FestivalBar tour.

By now the compilations are pretty predictable: almost half “foreign” bands: Duffy, Amy Winehouse (a mere two years after her album came out), Coldplay, Leona Lewis, James Blunt; the usual “Italian standby’s” : Zucchero, Vasco Rossi, Max Pezzali, Ligabue mixed in with some new(er) blood.

The biggest phenomenon this summer is of course Giusy Ferreri, who is not on the FestivalBar CD. She is the runner-up to X-Factor show in Italy (Leona Lewis was a winner in the UK version of X-Factor)

Giusy is extraordinarily popular not only because she sings well, but because she was “just a cashier” in a supermarket before being discovered on X-Factor, and this is usually the first phrase out of someone’s mouth when speaking about her. I would call her the “Italian Amy Winehouse” without, of course, all the drugs and crack-house features. Yet.

Here’s the song performed during the finals of X-Factor: Non Ti Scordar Mai Di Me (Don’t Ever Forget About Me) written for her by none other than Tiziano Ferro (mentioned in last summer’s round-up) [Buy Giusy Ferreri's album]

So, who won X-Factor, you might ask? An acapella group called the Aram Quartet who now have their single “Per Elisa” making the rounds heavily on radio and TV. They have pretty good voices, though this is a remake of an old hit, but the melodramatic tone of the video kind of makes me chuckle and the various outfit changes (with sunglasses, without glasses) makes me wonder how many of them are really in the group.

Negramaro, mentioned in my post about Italian Summer Music 2007 with “Parlami d’Amore” (and who were quite good live at FestivalBar) are back with another song this summer, Via Le Mani Dagli Occhi (Take (Your) Hands Off Your Eyes). [Buy Negramaro's La Finestra album]

This next song came out before the summer break (and Michelle from Michellanea talked about this song in June), but I think it’s worth noting as it combines two interesting Italian artists: Fabri Fibra (a rapper from Le Marche) and Gianna Nannini (the Italian “Melissa Ethridge”) in a song called “In Italia” about the dichotomy of the reality of the beautiful and dysfunctional sides of Italy – I recommend taking a look at the Italian lyrics. From the chorus:

“There are things no one will tell you
There are things no one will give you
You were born and will die here
You were born and will die here
Born in the country of the half-truths”

Above all, I really like some of the images that the director included in the black and white video, these little slices of Italy and the people who live there. [Buy Fabri Fibra's Bugiardo or Tradimento albums]

Caparezza is noted for his crazy hair, his catchy music (Sono Fuori dal Tunnel, Vengo dalla Luna), but of course his beats are usually wrapped around a social commentary. “Vieni a ballare in Puglia” (Come dance in Puglia) is another song that is undeniably catchy (our 5-year-old cousin sings it often) but I suggest reading the original lyrics while watching the video as you’ll see “Turista tu balli e canti, io conto i defunti di questo paese” Tourist, you dance and sing, I count the dead of this country.

Bet you’ll dance, though. [Buy Caparezza's Habemus Capa]

An “oldie” but a goodie is Jovanotti who has been around for a while and whose “A Te” single from the album Safari is popular right now but I would suggest listening to “L’ombelico del Mondo” below for a fun, drum-filled dancing song from the 90s. [Buy Jovanotti's Safari or 1990-1995 Raccolta with the single below]

Elisa is one of the first Italian artists I discovered in 2000, and though she sings mainly in English, she’s finally making her debut in the US with “Dancing” (available on iTunes and Amazon) – many songs are from her previous albums. Below is Elisa’s song “Dancing” featured on “So You Think You Can Dance” (US) and the full-length song of Dancing mixed with clips of Elisa’s other videos.

And what about the quintessential “latin” hit of the summer? Well, it looks like this summer we’re to be spared from overkill on one particular song, though I’ve heard Cinema2′s Ah Ah Ah a few times. Maybe next year!

Check out my Italian Music section to immediately buy some popular albums!

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• Italian Summer Music 2007
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I started flipping through April’s (Italian) issue of Sale e Pepe, and I stumbled on this recipe, “Pane con miele, salvia e pecorino” – Bread with honey, sage and pecorino cheese. A golden brown with flecks of green sage, it looked delicious and complex, and I was craving a bit of complexity in my bread – I love the Acme bread back in SF.

Then I realized I had a big problem.

I’ve gotten much better at working with grams in recipes, but until now I’ve scraped by without a scale. Until I had to measure relatively small amounts of liquid like oil and honey. Argh! So I redoubled my promise to myself to buy a scale at the next opportunity and did a few frantic searches on the internet before I decided to eyeball a few measurements.

(Translated and adapted from the Sale e Pepe April 07 magazine)
Pane con miele, salvia e pecorino (Bread with honey, sage and pecorino cheese)
500g flour
15g (brewer’s) yeast (lievito di birra)
1t. sugar
100g grated pecorino (I used more than the recipe)
30g acacia honey (1 really big tablespoon)
7-8 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil (I used about 2T.)
salt (a heavy pinch)

Directions:

1. The yeast I used didn’t need to be prepared beforehand and was mixed in directly with the flour, 25g (2T.) olive oil, the sugar and 250ml of water. Add the pinch of salt (5g) and continue kneading for about ten minutes. This dough was a lot of fun to mix – the yeast kept it light and it was very responsive!
2. Form it into a ball, make a cross-like incision on it, cover it and leave it in a warm place for an hour. Then, deflate the dough and mix in the grated pecorino (I grated mine into very thin ribbons – courtesy of my microplane ribbon grater), the finely chopped sage and the honey.
3. It got a little slippery here with the honey, but when it’s mixed thoroughly, divide the dough into two halves and form two long cylinders with your hands – be careful here as they can start sticking to each other before it’s necessary! The recipe wants you to intertwine them in the form of a circle, but I chose instead to do a heart shape.
4. Transfer the bread to its baking pan, lined with parchment paper and leave it rise for another 30 minutes. Cook in the oven at 200C for around 35 minutes. (Note on this: it started to get pretty dark for me around 30 minutes and I took it out – so keep an eye on it!)

The recipe in the magazine calls for a side garnish with fava beans, puntarelle (a type of chicory) and more pecorino, but when I started cleaning the fava beans, I realized the bread was perfect how it was but maybe it needed a little more pecorino. I decided to whip up a little spread for it. Plus, when I was cleaning the beans, I started feeling bad for them. What a comfortable little bed they have inside their pod!

Pecorino garnish
60g pecorino
A few tablespoons honey
Milk

In a food processor, blend the pecorino and honey, adding a little milk to make it bit more spreadable. This will not smooth in consistency. Apply a thin layer to fresh, hot bread!

This bread didn’t last very long in the house – it was gone in a few hours! It was very good and I think next time I might even grate the cheese a bit coarser as a few of the little chunks got mixed in and were a nice surprise when you found them. I’m glad that I Dared this time around. Ilva, where are you on your promises??

And since I promised that I would try to post a bit more in Italian, and I’m trying to partake in the Sale e Pepe club, here’s some commentary in Italian!

In Italiano….
Ho detto a gennaio che uno dei miei obiettivi per l’anno era di fare il pane, e anche che volevo cominciare a scrivere piu’ in italiano, quindi il mese di aprile mi ha consentito di fare tutte e due!

Sfogliando il numero di Aprile di Sale e Pepe, ho visto la ricetta “Pane con miele, salvia e pecorino” – un pane dorato con pezzettini di salvia, mi sembrava interesante e complesso, e non molto tradizionale. A me piacciono il pane anche con il pepe intero, spezie e altre cose mescolate dentro, quindi in quel momento ho capito che dovevo fare questo pane.

Poi per la prima volta partecipo nel club Sale e Pepe per aprile con questa ricetta!

Alla fine ho deciso di non fare l’ornamento di fave e puntarelle – invece ho preparato una spalma di pecorino (80-100g), alcuni cucchai di miele e un po’ di latte (per aiutare la consistenza). Mettite il formaggio e il miele in una frullatore, aggiugendo poco latte ogni tanto per renderlo piu’ cremoso – la consistenza in realta’ non sara’ completamente cremoso. Spalmalo subito su pane ancora caldo.

Avevo alcuni problemi senza una bilancia per misurare pero’ ho promesso a me stessa di prenderlo subito, ed alla fine questo pane era ottimo e lo farei di nuovo – magari grattugiando il pecorino in pezzi piu’ grandi perche’ ogni tanto trovavo una piccola massa di formaggio ed era buonissima!

Ricetta per Pane con miele, salvia e pecorino nella revista di Sale e Pepe Aprile 2007, pagina 36.

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Che culo hai!! What a butt you have!

Welcome to Italy, a country where it’s perfectly acceptable and normal to talk about someone’s butt, and in many cases, how big it is.

The first time someone in Italy said the above to me, I was at a momentary loss for words. I wasn’t sure how to respond because I had no idea what they had meant. You see, I do have a big butt. I’ve received a few remarks (good/bad) in the past and it doesn’t really bother me. But, with the way Italians easily talk about the weight and figures of others, I was ready for any explanation or even to hear their advice about getting a figure più snella.

But not this time.

When someone tells you, Che culo hai! or shorter still, Che culo!, they are not remarking on the perfect status of your posterior (which happens a lot to me *cough*), instead, it is a way of saying, “You’re lucky!” or “What luck/fortune!” or “Things are working for you!”

Some real-life (mine) examples:
Che culo!: You try to get tickets to the womens’ gymnastics event at the Commonwealth Games and of course, they are all sold out. Instead you “settle” for the mens’ gymnastics event, and but lo and behold, so has the Queen of England, who is escorted in after you choose your seat and is less than 20 feet behind you in the stands. Che culo!

Che culo!: Your friend knows the Italian drummer for the Gipsy Kings and they just happen to be having a concert in Chicago the weekend you’re there. Though the concert is completely sold out, he gets you and your friends 3rd row seats and backstage passes! Che culo!

Unfortunately, as well as all the times when you really do have good luck, there are many times you experience what I like to call “False culo” (look for it on Wikipedia! Ok, no, don’t)

Let me give you a few examples….

Apparent culo: You slip in to the Questura to file your paperwork, not having prepared any of the requirements, but manage to fulfill them all in one hour and gain special access to the Questura for acceptance.
False culo: The office loses your paperwork (and denies it!) after 4 months.

Apparent culo: You arrive at the far-away postal warehouse on your bike, 2 minutes before it closes, 30 minutes before you thought it closed, and are set to retrieve your packages. You discover they weigh a whopping 22lbs and there’s no way they will balance in your pitiful green wire basket on the front of your bike. The man working at the counter takes pity on you and your bicycle and long distance and offers to deliver them to your house in the early afternoon.
False culo: You wait for seven hours at the house, missing a beautiful day full and sunshine (and shopping!) and he doesn’t show up. Now the Post Office has a slip signed by you saying you’ve picked up the packages. You have no name or contact information. You also realize you’re an idiot. You hope he enjoys used English novels.

Apparent culo: You wake up on a lazy Sunday but just make it in time to get the bus to the out-of-town mega-supermarket for the weekly shopping. No ticket controllers come on the bus, which is good since you realize after you get on that you have no tickets and there are no open ticket sellers for miles.
False culo: Your bus ride is calm and very quiet. Too quiet. You arrive at the vast shopping complex and its empty, vacant, tumbleweed-rolling-in-the-background parking lot. It’s not open this Sunday, even if it’s been open for the last 14 in a row.
False culo turned real culo: After returning home, checking the internet and grumbling and bemoaning the fact we now have to go to the other side of the city to the open supermarket, we get a buzz on the intercom – it’s the friendly postman who has arrived with my packages. On a Sunday!

What about you? What are your “Che Culo” moments??

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Yet another holiday that we Americans have assimilated into our culture, i.e., another reason to drink and party. I tried to see if anyone at work would be wearing green or any crazy buttons like, “Kiss me, your sister already has” or “Luck o’ the Mafia” or “I’m not Irish, but that’s not a problem, right? RIGHT?” etc.

But no dice. Seems to be largely overlooked here. Which is fine, but sadly, I miss another large friend get-together back home. No green scrambled eggs (this kind, not this kind), no cupcakes with green frosting, no green beer!

For those of you keeping track, no green on today. Send me a long-distance pinch!

Since I’ve been working so much, I think mostly about work, so I thought I would give some insights on working in my Italian office. Of course this won’t work for every office. Some of my past “insights” about working in a government office are even stranger.

1) A phone conference never starts on time. And by starting, I mean, calling the other party. in the call. At 5 minutes to the meeting time, someone will walk around and remind everyone that we have a phone conference in five minutes. Everyone will nod, and go back to working furiously. At the time of the phone conference, someone else will walk around and gather everyone, and go to the room or desk where the call will take place. This may take a few minutes. Then, with the time already running, the local group will sit and de-brief about the problem, the strategy or what they should say. This can sometimes take up to 15 minutes into the scheduled call time.

Then, the call is placed.

I’ve never taken part in a call that hasn’t happened like this.

2) Many Italian women will keep a toothbrush at work and brush their teeth after lunch or in late afternoon. I guess that’s one way to get around the missing dental care plan.

3) They love to party, but not plan. The last two informal department “parties” were planned by me. I suggested using “Evite” for an aperitivo we were planning. Evite is the bible of event planning back home for me and my friends, but one Italian colleague remarked, “Oh no, that’s making it too institutionalized! Too formal!” I was thinking, no, it means people have a date, a time, and a map, and they can invite other friends. But I guess I’ll use it for the next thing I plan out of the office.

4) They love to eat, they hate to eat. One time someone brought some pastries and I heard so many, “Oh, I don’t eat sweets,” “I’m on a diet,” or “half of a half of a bite only,” or those that didn’t even glance at the tray. Another time, I arrived at 10am, and my colleagues told me there was something to eat in the other room. I arrived to see a big, huge, empty tray. I guess it was good.

5) The first four months, I was coming into work early, at 8.40. The first one in our office. When I left at 6pm, I felt like I was sneaking out leaving so “early.” Now that I’m coming in later and leaving later, I am noticing that everyone starts leaving around 6.20, just a mere 20 minutes after I was leaving. (I’m stuck until 7 because of the trains)

6) Some of my colleagues are starting to catch on to my joking….usually consisting of me pretending that I didn’t understand what was said in Italian, and substituting a similar (sometimes inappropriate) word as I try to “clarify” what was said with a perplexed look on my face. This usually makes the speaker say…”No, no, not that,” but it’s too late, the damage has been done. Half the people are laughing, and the other half are concentrating, trying to remember which word he had actually said. I guess the class clown is still alive in me. Ok, alive and well.

What about at your office?

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