Dreaming In Italian

Bocce is one of the oldest games around with origins dating to 5000 B.C. The current form of the game is definitely Italian in origin but the French game of petanque which is played primarily in France and Spain is similar.

The game has been around for awhile

The general principles of both games are the same but bocce is played on a long rectangular court while penanque is played in almost any open space. Bocce is also much more widely played – Europe, Australia, South and North America. There seem to be bocce ball courts all over the place if one is interested in playing. The rules are quite simple. One team throws a little ball, the jack (palino) which must go past mid court. Then the team that threw the palino rolls one of their balls. After this the opposing team attempts to roll a ball closer to the palino than the opponents’ ball. They keep doing this until they succeed in that endeavor. Then the other team tries to get a ball closer to the palino than the opposing team. This continues with the bowling going back and forth if the closeness changes or until one team has rolled all of it’s balls. Then the other team can roll any remaining balls. The scoring is based on one point for each ball of a team that is closer to the palino than any of the opponent’s balls. By the way team is a relative term.

Here is a nice video that shows the basics of the game …..

There are singles and doubles and in my limited experience 4 people on a team that each have a ball to throw. As I said there are lots of places to play including some that are a little over the top. Of course the dress at the game (partita) is really up to you but you might want to consider some common sense rules.

That makes it a nice social event especially if there are food and beer involved. So give it a try sometime if you haven’t already. Anyone can play.

Like croquette it is part of the game to try to knock one of the opponent’s balls out of the action and this seems to happen a lot. It’s great fun at my level of play which is beyond mediocre and the fun is always enhanced by some food and a beer or two. Anybody can play so give it a try sometime. Of course maybe you can make it to the world championships. Check this video for the skills that you need.

Well, it has been some time since I have done a post – other things keep intruding. But I received an email from my friend Claudia sometime before Christmas mentioning the opportunities to stuff oneself over the holidays and she mentioned Befana. Who ever heard of Befana outside of Italy?

Certainly it is new to me. Of course for me the word “epiphany” means that I suddenly understand something that has been confusing me for some time. However Epiphany is recognized, at least by Catholics I presume, as the day that the wise men, late as they often are, finally stumbled belatedly into Bethlehem to present their gifts to the new savior of the world. Whether there is any celebration of this day in the U.S. by any religion is unclear. I did find from Wikipedia that in some town in Colorado it is the date of the Great Fruitcake Toss but other than that I’m not clear about anything special happening on that day. But as usual I digress.

A very interesting part of the Italian tradition is that the wise men in all of their wisdom were, well, a bit lost and stopped by some little town to inquire about directions. This is where Befana entered the scene. There are variations on this legend of course but basically the old woman Befana welcomed the wise men, and put them up for the night but was clueless about the whereabouts of the baby Jesus. The next day the Magi set off and offered to take Befana with them. She was more concerned with doing her house cleaning or something and decided not to go along. Later she decided that maybe she should have gone so she set off to try to follow the trail of the wise men but never could find them. Now we go into a strange combination of Halloween and our own Christmas traditions. Befana never did find the wise guys or the baby who came to save the world and she has regretted it ever since. As a result she flies around on her broom on the Eve of Epiphany delivering presents to good children and coal or something similar to the bad ones. Not only that but she comes down the chimney and the family leaves a snack out for Befana – this being Italy it includes wine – which may explain this joke….

Apparently she hope to find the Christ child that she missed. So the Eve of Epiphany was traditionally the time for gift giving in Italy although that has steadily shifted to Christmas. Still the figure of the old Befana on her broom delivering gifts is quite a mental image.

Of course almost all of the figures in the Christmas season as well as traditions are adopted from earlier pre-christian days but that doesn’t make any of it less fascinating.

So carry on the tradition in your house. Next year tell the kiddies that Befana will be riding around on her broom the night of January 5^th and will bring some treats or coal – that should confuse them.

Having finally adjusted (more or less) to the shock of being back in Oakland after my wonderful sojourn in Bologna it is time to once again provide a recipe for the “cucina pigra” (lazy cooking). When I was in Bologna I went to great meal in the Apennine mountains west of Bologna with Barbara, Vittorio and several of their friends. At the end of the meal I chose the mascarpone dessert. It was simple and great and when I returned here I searched the web for a recipe. The only thing that came up was mascarpone as one of the ingredients in tiramisu. Mascarpone is a very spreadable cheese more like ricotta in texture than most of what we think of as cheese. In fact it’s not technically a cheese at all but is technically a curled cream. But let’s not get carried away with the cheesey specifications. It’s yummy stuff and I wanted to replicate it here. Since the web was no help I turned to Barbara who delivered her version and it is really quite easy to make. So you can impress your friends with something they’re unlikely to find on this side of the Atlantic. I had pictures of the whole process but unfortunately some scoundrel robbed my apartment and absconded with the camera which still had the pictures inside so you’ll just need to use your imagination.

The ingredients:

Note: You should do this preparation a day ahead – read on.

2 eggs

250 grams (about 9 oz) of mascarpone (it’s sold here in 8 oz. gram containers)

100 grams (about 3.5 oz. ) of powdered sugar

1. Separate the eggs.
2. Mix the yolks and powdered sugar with a whisk until creamy

3. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff
4. Blend everything together

The next step depends on the season. If summer you can serve the mascarpone with some nice ripe berries on top. If fall or winter soak one ladyfinger (also known as savoy biscuits) in coffee (expresso of course) and place in the bottom of whatever you’ll be using to serve the dessert (I used plastic drink glasses that I could discard) and then top with the mascarpone mixture. Put the containers in the freezer overnight and transfer them to the fridge an hour or two before serving. If the summer option, top with the berries just before serving.

It’s easy and foolproof, after all, I did it.

I did a double recipe and took them to an Italian potluck. They lived up to Barbara’s promise that it would be a success.

Now that I’ve been back in the U.S. for awhile – in fact over a month. I’ve had a lot of time to try to adjust. From living in a lively beautiful medieval city to – Oakland. I certainly miss Bologna I’ve been thinking about the experience I had and what I would do differently the next time around as well as just general things that I’d advise.

1. Arrive a little early to avoid the jet lag problem.

I did this and was glad that I did. I was able to see my friends in the Frankfurt area and arrived in Bologna with my wits about me.

2. When making departure plans – plan backwards.

I wish that I had investigated the flights from Frankfurt to Bologna prior to making the flight plans round trip from San Francisco to Frankfurt. I wound up with only a day in Frankfurt when I’d have preferred another day or two with my friends.

3. Pack less

Of course this is a standard. I thought that I was pretty good about this but found that 3 pairs of jeans and one pair of khakis was plenty (and I could have done with only jeans). I wore long or short sleeve T-shirts almost the whole time because there require such little care. I’d leave all but maybe one fancier shirt at home the next time around. The sport coat I wore exactly once – another leave at home item.

4. If your Italian is beyond beginner level stay in a shared apartment.

The idea of staying with a family seemed appealing. I thought that I would speak more Italian but in fact spoke less. A single mother tends to be pretty busy and a teenage boy (in this case 14) has little patience with a fumbling Italian speaker. Plus if you cook reasonably well or room with others that do you’ll probably eat better and have interactions in Italian at stores, etc.

5. Take advantage of as much school activities as you can tolerate

I think that I really missed out on lots of opportunities to practice Italian by not going on every available afternoon tour or weekend day trip. On these you’re exposed constantly to Italian and it’s quite worthwhile. Also there were 2 evening aperitivi gatherings which were excellent opportunities for practice. I wish I’d gone to all of them.

6. Think before you discard

I think about that Internet Key which I discarded and would have found useful for that one night in Sicily. If it’s small and useful carry it around awhile before discarding it.

7. Don’t rent a car in Palermo

Probably true for any big city in Italy where it might be challenging to find your way around. It took a long time to get out of the city and an equally long time to return. The next time I’d take a bus to the airport and rent the car there – avoiding major in/out of the city hassles. A corollary to this is to have a credit card that can run through a hand imprinter. See the post on the car rental in Palermo.

8. Check everything before leaving a place.

Perhaps you read the post about leaving my passport at the hotel in Bologna and paying a taxi driver to deliver it to the airport. Double check – enough said.

9. Sometimes forget the planning.

I found great places to stay two of the nights in Sicily without benefit of the web. Research can be good but serendipity can be really sweet.

10. Above all – do it now

It’s really a great experience to be in one place and establish a routine as if you were (in fact you are) a short term resident. You’re not getting any younger. What are you waiting for?

11. Last but not least – expect re-entry to be difficult.

If you really love Italy (perhaps there’s someone that doesn’t) it’s hard to come back. Almost everything in daily life suffers by comparison to the life in Bologna.

And in the spirit of the season, a Christmas card to all. It’s one of my all time favorites with absolutely nothing to do with Italy. You definitely need to click on the photo to see it meaningfully.