Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Francis and Francis

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The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is reported to live a life of humility and caring for the poor.

The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is reported to live a life of humility and caring for the poor.

After much pomp and circumstance, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected Pope Francis.

It’s been widely reported that Bergoglio chose the name Francis to honor St. Francis of Assisi. This puzzles me. First, he’s not a Franciscan; he’s a Jesuit. And second, I’ve always thought of the Jesuits as intellectual and elitist.

Like Francis of Assisi, Bergoglio is reported to embrace the poor, the homeless, the diseased, the disenfranchised. But unlike Francis of Assisi, who never became comfortable with the power and politics of the Roman Catholic Church, Bergoglio is now the capo di capi of this wealthy and (despite its many current challenges) influential institution.

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A Tavola

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Yesterday I listened to an NPR report about the state of the family meal in America.

This was the scene of one family that was interviewed. At 6:02 p.m., three children sat down to supper. The mother and father did not eat with the children (they planned to eat later). The father wasn’t at the table. He was checking his phone. Grandpa was nearby looking at his iPad. The TV was blaring in the background. The meal lasted for eight minutes.

Cena_2

In Florence, as everywhere in Italy, dining is a celebration of life.

A few years ago on a research trip to Rome, I connected with Giuliana, the former neighbor of an American friend who had lived in Rome for a while. We agreed to meet one spring evening at the Spanish Steps.

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The Most Beautiful Italian Love Song?

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watercolor by Walter Sanders

Watercolor by Walter Sanders

I search google.it for la canzone d’amore più bella (the most beautiful love song) and get 741,000 entries.

The first is a YouTube post of “Adagio,” sung by Lara Fabian. With more than 3 million viewings, it merited a listen from me. I found the song a tad overwrought—more longing than loving–but seems as if I may be in the minority.

The second link is a blog called clo&demk that couldn’t limit itself to just one melody. Its Le 200 Canzoni D’Amore Più Belle di Tutti i Tempo (The 200 Most Beautiful Love Songs of All Time) leads with “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin. Sorry, it’s a sweet song but not Italian.

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Joyce Heitler’s Inner Italian

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By Joyce Heitler, guest writer

Joyce Heitler in the southern hill town of Piciotta.

Joyce Heitler in the southern hill town of Pisciotta.

Retired from teaching kindergarten in Chicago after 45 years, I, too, have an Inner Italian.

My husband Frank and I went to Italy about 11 years ago with my son- in-law Renato, who was born in Italy, to see his sick uncle in Tuscany. The uncle lived in a beautiful four-story castle with antique furniture.

We decided to learn Italian so Frank looked up schools on the Internet and found a small language school in Pisciotta, about one hour south of Salerno. The photos looked fabulous and we signed up for a three-week total immersion class. After one week, I fell in love with Pisciotta and the people. Being the impulsive person that I am, I decided to buy an apartment there.

Not many apartments were available for sale so when I went to church I prayed that I would find a place. When I left church, a man, who had heard us speaking English, approached us. His name was Agnello, named after the patron saint of Pisciotta. He had worked in New York for 12 years and then moved back to Pisciotta. I asked him if he knew of anyone who had a house for sale and he said, “Yes, me.”

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Italian Icon: La Trattoria

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Trattoria

Combine genuine home-style cooking, many of the amenities you’d find in a white-tablecloth restaurant, and the conviviality of a pub, and you begin to approximate the Italian social fixture la trattoria.

These inviting, affordable storefront restaurants are typically run by a family with Mamma at the stove, son and daughter-in-law waiting tables, and Papa pouring wine—when he’s not charming the clients—behind the case that displays the antipasti, salads, and desserts.

Italian Icon — a person, place, or thing that’s quintessentially Italian

Pocket Coffee

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An ad from the ’70s says “drink real coffee even when there isn’t any.”

Last evening, our Italian language conversation group convened at a local restaurant to celebrate the season. At the head of the table was our native-born speaker Daniele with his wife Fanny and daughter Giuilana. Walter and I, along with Patrizia, Elena, and Davide laughed and conversed over an antipasto platter and a trio of pizzas, supported with a Placido Chianti.

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