How To Make Crispeddi Cu Brocculu (Cauliflower Fritters)
There are so many more daily cuisine options from Italy than what you may already know…
When most Americans think of Italian cuisine, the idea of family-style pasta dishes set around a dinner table come to mind. While this scene is born mostly from our stereotype of Italian-American migrant families in the early 1900s, there is so much more to the daily cuisine options from Italy. One of the lesser known comes from Southern Italy called crispeddi cu brocculu.
Photo: Mangia Bedda
Crispeddi Cu Brocculu Recipe
This street-style favorite is sure to become a favorite as either a starter for your next family meal or as a side dish to the main course. We’ve dropped our favorite variation on the recipe courtesy of Mangia Bedda.
First, You’ll Need These Ingredients:
1 small cauliflower head about 3 cups
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
vegetable or canola oil for frying
Photo: Mangia Bedda
How to Prepare
Separate the cauliflower into bite size florets and boil in salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the water, flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until well combined. You are looking for the consistency of a pancake batter. Stir in the cauliflower chunks and toss to coat in the batter.
Cover the bottom of a large, wide skillet with enough oil to reach the depth of 1 cm (about 1/2 inch). When the oil is hot, drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into the pan. I fry six crispeddi at a time. You can place them close together as they will not stick together.
Fry until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate covered in paper towels to soak up excess oil.
Serve hot.
These fritters are best eaten hot right out of the pan. However, if you have leftovers you can enjoy the next day by warming them in a 350F oven for about ten minutes. They will crisp up again.
Photo: Mangia Bedda
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Italian Culture - A Guide for Visitors
Thinking of making a trip to Italy, but don’t want to be the typical tourist?
Thinking of making a trip to Italy, but don’t want to be the typical ignorant tourist? Perhaps you’re wishing to be able to take in all of the sights and sounds to their fullest extent? While it’s obvious that becoming proficient in the language is the easiest way to improve your trip, having some insight into the overall history of the country will aid you in appreciating every site you plan to visit!
Language
The official language of the country is, you guessed it, Italian. About 90% of the country’s population speaks Italian as native language with many dialects including Sardinian, Friulian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Ligurian, Piedmontese, Venetian, Calabrian, and Milanese. Other languages spoken by native Italians include Albanian, Bavarian, Catalan, Cimbrian, Corsican, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Slovenian and Walser.
Family and Religion
Family is an extremely important value within the Italian culture and family solidarity is focused on extended family rather than the immediate family of just a mom, dad and children. Most families in Italy also happen to be very religious with the major religion in Italy being Roman Catholicism. This seems pretty obvious considering that Vatican City is the hub of Roman Catholicism.
Roman Catholics and other Christians make up 80% of the population while Muslim, agnostic and atheist make up the other 20% according to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Art and Architecture
Italy is home to many classic architectural styles, including classical Roman, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical and is home to some of the most famous structures in the world, including the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa to name a few. The concept of a basilica — which was originally used to describe an open public court building and evolved to mean a Catholic pilgrimage site was born in Italy.
Additionally, Opera has its roots in Italy and many famous operas including "Aida" and "La Traviata," and "Pagliacci" which are still performed in the native language to this day. In the world of fashion, Italy is home to some of the most famous fashion houses, including Armani, Gucci, Benetton, Versace and Prada to name a few.
Cuisine
Italian cuisine has influenced food culture around the world and is viewed as a form of art by many. Wine, cheese and pasta are important part of Italian meals. Pasta comes in a wide range of shapes, widths and lengths, including penne, spaghetti, linguine, fusilli and lasagna.
Wine is also a big part of Italian culture, and the country is home to some of the world's most famous vineyards., and in fact, the oldest traces of Italian wine were recently discovered in a cave near Sicily's southwest coast. Wine is produced in every region and is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Currently, Italy is the world's largest producer of wine.
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Italian Dialect Or Language
Interestingly enough, Italian dialects are not truly dialects…
The Italian language is the only official language of Italy. Until 1861, however, Italy was a loose network of small states with each having own language. One of the unifying forces at the time was the Roman Catholic Church, and this year the Sa die da Sardigna (the Sardinian National Day) Mass, was celebrated in the “limba” dialect, a variant of the Sardinian language.
While the history behind the official usage of Italian is a long one, essentially, when the Savoy Kingdom unified all these states under its crown, the decision was made that the literary Florentine variant of Italian would become standard across the country. A major factor in this decision was that Florentine literature (Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio to name a few) was read widely throughout Italy, and therefore was considered part of the national identity.
The newly standard language was taught in schools as part of a federal schooling program that made the instruction mandatory everywhere, however the usage of regional languages persisted and remain an integral part of Italy’s regional cultures.
Interestingly enough, Italian dialects are not truly dialects as a dialect is a variant of a codified language and many of these “dialects” developed independently with their own grammar and vocabularies. This would technically classify them as their own languages. Currently, there are 32 minority languages, all of them derived from the Latin.
For more info on each of the minority languages, click here!
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Exploring The Origins of the Vespa
Over the years, they have become an icon of Italian culture…
Vespas are more than just scooters. Over the years, they have become an icon of Italian culture and of the term "made in Italy" as a whole. They have been featured endlessly on the big screen in movies like Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" or "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn.
"Vespa is an extraordinary story," Piaggio Group design director Marco Lambri recently stated in an interview adding that "It's a story that was born in 1946, after the Second World War thanks to Enrico Piaggio's intuition and the genuis of an engineer, Corradino D'Ascanio. At the time, Piaggio was building in the aeronautical and naval field and the owners decided to reconvert the company in a new field: personal mobility. After the war, Italy had to start up again. And through this vehicle, simple, cheap, and for everyone, they thought they could give a significant contribution."
Vespa debuted in 1946 at the Rome Golf Club, and it quickly gained popularity as it went from selling 2,500 scooters in 1947 to more than 20x that in 1950. The first models were sold for 55,000 lire, or about $245 USD at the time. Vespa prices were very competitive, and this, together with its sleek design, is what turned it into a success. Vespa has made and sold over 1.6 million scooters all over the world. Vespa differs from other scooters in that its body frame is made entirely of steel stampings that are welded together, which is exactly how Piaggio made its airplanes when it launched the scooter in 1946.
Corradino D'Ascanio, the engineer of the bike, actually didn't love motorbikes, so he designed this Vespa based on who was supposed to drive it but without the constraits of motorbikes back then. It had to be easy to use, protective, comfortable.. It’s name comes from Enrico Piaggio's exclamation when he saw the first prototype as it’s shape resembled a wasp (vespa in Italian). When he said it, he said, "It looks like a wasp!”
All of this combined makes it easy to understand why Vespa has made and sold over 1.6 million scooters all over the world - thus making it the go to for Italians who want to take on the open road sans the windshield
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Remembering Andrea Camilleri
We will miss the intellectual, the free person who spoke freely, who said things that pleased and did not please…
Remembering Andrea Camilleri
A private funeral was held in Rome today for the famed Italian author Andrea Camilleri, who earned worldwide acclaim for his series of detective novels featuring inspector Salvo Montalbano.
Friends and family gathered for the ceremony at Rome's Protestant Cemetery, where many famed artists and poets are buried, including Percy Shelley and John Keats and was attended as well by several hundred well-wishers were allowed to enter the cemetery in small groups to pay tribute to the author.
The celebrated author died at the age of 93 in Rome after a period of intensive care. News of Camilleri's death sparked a outpouring of tributes for the author, who never shied away from criticizing those in power.
Italian Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli stated that "we will miss the intellectual, the free person who spoke freely, who said things that pleased and did not please”.
Camilleri became a novelist later in life, publishing his first book at the age of 57 and would go on to sell over 20 million books in Italy with around 30 novels featuring Montalbano which were translated into at least 30 languages up until 2006, with instructions that his final novel be published only after his death.
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Italian Artist Spotlight: Dario Gambarin
Large scale art installations are common in Europe, but one artist has craftily created temporary works that are sure to astound any fan of non-traditional art mediums.
Italian Artist Spotlight: Dario Gambarin
Large scale art installations are common in Europe, but one artist has craftily created temporary works that are sure to astound any fan of non-traditional art mediums.
Italian land-artist Dario Gambarin created a giant portrait of astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the lunar surface, in a wheat field outside Verona to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 expedition to the moon.
Gambarin’s land art, created with a tractor and plough on a field of grain stubble, was part of a global wave of tributes that celebrated the expedition.
Gambarin himself has stated that “Art is an adventure of the spirit, of thought and of creative imagination. Only those who have the courage to face this journey with free will, taking the risk of their own integrity, can explore these multi-faceted realities.”
Over the years, Gambarin has created similar artwork of Barack Obama, J.F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Kim Jong-Un, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Pope Francis.
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The Rise of Tourism in Matera
Matera, the European Capital of Culture in 2019, has experienced a boom in tourism the year before it officially took on the name…
The Rise of Tourism in Matera
Matera, the European Capital of Culture in 2019, has experienced a boom in tourism the year before it officially took on the name.
Hotels and other lodgings in the region saw total arrivals of over 614,000 over the course of the last year. The organization, CNA has stated that ''the contribution of foreign tourists was remarkable and that Matera ''benefited from its being assigned the title'', a statement said. In 2018, compared with the previous year.
For those unfamiliar of the region, Matera in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. Iand was the capital of the province of Basilicata from 1663 to 1806. The town lies in a small canyon carved out by the Gravina.
it is also known as la città sotterranea ("the underground city"), its historical centre "Sassi" contains ancient cave dwellings from the Paleolithic period (10th millennium BC). If continually inhabited as Leonardo A. Chisena has suggested it would be one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world.
Matera has a long history and a long list of places to see, from museums to churches to the old water cisterns, built in the rock like the Sassi. These are probably all the reasons why it was announced in 2014 as the European Capital of Culture for the year of 2019, together with Plovdiv in Bulgaria.
Some 42% of the foreigners visiting were from the US (over 14,000 with almost 29,000 overnight stays) which resulted in the United States surpassing France for first place. These figures will be among the themes discussed at the 'Matera, Connecting Made in Italy' conference, sponsored by the CNA and to be held on Wednesday morning at 11 AM in Matera.
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Present Day Pinnochio
This is one tale that is being taken on in a much more intense fashion…
Present Day Pinnochio
Many Americans recognize Pinocchio from the classic Disney film. While Disney is on a streak of making live-action remakes, this is one tale that is being taken on in a much more intense fashion with director Matteo Garrone at the helm.
Garrone, best known for his gritty 2008 crime drama Gomorrah, is making an Italian language version of the tale, penned in the late 1800s by Italian writer Carlo Collodi.
With lavish make-up and scenery, it appears this is not quite the family-friendly adaptation that Walt Disney gave us in 1940.
Garrone has also specifically stated that it will be faithful to Collodi's original text but added that he 'would certainly like children to be part of the audience'.
Italian screen veteran Roberto Benigni will portray the carpenter Geppetto, who makes the marionette in his Tuscan workshop, dreaming that he would one day become a real boy an is Benigni's 1st since the Woody Allen comedy To Rome With Love in which he appeared in in 2012.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the only new version of Pinocchio that has been announced as Guillermo Del Toro is set to make a stop-motion animated Pinocchio movie for Nexflix, which will be decidedly not family friendly.
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Italian Blockchain Banking
Remember the great bitcoin craze of last year?
Italian Blockchain Banking
Remember the great bitcoin craze of last year? The technology behind it, blockchain, is seeing a resurgence in the banking sector, specifically in Italy with a new project that is set to launch next year.
The Italian Banking Association (ABI) will revisit the method of blockchain technology to run reconciliations beginning March 2020. This marks the first use of the blockchain among Italy’s banks and will integrate distributed ledger technology in interbank processes to improve the rate of speed at which settlements occur.
The move is part of the Spunta Project that aims to enact daily rather than monthly reconciliations. The Italian word “spunta” translates literally to check.
The latest round of tests reportedly began in February with participation from 18 banks, which together represent 78% of the Italian banking sector by number of employees.
Last October marked the successful completion of the 1st trial and validated the use of blockchain to assist in backed-up banking operations to reduce discrepancies between ledgers.
In February of this year, the Italian House of Representatives approved a bill defining blockchain, as well as the technical criteria that smart contracts will have to comply with in order to have legal validity.
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The Return Of The Roman Youth
The sculpture disappeared from Italy sometime after 1944…
The Return Of The Roman Youth
The marble bust of a Roman youth unearthed in the 1930s in the city of Fondi between Rome and Naples was returned to Italy this week for the first time since it was smuggled out of the country nearly 50 years ago.
The sculpture disappeared from Italy sometime between 1944 and the early 1960s and has been returned to the Italian Ministry of Culture in a ceremony at the German ambassador's residence early in June. With centuries of art and artifacts strewn all over Italy, various pieces have been lost over the years to thieves, traffickers and natural disasters.
The statue, which dates from the second century AD and depicts the head and part of the shoulders of a young man, has spent the past 55 years in the University of Munster's Archaeological Museum, whose then director received it from a private owner.
Germany offered to return it without being asked, according to Italy's culture minister Alberto Bonisoli who called the action “a highly symbolic act.”
However, owners of stolen artwork aren't always as willing to return them. Among the most notable disputes is Italy's dispute with the Getty Museum in the United States over the Statue of a Victorious Youth which the American gallery refuses to return despite a ruling by Italy's highest court that it was removed from Italy illegally.
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The Fight For Italian Marriage Equality
The annual Pride march in Rome took place this week as LGBTQ+ Italians are continuing to fight for equal rights regarding marriage equality.
The Fight For Italian Marriage Equality
The annual Pride march in Rome took place this week as LGBTQ+ Italians are continuing to fight for equal rights regarding marriage equality.
In Italy, both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal since 1890 though it was not until 2016 that civil unions law passed with many of the rights of marriage. Stepchild adoption was, however, excluded from the bill, and it is currently still being reviewed. The same law provides both same-sex and heterosexual couples which live in an unregistered cohabitation with several legal rights In 2017, the Italian Supreme Court allowed a marriage between two women to be officially recognized.
Currently, Italian law only allows heterosexual couples access to fertility treatments, but a Turin city council in April registered the birth of the son of a lesbian couple, who was conceived via IVF in Denmark.
While many strides have been made towards equality under the law, in May 2018, the Court of Cassation ruled that same-sex marriages performed abroad cannot be recognized in Italy. Instead, they must be registered as civil unions, regardless of whether the couple wed before or after Italy introduced civil unions in 2016.
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The Swarm Over Sardina
A swarm of locusts is plaguing farmlands on the Italian island of Sardinia…
The Swarm Over Sardina
A swarm of locusts is plaguing farmlands on the Italian island of Sardinia in what farmers have called the worst infestation since the end of World War 2. The locusts, estimated in the millions, have covered over 6,000 acres of farmland between the towns of Ottana and Orani.
The farmers’ lobby has asked the government for help, but it’s likely too late to save the hay crop and grassland that sustain their sheep and other livestock.
Locusts are common in Sardinia during the summer, but the massive drought in 2017 followed by significant rainfall in 2018 created the ideal climate for the locusts. Currently, even Northern Italy is also battling a plague of stink bugs, which are destroying swathes of fruit trees.
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Starting Out With Italian Soda
This does beg to questions however, where Italian sodas come from…
Starting Out With Italian Soda
Italian sodas have become increasingly popular around the world with one in particular gaining national notoriety in the U.S. Italian-based Stappi has captured the hearts of food bloggers around the world for good reason. The flavor catalogue is full of variety and has been used both as a refreshing summer drink as well as a favorite alcoholic mixer. This does beg to questions however, where Italian sodas come from. It may surprise you that Italy isn’t the answer. Despite its name, Italian soda originated in the United States.
One claimant to the introduction and increased popularity of Italian sodas is Torani. Rinaldo and Ezilda Torre brought recipes for flavored syrups from Lucca, Italy, and in 1925 introduced what become known as an Italian soda to the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The Italian-American association with Italian sodas has been reinforced by various ready-made brands of Italian sodas, such as the 2005 creation of Romano's Italian Soda Company (named after the Italian-American grandfather of the company's founder) and the 2007 introduction of "The Sopranos Old Fashioned Italian Sodas" which come in three flavors: limoncello, amaretto, and Chianti. Additionally, unlike American sodas, they typically do not contain any caffeine.
According to Le Cordon Bleu, Italian sodas are actually “scoffed at by most full-blooded Italians.” However, Italians do enjoy a similar beverage made with myrtifolia juice, a native-Italian citrus fruit.
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3 Italian Inventions That Changed The World
There are inventions that are often overlooked that have influenced our lives more than all of these brands and products…
3 Italian Inventions That Changed The World
Italy is known for giving birth to some of the most famous brands in modern times in all industries including, Ferrari, Versace, Moschino, Gucci, Prada, and Nutella. The food of Italy is also internationally famous with favorites including gelato, pizza, spaghetti, and a large variety of cheeses. However, there are a few inventions that are often overlooked that have influenced our lives more than all of these brands and products combined. Here are 3 Italian Inventions That Changed The World!
Roman Law
Roman Law is the foundation of all legal systems in Europe that followed it. Its foundations lie in classical Greek and Roman philosophy, but it was exported around Europe during the reign of the Roman Empire.
Its development roughly spans over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC) to the Corpus Juris Civilis (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.
Today it forms the basis of all civil law around the world, which is why it is argued that this is not only the most influential invention, but also the most important.
Photo: Espresso Machine Critic
The Espresso Machine
The invention of the machine and the method that would lead to espresso is usually attributed to Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, who was granted a patent in 1884 for “new steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage.” Espresso has not only become a staple of nearly every citizen in Italy’s day, but is the basis of an entire coffee culture that has become a global phenomenon, with an enormous resurgence that began in the mid 2000s and is still prevalent today.
The Battery
One of Italy's most recognized contributions to the world of technology was the first true battery. The Voltaic pile was devised by Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in around 1800 AD and was a stack of copper and zinc plates that were bathed in brine-soaked paper disks. Surprisingly. this rudimentary setup was able to produce a steady current for an extended period of time and has lead to what we now consider the modern battery.
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Inclement Italian Weather Refund
You'll never have to worry about inclement weather…
Inclement Italian Weather Refund
Many travelers have the misfortune of running into unforeseen circumstances on their trip. Sometimes this even requires a last minute change of hotel plans due to bad weather. Unfortunately, most hotels, especially in the United States are not very accommodating to these changes. However, you'll never have to worry about this happening if you vacation to the Italian island of Elba, off the coast of Tuscany.
The island’s beautiful beaches, gorgeous architecture, and delicious food was home to Napoleon Bonaparte when he was exiled from France in 1814 and is made up of slices of rocks which once formed part of the ancient Tethyan seafloor, but it does have a history of very inclement weather. Visitors of Elba can get a refund for their hotel stay if there’s too much rain while they’re there (more than 2 hours of a downpour during the day, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. local time).
It’s important to note that not every hotel on the island has adopted this refund policy. A full list of hotels who are participating in the "Elba No Rain" program can be found on the initiative’s website.
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The Best In Italian Street Art
The 400 mainly elderly residents openly embrace the thousands of visitors that arrive each June…
The Best In Italian Street Art
2019 will mark the fourth year of the CVTà Street Fest in Civitacampomara - a depopulated village in the Campobasso just under 200 km east of Rome.
Photo: Alessia di Rissio
The goal of CVTà Street Fest is to bring new life into the largely abandoned village. The 400 mainly elderly residents openly embrace the thousands of visitors that arrive each June. Festival-goes will be treated to 4 days of live mural painting, street art tours, live music, amongst many other arts based workshops.
Photo: WideWalls
The entire concept was brought to life In 2014 when Ylenia Carelli, president of Civitacampomarano's cultural organization, wrote to celebrated street artist, Alice Pasquini, inviting her to paint in the village not even knowing that Pasquini's grandfather was actually one of the village's 400 residents. While the town continues to see a decline in inhabitants, there are signs of change. A new ice-cream shop has opened, there’s an AirBnB in the town’s center, and more and more people are seen walking through Civitacampomarano as a result of the artistic spectacles put on by well known Italian and international street artists.
Travelers should note that the village is a 3.5-hour drive away from Rome, and can only be reached by car, so those relying on public transit in Rome will need to plan to rent a vehicle to attend the festival.
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The Return of Ancient Artifacts
This week, there will be a massive event in Beijing to showcase more than 700 Chinese cultural artifacts returned in March by Italian authorities…
The Return of Ancient Artifacts
This week, there will be a massive event in Beijing to showcase more than 700 Chinese cultural artifacts returned in March by Italian authorities at the National Museum of China in what has been the longest case of China tracking lost antiquities.
Photo: Artsy
The returned artifacts are well-preserved and in good condition as they were originally to be sold in Italy. As cultural superpowers, and the two countries have the highest number of UNESCO heritage sites, and have made bast efforts to preserve their culture. Items in the cache range from around 3,000 BCE to the early 20th century and includes significant artifacts like a Neolithic-era clay pot related to the ancient Majiayao culture, Song dynasty porcelain, and pottery from the Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties.
Photo: Global Times
Italy, however, is not the only country that has returned lost relics. The United States has also returned 391 cultural relics and are planning to hold a joint exhibition of repatriated cultural relics. Thankfully, there is no bad blood between the two countries as they will be working with the UNESCO World Heritage Convention to launch collaborative programs with the aim of enhancing exchanges in good practice, protection, promotion for cross-border asset protection.
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Why Italians Live So Long
Italians are far less likely to die from cancer and heart problems than their other European counterparts.
Why Italians Live So Long
Italy is known around the world for its healthy diet and lifestyle, so it comes as no surprise to hear it came second in a global index ranking countries worldwide on factors that contribute to the overall health of residents. Since 2008, the European Heart Network has found that despite the older profile of Italy's population Italians are far less likely to die from cancer and heart problems than their other European counterparts.
The index grades nations based on variables such as life expectancy and access to clean water and sanitation while subtracting points over risks such as tobacco use and obesity with the Mediterranean diet being at least partially responsible for Italy's high ranking on the list.
Researchers say eating habits may provide clues to health levels enjoyed by Spain and Italy, as a “Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than those assigned to a reduced-fat diet,” according to a study led by the University of Navarra Medical School.
Italy was beaten to first place by neighboring Spain in the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which ranks 169 economies worldwide. Currently the average life expectancy of Italian citizens is 83 years old.
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Italian Tourism Overload
Italy is amongst the most visited counties in Europe when it comes to tourist destinations and for yet another year, Rome has placed at the top of Italy's cultural destinations…
Italian Tourism Overload
Italy is amongst the most visited counties in Europe when it comes to tourist destinations and for yet another year, Rome has placed at the top of Italy's cultural destinations. In 2018 alone 15.2 million tourists visited the home of the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and the Colosseum. This represents an increase of 1.1 million tourists compared to the previous year and accounted for 64% of Rome's overnight visitors in 2018. The Colosseum alone attracted an average of 21,000 tourists a day in 2018.
One thing that happens to bewilder international visitors, however, is the city tax. In Rome, the authorities apply a city tax on all hotels which is charged and collected by your hotel. The tax requires a contribution of 4.00 Euros per person per night for 2 and 3 star hotels, 6.00 Euros per person per night for 4 star hotels and 7.00 Euros per person per night for 5 star hotels. While it may seem like an inconvenience, the Rome Tourist Tax is put toward maintenance and promotion of Rome in the tourism capacity. In 2016, the city of Rome raised €123 million from the tourist tax which has bolstered the wonderful tourist services and assistance, info points, and location materials.
Visitor numbers are only expected to keep growing, with 2019 set to be busier than ever for many of Italy's tourist hotspots and with it comes an added €41.3 billion to the Italian economy. This isn’t good news to everyone however, especially residents of these hotspots. Over-tourism in iconic Italian destinations has led to the introduction of measures like Venice charging an entry fee from this year, Florence recently banned snacking on its historic streets, and Rome has cracked down on obnoxious activities including pub crawls and cooling off in fountains. While the government has created initiatives such as the “Year of Villages” to get tourists off the beaten path, the best hope for well meaning travelers is that their counterparts continue to behave themselves.
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Health Conscious Italian Cuisine
An Italian restaurant has come up with a new tactic to keep health conscious diners snacking the night away…
Health Conscious Italian Cuisine
An Italian restaurant has come up with a new tactic to keep health conscious diners snacking the night away, and its not quite as simple as substituting the dressing on a side salad. Feva Restaurant in Castelfranco Veneto has perfected the art of fried air.
Yes, air.
Photo: Latestly
Known as 'Aria Fritta' in Italian, the eye-catching dish is designed to capture the essence of being outdoors and of inhaling fresh air. The crispy treats - which are also meant to represent the English expression 'full of hot air' - are actually made of tapioca skin which is boiled to make a batter before being baked and deep fried. After being thoroughly dried to remove the oil, the light batter shapes are then infused with low levels of the gas ozone for 10 minutes.
Nicola Dinato, head chef at Feva Restaurant, said: "Aria Fritta is a simple batter, tapioca and water which is oven-cooked and then deep-fried, Next, “Low levels of ozone are then infused to it and is immediately served on top of a cloud of cotton candy with blue salt powder and a vegan white sesame seed mayo…[and] the aim is to recall the fragrance of fresh air."
The rather unusual snack is offered to the surprise of guests as an appetizer and is completely free of charge.
He added: "Aria Fritta is idiomatic, an expression, the equivalent in english for 'full of hot air' like someone who's talking a lot, especially without saying anything of value or meaning.
Photo: Tellereport
"As we are living in an era in which the core values of life are been progressively replaced by frivolous and shallow contents without real meaning.
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