Ok. We all know that Europe is just like the U.S., only slightly different. When we were here in 2011 I blogged about some of these differences. It’s time to add a few more to the list.
1. Italians peel their pesche, or peaches. When we were in Torre Orsina we noticed that everyone peeled the fuzzy skin off of their peaches before eating them. Their peaches are just like the ones in the U.S. with the same fuzz. They just don’t eat the skin. This doesn't apply to nectarines, only peaches.
1. Italians peel their pesche, or peaches. When we were in Torre Orsina we noticed that everyone peeled the fuzzy skin off of their peaches before eating them. Their peaches are just like the ones in the U.S. with the same fuzz. They just don’t eat the skin. This doesn't apply to nectarines, only peaches.
2. There are lots of rules that apply to cantaloupes, or melone. First, they always wash their melone before cutting them. Maybe this is a good practice. Next the melone is sliced a wedge at a time and must be cut along the ribs (the cantaloupes here have ribs between the net-like skin). Then you clean the seeds from each slice and cut off the skin before serving it (always with prosciutto). Cinzia was asked to cut melone twice when we visited Enrica, and both times she was corrected – once by Orsalina and later by Giulio. So, when you prepare a melone, there are steps to follow.
3. There are 3 types of cherries in Italy. We were familiar with amarena and ciliegia, but learned of a third type called visciole. This seems to be the most sought after cherry. These smaller cherries are only prepared in one manner. The visciole are placed in a contained with sugar and left in the sun for 2 weeks. Then the liquid is either drank straight or added to red vine to produce “vino e visciole”.
4. The word for grandson/granddaughter and nephew/niece is the same word: nipote. At first glance this doesn't make any sense. As Cinzia was discussing my ancestry, trying to fill in blanks in the family tree, she wasn’t always 100% sure if someone was referring to someone as their grandchild or a child of one of their siblings. So, why the same word? I offer this explanation: you are equally related to your grandchild as you are to a nephew or niece. I hadn’t thought about relatedness all that much until reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Maybe this is why Italians use the same word.
Here’s the math. Your child will inherit ½ of your genes, or unique DNA. Your child will pass on ½ of their unique DNA to your grandchild. Half or half leaves your grandchild with ¼ of your unique DNA. Now for the nephew/niece. A father will pass along ½ of his unique DNA to each of his children. Since you never know which half you’ll receive, siblings share, on average, ¼ of dad’s unique DNA. A sibling will pass along half of this to their child, so your nephew/niece will share 1/8 of your unique DNA on your father’s side. This same math applies to your mother’s side adding another 1/8 to equal ¼. So, you’re grandchildren as well as your nephews/nieces, share ¼ of your unique DNA (I use the term “unique DNA” because, as you know, most human DNA is identical – even 99% of our DNA is identical to lab mice).
5. When it comes to food, there is no limit to the number of steps or time it takes to produce something delicious. We watched a TV program about a small village in Italy. They produced a type of raisin. Here are the steps involved:
1. Dig a pit into a hillside that is 2m deep and about 0.5m wide with a notch for a fire just under the pit and line everything in cement.
2. Harvest a specific type of wild herb grown in the surrounding hills.
3. Start a fire with some of these herbs until all that remains are the thicker stalks.
4. Cut the charred stalks to length to line the bottom of the pit and top with the reserved fresh herbs.
5. Harvest the grapes and string the bunches on 2 meter lines.
6. Fill the pit with red wine and light the fire to bring the wine to a boil.
7. Dunk each string of grapes into the boiling wine for 10-15 seconds until the skins burst.
8. Hang each string of grapes in the sun to dry.
9. Harvest some cedro fruit, along with its leaves. Cedro is the fruit used to make citron for fruit cakes.
10. Peel the cedro and cut the skin into small cubes the size of raisins.
11. Once the grapes have dried to raisins, pick the raisins from the vines.
12. Make a pouch with several of the cedro leaves and fill it with equal parts raisins and diced cedro peel, and seal with a strip of leave.
13. Put several of these pouches into a basket and smoke them over a fire made from cedro branches.
14. Once the pouches cool, unwrap the raisins and eat them.
3. There are 3 types of cherries in Italy. We were familiar with amarena and ciliegia, but learned of a third type called visciole. This seems to be the most sought after cherry. These smaller cherries are only prepared in one manner. The visciole are placed in a contained with sugar and left in the sun for 2 weeks. Then the liquid is either drank straight or added to red vine to produce “vino e visciole”.
4. The word for grandson/granddaughter and nephew/niece is the same word: nipote. At first glance this doesn't make any sense. As Cinzia was discussing my ancestry, trying to fill in blanks in the family tree, she wasn’t always 100% sure if someone was referring to someone as their grandchild or a child of one of their siblings. So, why the same word? I offer this explanation: you are equally related to your grandchild as you are to a nephew or niece. I hadn’t thought about relatedness all that much until reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Maybe this is why Italians use the same word.
Here’s the math. Your child will inherit ½ of your genes, or unique DNA. Your child will pass on ½ of their unique DNA to your grandchild. Half or half leaves your grandchild with ¼ of your unique DNA. Now for the nephew/niece. A father will pass along ½ of his unique DNA to each of his children. Since you never know which half you’ll receive, siblings share, on average, ¼ of dad’s unique DNA. A sibling will pass along half of this to their child, so your nephew/niece will share 1/8 of your unique DNA on your father’s side. This same math applies to your mother’s side adding another 1/8 to equal ¼. So, you’re grandchildren as well as your nephews/nieces, share ¼ of your unique DNA (I use the term “unique DNA” because, as you know, most human DNA is identical – even 99% of our DNA is identical to lab mice).
5. When it comes to food, there is no limit to the number of steps or time it takes to produce something delicious. We watched a TV program about a small village in Italy. They produced a type of raisin. Here are the steps involved:
1. Dig a pit into a hillside that is 2m deep and about 0.5m wide with a notch for a fire just under the pit and line everything in cement.
2. Harvest a specific type of wild herb grown in the surrounding hills.
3. Start a fire with some of these herbs until all that remains are the thicker stalks.
4. Cut the charred stalks to length to line the bottom of the pit and top with the reserved fresh herbs.
5. Harvest the grapes and string the bunches on 2 meter lines.
6. Fill the pit with red wine and light the fire to bring the wine to a boil.
7. Dunk each string of grapes into the boiling wine for 10-15 seconds until the skins burst.
8. Hang each string of grapes in the sun to dry.
9. Harvest some cedro fruit, along with its leaves. Cedro is the fruit used to make citron for fruit cakes.
10. Peel the cedro and cut the skin into small cubes the size of raisins.
11. Once the grapes have dried to raisins, pick the raisins from the vines.
12. Make a pouch with several of the cedro leaves and fill it with equal parts raisins and diced cedro peel, and seal with a strip of leave.
13. Put several of these pouches into a basket and smoke them over a fire made from cedro branches.
14. Once the pouches cool, unwrap the raisins and eat them.