25/8/2011 0 Comments Italian Film FestivalIt is that time of the year again! The Italian film festival in Sydney will start on the 15th of September! How exciting!!! The movie that will open the festival is Benvenuti al Sud( Welcome to the South) which is an Italian take on the French movie Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks) I watched this movie few months ago and loved it! It describes the rivalry between the north and the south in a very light and funny way. We will talk more about this movie in the next few weeks but in the meantime have a look at the programme and see if there ‘s anything you would like to watch. We will soon post the “Not to miss“ movies with our comments and reviews. http://www.italianfilmfestival.com.au/sessions/
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The 15th of August in Italy is a public day and we celebrate Ferragosto. I love this day, probably because it is on my favorite season of the year, but also because it brings me back in time with beautiful memories of my youth when I used to be at the sea with my family! We used to go to “Romagna” in the Adriatic in a place called Cesenatico. I spent great holidays there and certainly not because of the beautiful beaches or sea (I still remember the smell of the seaweed, yuck); it was more about the atmosphere, the people, the games with my new friends and the first nights out, when a little bit older, mum and dad used to let me go out till midnight! WoW!! I even gave my first kiss in Cesenatico!! Yury….Okay,okay now I am probably giving too many details! :-) What I want to talk about is Ferragosto and the reason why we celebrate it! I am sure that if you asked to 10 Italians the meaning of this day, just 1 or 2 people would give you the right answer! Quite bad really, particularly considering it is a religious festivity and we are a Catholic country!
So, what is Ferragosto? On this day we commemorate the ”Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the real physical elevation of her sinless soul and incorrupt body, into Heaven”. This day was proclaimed by Papa Pio XII in the 1950. I am not sure about the reason why He picked this day but we can go back a bit more in the past and see that this day has also a pagan origin; infect, the name Ferragosto derives from its original Latin name Feriae Augusti ("Festivals of the Emperor Augustus") and it was not just a day celebration but the entire month that Augustus proclaimed as the month of leisure. I find extremely interesting to see that we have retained such an old tradition and that for us August is still the “holiday month”. I guess Augustus is a real example of a great man who knew how to build an empire but also knew how to enjoy life! Bravo Cesare!!! It is Thursday; the day I don’t run all around Sydney like a “pazza” to see my students. The day my scooter has a break, I work from home and do all the many things I never get to do during the rest of the week.
The sun is shining and I start my day with a Pilates session in order to get some energy back but also to get some core strength, very much needed for my beloved Beach volleyball. The session is great, but I am struggling a bit and I leave with a bad mood which is unusual for me. I go to do the groceries, (the fridge is crying), get some healthy food which, I think, it should help my physical and mind state. With the bags full of veggies and good stuff I feel a bit better and I head home. That’s good, the fridge is now smiling and what I need to do is just to prepare a light and healthy lunch! All good until all my healthy intensions suddenly change and for a much unknown reason, a word comes to my mind: CARBONARA! Carbonara! I don’t know why but I can’t think about anything else and the desire of this dish doesn’t leave me in peace till the point I have to start cooking! It is definitely not the healthiest dish ever but I can guarantee it made me feel much better. My bad mood? Evanished! Here’s the link of the recipe from Giallo Zafferano website. There is also some interesting information about the history of it. It is all in Italian but there is the video which shows everything quite clearly. http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Spaghetti-alla-Carbonara.html Try it and let me know how you feel after you had it! Talk again soon, Jessica Italian translations Cose che mi fanno star meglio nei giorni no. Prima parte. È giovedi, il giorno in cui non corro in giro per Sydney come una matta per vedere I miei studenti. Il giorno in cui il mio scooter si riposa, io lavoro da casa e faccio tutte quelle cose che non riesco a fare durante il resto della settimana. Il sole splende, inizio la giornata con una lezione di pilates per riacquistare le energie ma anche per acquisire un po’ di forza , elemento assolutamente necessario per la mia amata Beach volley. La lezione è fantastica ma piuttosto dura e quando esco sono di mal umore che è alquanto insolito per me. Vado a fare la spesa, (il frigo piange), compro cibo sano che penso dovrebbe aiutare il mio stato fisico e mentale. Con le borse piene di verdure e altre cose buone mi sento un po’ meglio e vado a casa. Benissimo, ora il frigo sorride e ciò che devo fare è solamente preparare un buon pasto, sano e leggero! Tutto bene fino a quando le mie buone intenzioni improvvisamente cambiano e per un incomprensibile ragione, mi viene in mente una parola: CARBONARA! Non so come e non so perché ma non riesco a pensare ad altro e il desiderio di questo piatto tipico italiano non mi lascia in pace e inizio a cucinare. Certo non è sicuramente uno dei piatti più sani ma posso assicurarvi che mi ha fatto molto bene e il mio cattivo umore? Svanito! :-) Ecco il link della ricetta dal sito di Giallo Zafferano . Ci sono anche informazioni sull’origine del piatto. È solo in italiano ma c'e' anche il video che spiega chiaramente il procedimento. Provatelo e fatemi sapere come vi sentite dopo averla mangiata!:-) A presto, Jessica 6/8/2011 0 Comments Beginners 1 |
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