It’s been a busy few weeks but I hope to post more frequently before our trip to Italy in July.  I’m sure there are many of you getting ready to vacation soon and I’m certain several of you are heading to Italy as well.  It’s often difficult to brainstorm  on what gifts to bring to your Italian friends and family and what to bring back to your loved ones from Italy.  We always want to bring back gifts that you can’t easily find here in the States… which now a days is a difficult task!

If you’re headed to Venice, a Venetian Mask makes a great gift! I have several Venetian masks, which are wonderful to use as decoration or as an easy and classy costume.  I have used mine several times as a Halloween costume.  So, if your travel plans include Venice this summer, make sure to pick up a few Venetian masks!  Oh, your not going to Venice this summer?? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you!  Italyville has teamed up with 1001VenetianMasks.com to give away a $50 gift certificate towards a purchase of one of their masks.  They have a great selection of beautiful masks on their website, so make sure to head over and take a look.

Me with my Venetian Mask on Halloween

One of my favorites!

Here’s what you need to do to win the $50 gift certificate.

• You need to leave a comment on this post
• And either retweet this post (upper right corner of the post) or mention the giveaway with a link on your blog or facebook page.

You need to do both… if you don’t have a blog of your own or a facebook or twitter account… get one, they are all free!   You have until (updated: extended until Friday June 18th at 5pm EST.)  1001 Venetian Masks only ships in the US, so if you win and are not in the US you can give the gift certificate away to someone you know who does.  I’ll be choosing a winner at random.  Good luck!

One of the most unique and beautiful tourist attractions in Calabria in my opinion is, “la Chiesetta Di Piedigrotta” in Pizzo Calabro. Pizzo Calabro is a picturesque fishing town on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria and la Chiesetta Di Piedigrotta is actually located on the road into town on the SS 522, about 4km from the “Pizzo Calabro” exit off the Autostrada A3.

Legend has it that in the mid 1600s a ship was sailing off the coast of Pizzo Calabro with a crew of sailors when they encountered a violent storm.  The captain, sure that the ship would not survive the storm gathered his crew and prayed to the Madonna promising that if they survived the ordeal that they would build a church in her honor.  The ship was destroyed on the reef but the captain and crew reached the shore unharmed.  The sailors kept their promise and built an alter in an existing cave on the shore where local stone-cutters mining blocks of tufo (tuff or tufa) would take refuge from the rain.

Over the years, local artists and stone-cutters would continue to carve statues and scenes in the cave.  La Chiesetta Di Piedigrotta is carved entirely of tufo/tuff stone and is situated on the shore… high tides sometimes reach inside la Chiesetta.  It is an amazing site that shouldn’t be missed if you visit Calabria.  Entry to La Chiesetta Di Piedigrotta used to be free but they now charge 3 Euro.  Tickets can be purchased at the bar on the road above la Chiesetta (make sure to buy your tickets before walking down the long trail that leads to it!!)  For more information, visit the website www.chiesettadipiedigrotta.it

For other attractions in Calabria check out Cherrye’s post at My Bella Vita  Five Great Things to See in Calabria.

I’ve made lots of friends through sopressata… I really have.  My father has been offered money, a friend wants to feature it in a future restaurant he is opening and one of my Irish buddies has somehow gotten “in” and now chips in financially and helps make them in order to get a share… in turn, he has friends that work on his motorcycle in exchange for a sopressata!  It’s comedy but it’s also delicious and one of southern Italy’s culinary delights. (Click here for more details on the process)

My father is a sopressata connoisseur of sorts.  In his own way, he studies the art of making it.  He tries different techniques, tinkers with the process, adds new ingredients/levels of ingredients and over the years it seems to have worked out well as we have managed to take home First Place at the “World Sopressata Championship” for the last 5 years running! (I’m kidding.. there’s no such thing.)

My brother and I have our own opinions on how and how much of course, so they have also been getting more and more “piccante” (spicy hot!) over the years.  This year we have a very controversial NEW process that the professore introduced : dry packing them instead of sotto olio (submerged/preserved in oil) Go figure?!  So far so good… they are ready to eat and the verdict is in: FIRST PRIZE once again!!

One of the best things about coming back from Italy is bringing back your favorite Italian snacks… mostly for yourself but also to share with others who have never tried them and get their feedback.  Here are some of my favorites Italian snacks that I brought back from my recent trip.

• Italian Nutella… you can find it here but not in the drinking glass package (and certainly not with Kung Fu Panda!)  How many Italian families have a cabinet full of Nutella glasses?
• Fonzies… if you haven’t had Fonzies, you don’t know what you’re missing. WARNING: more addictive than CRACK.
• Kinder – and all the chocolaty variations.. the hazelnut filled crunchy cookie ones are my favorite!
• Brasilena – The ONLY coffee soda worth drinking… it’s awesome! and only found in Calabria. I had to leave my six pack of glass bottles behind because it wouldn’t fit in my luggage.  DAMN YOU LUGGAGE!
• Guglielmo Coffee – my favorite espresso, also made in Calabria.
• Vecchio Amaro del Capo – an amaro from Capo Vaticano… delicious! especially when served ICE COLD.

What are some of your favorite snacks and brands from Italy?

Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is like “French Wine” or “Swiss Chocolate” or “German Cars”… Italy isn’t the largest producer of Olive Oil (Spain is) but Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is in its own class… not to take anything away from any other country as there is certainly high quality products elsewhere, possibly superior (let’s not get crazy) but we’re talking about marketing and image not facts.

In much of Italy, olive oil is produced from small family groves where they care for their own trees, pick their own olives and bring them to local mills to produce their oil.  Many families only produce enough olive oil for personal use but larger groves may also have additional oil to sell.

The small mills that are very common throughout the south (as I’m sure they are in other areas as well) press the olives for area farmers and in turn will take payment in cash or in oil.  Pretty straight forward right?

The mills that have accepted payment in oil now have a good amount of oil that they need to sell, so they call or are called upon by wholesalers.  The mills will watch the market price of oil and hold onto it if it is low, sell it if it is high (the market game.) Once they decide to sell, the wholesaler shows up with a truck, sucks up the oil and takes it away… simple right?  The problem is, there is only one “wholesaler” in our area of Calabria…. you would think there would be some competition wouldn’t you? NOPE.  Is it surprising? NOPE… but that’s another story.

This wholesaler is from another region of Italy, so after he sucks the “life” out of Calabria (or parts of it at least) he returns to his region where the company either sells it in bulk or bottles it or mixes it with seed oil or takes a bath in it… it doesn’t really matter at that point.  So the wonderful oil that is produced in Calabria and other areas of the south is taken away to other regions and sold as “their oil”… so in the eyes of the world, the best olive oil is made where? I would guess that most people would say Tuscany… not because the world has tasted Tuscany’s local oil (which is wonderful) but because the south, which is the leading producer of olive oil in Italy is supplying the company’s based in Tuscany with oil to sell to the world.  I would love to say that I’m upset that southern Italy isn’t getting recognized but to be honest I’d rather not have the world know because by the time they actually taste that bottle of olive oil it may be mixed with Spanish oil, Turkish oil, Greek oil, hazelnut oil or maybe even motor oil!

So the moral of the story is, no matter what region’s olive oil you prefer: buy local or buy from a small company that supports local farmers and you’ll taste a world of difference.

It’s timeless, it’s beautiful and it’s the foundation of Italian cuisine.  With its silver/green leaves, its fruit and the oil it produces… the olive tree is nothing short of AMAZING.   What’s not to love about the olive tree?    It is referenced throughout history, religion and sports and used as a symbol of peace and glory.  The olive oil industry is one of Calabria’s largest industries producing some of the worlds best oil (I’m a bit biased of course but it is also true.)  The variety that is native to Calabria and most predominant is the Carolea (aka Catanzarese-Nicastrese) As I’ve mentioned before, my family has a large olive grove and an olive mill in Calabria.  It’s interesting to learn the ins and outs of the olive oil industry especially from a marketing standpoint and the impact that it has on so many families. In my next post I’ll dig deeper into the industry.

The season had just ended when I arrived but the work hasn’t as the trees need pruning, the mill needs cleaning and before you know it… another season will begin.

A few forgotten

Olive trees as far as the eye can see

My birth name is Peppino… so I fall under Giuseppe and get the phone calls wishing me a Happy San Giuseppe every year. For Italians, your saint day is like your birthday.  Zeppole are THE treat on San Giuseppe.  What’s better than Zeppole you may ask?  Chocolate covered Zeppole of course!!  Complements of my sis and brother-in-law at Giovanni’s.