Missing Italy, Missing Fabrizio



Fig.1. I love this man. No it's not what you think, I love Fabrizio because he feeds me, usually food I've never had before. Culatello from Zibello, Lardo from one of his neighbours, or an obscure cheese from Sardinia, this man is has it all.

Just back from a three week trip to Italy, and beside the jet lag, I’m finding it hard to re-adjust to my Montreal routine; it’s as if with every visit to Italy I leave a piece of myself behind. I keep thinking about the markets. The markets in Italy are wonderful: they hark back to another time. And while their primary function is economically based, the Italian market unearths a sense of informal community void in the West. Spontaneous episodes of conversation, usually about politics or soccer, which always get heated but always end with a laugh (usually). This sense of community is something anthropologist, Victor Turner refers to a Communitas: The power of a common experience in an unstructured community where people are equals.
I know it’s been awhile since my last post and I apologize, I’ve been on a rut since I returned—I really, really miss the food. Have a look at the pictures and join me in my sulk.


Fig.2. Baccala at the markets are sold with bones and without.

Fig.3. Saturday market in Ceprano. The produce in baskets indicates that it was grown from a local source, otherwise known as "personalized consumption." In small town Italy, eating local is not a catch phrase, it's the norm.

Fig.4. Saturday morning in Ceprano.

Fig.4. Artichokes, stems and all, are now in season in Italy, and in abundance.

Fig.5. Sfusato lemons from the Amalfi coast. The white flesh is sweet, these lemons are used to make limoncello

Fig.6. Campo Di Fiore market in Rome, opened every morning.

Fig.7. Cured sausages, at the market in Col Felice.

Fig.8. Bigger is sometime better, these prosciutto were the biggest I've ever seen. Fabrizio cuts me a few slices by hand; many Italians are not fans of the automatic slicer.

Fig.9. Olives and salted sardines. The fish are rinsed in water, deboned, and packed in oil.

Fig.10. Again, sometimes size does matter, these specimens gave me zucchini envy.