June 2017 Newsletter from Elizabeth in Rome

Jun 01, 2017

june 2017 newsletter

Remember my hissy fit back in April? About the new lighting campaign in Rome? I’m very happy to report back that when your hissy fit is shrill enough, it can effect change.

Due to public pressure the administration of Rome has back-tracked on the LED lighting project. In theory they will be taking the horrific new lights away, and installing something more in line with the soft glow of the original yellow lamps. They have also agreed to replace the original glass panels which had been removed. Evidently this turnaround was in large part due to the coverage of this issue by the foreign press, like the The New York Times, and The Telegraph. I'm very happy to say that my bitching and moaning about this issue, and sending out press releases to my colleagues here in Rome (and frankly nagging them to death about the issue) helped make this happen.

All this to say, that what you post and share does matter. Social media is not just all kittens and fake news. Yes, I use my 'platform' to share pictures of peonies, pizza and Pico. But I like to think that having any amount of followers on any sort of social media also comes with a responsibility to speak up when it matters. Even if I alienate a few people along the way (which I have) I like to think that at least in my little way I'm doing some good as well.

what's new

And speaking of news and social media....Remember when you signed up for this newsletter , I promised that I would offer you my best news first? Before I shared it on my blog or Facebook or Instagram or whatever? Well I’ve got some very exciting news that I’m sharing with you a day before it hits my blog. I’m very happy to announce that Melissa Clark will be coming to Rome in March 2018 to help me lead a Week in Rome tour. Just in case you don’t know her already, Melissa, a food writer and cookbook author, is staff reporter for the New York Time’s Food section, where she writes the popular column “A Good Appetite” and has just published her 38th (!) cookbook. Her cooking is informed by cuisines from all over the world, but no country - and it’s food - is dearer to her heart than Italy. I’ve been lucky to call Melissa a friend for about 20 years, and even luckier to have shared meals and kitchens with her up and down the boot.

If you’d like to know more about this Week in Rome with Melissa and me (and Sophie too!)(March 18-23, 2018) just send me an email. I’m pretty sure this tour will sell out quickly. Just saying.

But don’t worry, I still have room in our other Week in Italy tours for 2018 in both Rome and Umbria. You can find out more, including the dates, here.

travels

My travels researching both new books continues and this past month has been particularly busy.

My porchetta research has taken me from Umbria to Lazio. I was lucky enough to attend the yearly porchetta fest, Porchettiamo this year, in Umbria, and got to learn about - and sample - 10 different kinds of porchetta from different regions of Italy. I also made a return trip to Ariccia to visit old favorites as well as photograph porchetta eating in action for The Italian Dinner Party Handbook.

I also spent four food-filled days in and around Parma. Since I was with my friend Ari for part of the time, there was plenty of Parmigiano tasting. But I was mostly there to cook with local women and learn some of their recipes. The other thing I learned? That the local dialect is totally incomprehensible to me. It always surprises me how language can change so radically in only a few hundred kilometers. Which is also, not surprisingly, reflected in the food. Even if I didn’t quite understand the language, I did understand enough to learn certain dishes that are made only in one small village and no where else. The recipes will be coming in both new books, but in the meantime I’ve at least shared my best meals in Parma here.

I spent a few days in Bari helping Nonna turn 95. It was one of the few trips I’ve ever made to Bari where I didn’t eat any fish at all. That was because I was researching butchers and the meat dishes of the region. Sophie and I drove through the Valle d’Itria, visiting butchers and eating meat - both raw and grilled. We also spent a perfect afternoon in Alberobello. Although this fantasy like village of pointy topped buildings is almost always jam packed with tourists, since we were there on a Wednesday afternoon, between 2 and 4, we had the place almost to ourselves. If you do go, and I really think you should, make sure you plan accordingly.

I also went to Naples for 36 hours. And I just counted. 15 pizzas. Luckily I had help ‘researching’ from this talented young photographer. While you'll have to wait for my book and the new Eat Campania section of my app Eat Italy for the pizza details, I've just posted a few other types of Neopolitan snacks we loved. Also this lightening fast, pizza-filled trip made me realize that we should be offering day trips to Naples. The train takes only 1 hour and 15 minutes. Who wants to come?

what I'm reading

Everyone comes to Italy this time of year! And when I say everyone, I mean everyone from the Obamas to What's-his-name. I’m just going to ignore the last one, but I love the fact that Michelle made time for a gelato in Montalcino and they both managed to drink some of my favorite Italian wines.

I love when Pete Wells tackles bigger subjects beyond just restaurant reviews. This one about restaurant criticism in general, and Noma Mexico in particular, raised a lot of hackles. And this one talks about the word ‘hospitality.’

Don’t you love those articles that trace literary pilgrimages following in the steps of your favorite writers? Me too. Which is why I’m so happy to see this book.

More books to breeze through this summer

Italy is the healthiest country. Want to know why?

Is there such a thing as bad wine? Eric Asimov answers a question that really shouldn’t need to be asked.

Did anyone grow up on hard shell tacos? And are they still your secret vice?

And if you think the wines you like are all about the type of grape, it might be that you have a preference for a particular kind of dirt they grow in. For real.

Bidet? Or not to bidet? Is that really a question?

and finally....

Elizabeth’s Newsletter from Italy

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