The Big Cheese
Tuesday October 7, 2008
The New York Times, in an article titled "Mozzarella, an Unlikely Star, Opens in Midtown," notes that "After more than a year of construction and red tape, the latest installment of Obikā, which opened its first mozzarella bar in Rome four years ago, will open on Sept. 22 in the sculpture garden of 590 Madison Avenue, the former I.B.M. building, between 56th and 57th Streets."
In what amounts to a mini-lesson on mozzarella (a DOP-designated cheese), the writer enumerates these cheesy delicacies:
burrata: a ball of mozzarella with a soft center of cream and stracciatelle, or "little rags" of mozzarella left over from the mozzarella-making process
burricotti: ricotta-filled mozzarella
scamorza: smoked mozzarella dipped in wax to lock in the flavor
ovalini: three-and-a-half-ounce balls
bocconcini: mini mozzarella balls
The word mozzarella, in fact, is thought to derive from the verb mozzare—to cut or chop off (in this case, the working of the cheese). And a mozzarellone is a giant mozzarella. The term, which includes the augmentative ending -one, is a type of nomi alterati.
Scandalo Italiano
Sunday October 5, 2008
Given the plethora of Italian scandals both recent and current (Tangentopoli, Calciopoli, the garbage crisis in Napoli, and the mozzarella dioxin scare, to name just a few) you might think Scandalo Italiano was a rap sheet listing disgraceful misconduct and moral outrage in Italian politics, sports, and public health. In fact, it's dedicated to just one current scandal: The inability of the Italian government to successfully launch a Italian tourist Web site after spending five years, and with a budget of more than 45 million, to create the portal.
There's nothing yet to show for all that time and money—the Web site www.italia.it is currently non-functioning. And given that over the past several years the country has lost ground as a tourist destination to France, Spain, the U.S., and China, it has to be frustrating to those in the Italian tourism industry to witness a missed business opportunity—think of such branding successes as I Love New York, 100% Pure New Zealand, and Espaņa. The litany of ineptitude, incompetence, and idiocy, as chronicled by Scandalo Italiano, should make Italian tourism professionals, government watchdog groups, and Internet Web site developers alike all cringe.
Ad, Od, e(d) Ed
Thursday October 2, 2008
La d eufonica (the euphonic d) is an euphonic (agreeable in sound; pleasing to the ear) phenomenon, in both spoken and written Italian, in which the letter
d is appended to the words
a (to, at, in),
e (and), and
o (or) when the following word begins with a vowel.
Tuesday September 30, 2008
Č qui. Il nuovo iPhone 3G. Oltre 1,000 incredibili applicazioni pronte per il vostro iPhone.
If you're one of the many iPhone owners who have been part of iPhone mania, there's another reason to fare il tifo (support, cheer on). You can learn Italian with iPhone apps! Several iPhone apps for Italian language learners include audio phrasebooks and English-Italian dictionaries. A few Italian language newspaper feeds have been optimized for the iPhone platform too (not technically iPhone apps, but nonetheless a great way to use the iPhone as a learning device), and there is even a poem-of-the-day in Italian and English. And one other way to use the iPhone to learn Italian—try changing the interface to Italian commands.
