Italy Travel Tips Form a Local

Close to 50million tourists annually visit Italy, coming from all over the world. Italians know and profit from this, and are accustomed to travelers coming to their home land to admire la grande bellezza.

Locals are generally polite and patient (unless they're driving some sort of powered vehicle) and they will most likely go out of their way to help stranded stranieri, whether these be visitors or expatriates.

But there are however some things that foreigners should know when headed for the boot-shaped peninsula. We've singled out 15, between travel safety pointers, and general Italy travel common sense.

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Intercontinental air travel with kids

"Single mothers or those traveling alone with small children: please come to the front of the line for immediate boarding."

What was that? Did the voice coming through the speakers just say 'single mothers?' The two of us, toddler and I hobble along, boarding passes clenched between teeth and stuffed, life-size Labrador Retriever tucked underarm. The laptop in my backpack weighs like bricks, the handbag strap either burrows a gash or relentlessly slides off my shoulder as I walk doubled up, rolling along my son's Spiderman trolley...

Continue Reading ➔ Complete Guide to Flying with Children

Cook pasta a dente!

In Italy, overcooking pasta is a sin, period. Al dente, which literally means "to the tooth," as in, "how does it feel to the tooth," stands for the correct point of cooking hardness. The opposite of al dente isn't some version of normal; it's soft or overdone.

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Detox after the holiday binge

Taken as a whole, the Italian holiday menu can defeat an elephant.

The food come initiation ritual begins as early as December 8th, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, with mugs of hot chocolate and doppia panna (double cream). Less than a week later comes Santa Lucia, she of the traditional buttery biscuits.

But Mission Impossible opens its real run on Christmas Eve, and continues through New Year's...

After the abuse, there's always a time of abdominal repose and deep repentance. But instead of fasting and making resolutions that involve promising never again to ingest anything other than liquids, I recommend you follow my "Big Eater's post-Feste Detox Ground Rules."

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How to buy fresh fish

The one weak spot in seafood is its perishable nature. Already after few hours from being caught, the heinous action of enzymes and microorganisms begins to attack fish. This more so during torrid summer months, when the high temperatures hasten the alteration process. It is however not impossible to identify truly fresh fish.

As handed down by expert fisherman, old family friend and Positano sea authority Salvatore Capraro, here is a checklist of what you should always consider when buying your beautiful fresh pesce.

• Rigidity: when holding a fish horizontally by the head, the body should never fall limp, rather maintain a somewhat stiff condition. 

• Firmness: flesh should appear solid yet elastic to the touch. A good trick is to press a finger gently on the fleshy part: the trademark of freshness is if the dent disappears almost immediately.

• Eyes: fish eyes must be alive, shiny, convex and rounded to the outside. An eye that is sunken or flat, opaque and dull looking means the fish has been dead for a long time.

• Skin: must appear lustrous and well taut. Scales, if present, should remain well attached to the body, even when lightly stroked in opposite growth direction. Furthermore, in extremely fresh fish, the entire body is usually shrouded by a thin and translucent organic film.

• Gills: should always be pinkish-red, intact, clasped shut and laced with transparent mucus. If the fish has a blowhole or nostrils, they should always be found tightly closed too.

• Belly: the abdomen of the fish is the part that contains all the entrails, and which is the easiest to alter. If that should happen in a fish, the belly would result flaccid or swollen. A fresh fish's belly is instead turgid and flexible.

• Smell: Extremely fresh fish smells like the sea. A salty, marine fragrance. The aroma should be subtle and never unpleasant.

• Fins & Tail: must be in perfect condition, never frayed.

When buying squid, octopus or calamari, the best way to judge the tentacled creature's freshness is by closely examining its appearance.

• Color: It should always be bright and clear. After a few days, colors fade and become opaque, and in the central "belly" areas, the flesh acquires a yellowish-gray tone. Three to four days from the catch, cephalopode skin begins to form new colors, initially in small specks, then extending to larger body areas in various shades of pink, all the way to a burgundy wine color. At this point, the mollusk is no longer edible.

The role of seafood in the Italian diet has always been very important. Devoted Catholics eat fish on Fridays and all days of penitence, for example all during Lent.

Most large cities in the past had fishmongers to meet this demand, but there were also traveling fish merchants who, on their itinerary, covered those towns too small to support a specialized fish store. Globalization has wiped out this custom almost completely.

Many local pescivendoli and pescivendole – Italian for fishmongers and fishwives – are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting and selling their marine product.

You can read more about surviving neighborhood fishmongers like Signor Mastroianni pictured above, in the article I contributed to The Travel Belles.

Eco-friendly household and beauty tips

A few weeks ago I held an Italian Language Class in the Kitchen, in which I shared some common Italian culinary terms with annotated translations. Seeing it was such a huge success, I thought another informative article could tickle you to the kitchen.

Here are a few enviroment-friendly tips, common homemaker knowledge and typical Italian make-do-with-what's-in-the-house practical philosophy.

• To expunge foul smells in the refrigerator (main culprits usually are lemons, cut onions and cheese that have gone off), place a glass filled with baking soda in a back corner of the middle section of your refrigerator. Revive its beneficial odor-absorbing qualities by stirring weekly. 
• Every day wear and tear can cause your alluminum-clad pots and pans to blacken. A natural remedy to help them regain lustre is boiling apple skins and rhubarb leaves in the pots. Results are surprising.  
• The best way to avoid your potatoes from budding is putting a Granny Smith apple in their basket. 
• Vinegar can break the lime build-up around the faucets in your sink, and maintaining your iron’s pressing performance. 
• To polish your wood surfaces, blend 1 cup raw linseed oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 10 drops lemon essential oil; and store in a clean glass bottle. Shake well and apply to all wood surfaces with a soft rag. Acts as a fabulous dust magnet too! 
• I don’t use chemicals to wash my windows, I instead spritz them with a solution of hot water and lemon juice, and then dry them off with old newspapers. 
• Did you know that the acidity in curdled milk that's gone bad is excellent to shine silver? Or that yougurt passed its expiry date works perfectly to buff brass? Just rinse surfaces very well after polishing! 
• Worried about your child handling engineered chemicals when playing Matisse and leaving lovely handprints all over your walls? Make your own paint! Mix together 1 cup cornstarch, with some cold water to dilute. Add this to 3 cups of hot water, stirring swiftly to avoid lumps. Boil until thick and clear and then add desired food coloring and an optional tablespoon of glycerin (for gloss). Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator! 
• I go on and on about garlic's medicinal properties in Love Letter to the Bulb.
• Honey is a natural moisturizer, skin nutrient and excellent scar tissue ointment. 
• Rub your gums with a fresh sage leaf, this will prevent gum bleeding and strengthen the dental collar around your pearly whites. 
• Nature’s best skin care antioxidant against free radicals? Extra virgin olive oil! I began using it scrubbed with a soft brush on evening skin before bedtime; and I’ve never suffered T-zone oiliness since! 

• Cleanse the house from toxins and poisons with plants. Certain plants are even capable of absorbing air pollutants and electromagnetic fields! Combat formaldehyde (commonly found in household foam insulation, modern sofas, carpets, floor coverings cleaning agents and cigarette smoke) with plenty of Poinsettia, Lattuce, Chrysanthemums and Philodendron around the house. You can reduce Benzene absorption (responsible for ear, nose and throat mucus membrane irritation, and nerve and skin sensiblity) by scattering potted Peace lily, Sweetpea, English ivy and weeping fig in every room. Place a large cactus or a bowl of prickly pears near your computer to minimize the devastating effect of electromagnetic fields generated by electrical equipment, power sockets, power cables, and elecrticity meters. We web and iPhone addicts should beware. Purportedly these could be the cause of thumping headaches, menstrual disorders, infertility, miscarriages, skin rashes and depression... 

What are your best food-employing tips?

Image credits: Shutterstock - The Knot

What not to cook for picky guests

I haven't blogged in a while and I've missed it. But the thing I have done the least is cook, let alone have friends over for dinner. I am finally back in a less remote part of Abruzzi and I have moved into a sweet little attic in the centro storico, where I will soon be entertaining guests and colleagues for delicious meals. Can't wait to get my stove fired up and my pots and pans rocking over the flames.

But when inviting relatively new friends over for a meal, the good host has to keep in mind that not all guests share the same tastes, obviously. Not all the folks I'll be having over in my place are hearty soup fans, or carnivores like me. Not all may love raw fish or offal. Some will cringe at the sight of squid ink risotto, and some will be suspicious before liver crostini and octopus.

So I've decided to make out a list. An index of the most off-limits foods to serve at a meal. When designing the menu for a diverse group of guests, one must take into consideration many elements. Seasons of course, and locality of the foods served. But also ethical choices, idiosyncrasies, whims and food trends. The best part of a meal with friends is seeing the smiles on their faces as they mop the remnants of sauce from their plate. That's a sure sign of a culinary success.

Here are a few things you should avoid cooking for your pickiest friends.
Lamb. Subject to culinary and ethical foibles. If you're in Italy around Easter, it's another story.

Eel. Are you up to cutting them up alive? That's how it's done apparently. And decapitating them won't work because the nervous system keeps the chopped parts jolting for a further 15 minutes.

Lobster. Your guest will be aware that you have tossed them alive and screaming into boiling water. Consider that.

Carbonara. Very easy dish but so hard to prepare well. The danger between "raw scrambled eggs" and "quick setting cement" effect is a very fine line. Especially if you're planning to make it for more than 4 people.

Horse meat. Seriously, would anyone ever serve horse meat at a dinner? Don't think so.

Brains. Delicious deep fried veal brains are best eaten at the reaturant. Serving them for dinner at home flirts with cannibalism.

Cucumber. Strangely very unpopular.

Rabbit. The British have a huge problem with rabbit. For them it's a pet, for us Italians it would be like serving cat stew.

Liver. Vegetarians keel over at the table, hygene integralists object to it being the filter of all the chemicals fed to cattle, others still haven't gotten over the childhood shock of the first bite. It is also very difficult to cook: if served rare it is bloody and horrific, if well-done, too leathery.

Shellfish. Many are allergic.

Snails. I love the way the French prepare them, but that's me...

Raw fish. Harder to prepare than cooked fish. When deciding for a plate of "crudo" one must consider its absolute freshness, one's own carving ability, the correct serving temperature, which kind of fish to purchase, etc.

Frogs. Many of your guests have played with them when they were children. Some other romantic and optimistic may have even kissed one.

Kidneys. Cooking them requires the utmost expertise. And in case of failure, the outcome is a horrible taste of... well, urine. Eww!

Octopus. Tentacles freak people out, especially non-Mediterraneans.

Veal. The cruelty to the calves has made it very hard for folks to eat veal. But not here. The Italian farming industry is different, no chaining, no force feeding, no horror.

I'm making a nice plate of spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino tonight. Shall I count you in?