On the hunt for the best gelato

Posted on August 27, 2020 by babbityjean

As more and more gelato shops, gelaterie, open in the United States, we need to learn from Italy how to distinguish the real thing from fake or poor-quality gelato and also from ice cream.  In general, authentic Italian gelato has less fat and sugar compared to ice cream and it is churned at a slower speed so that less air is incorporated.  While it seems counter-intuitive to Americans, gelato has a denser texture than ice cream and is served at a higher temperature.  What is obvious to Italians is that gelato has a more intense and natural flavor.

Here are some tips and observations to help you find the best, starting from the outside of the store and working in.  First, in Italy, in particular, where there is a gelateria in every piazza, you want to avoid a tourist trap.  One clue is the big cardboard cut-out of a cone with a long list of flavors.  Generally, the best places are known by word-of-mouth.  In the summertime, look for long lines rather than marketing appeals to tourists.  Next, check out the signs inside the store.  Italian gelaterie are required to display their ingredients, and the best are proud to do so; American shops should do this as well.  Fresh, natural ingredients are a prerequisite for quality.  If you see vegetable oil or artificial colors or flavors, keep moving.

Next, check out the gelato containers.  Plastic tubs do not keep the gelato at the appropriate temperature.  Flat, metal tins are much better.  Lids indicate that the gelato is being carefully kept at the right temperature and that quality is more important than wooing customers with colors and decorations.  Also, flat, metal spades are better tools to serve the denser-textured gelato than traditional American curved ice cream scoops. According to my friends, Cesare and Agnese Maganzani, owners of the award-winning La Gelateria Loggetta in Mantua, “most gelaterie in Italy use open containers to attract the attention of both children and adults, which probably increases impulse sales.  But air ruins the consistency of the gelato in an hour or so.  It is better to serve the gelato in covered containers in a refrigerated counter that is maintained at less than 52 degrees Fahrenheit.”

As you observe the containers, note also the colors of the various gelatos displayed.  Without added coloring, a quality gelato will never have vibrant colors, only natural ones.  Pistacchio, for example, will not be green but sort of brownish.  Mint will be white rather than green, and lemon will be white rather than yellow.  Berry flavors should have deep, muted red colors … never shocking pink.

And now, the best part of all… the flavors!  For starters, take a taste of the fior di latte, Italy’s basic flavor; it’s probably not a good sign in Italy to find vanilla.  Also avoid places that offer crowd favorites like cookies and cream and blue bubblegum.  Look for seasonal fruit flavors.  In a good gelateria you won’t find any flavor of fruit that can’t be found at the local market.  For example, at any one time, Loggetta in Mantua sells 24 flavors that vary according to season and product availability.  Classic flavors include fior di latte, hazelnut, chocolate, and gianduja (a chocolate-hazelnut combination).  Spring and summer flavors include strawberry, raspberry, melon, watermelon, and peach. Fig is available in August and September; pear, apple, and pomegranate are available in October, November, and December. Loggetta also makes its own gourmet specialties, such as a peach / amaretto / chocolate gelato, green apple with cinnamon, and a beautiful lime-ginger sorbet.  And Loggetta also serves vegan sorbet.

It’s worth a trip to gelateria Loggetta in Piazza Broletto in Mantua.  If you’re in Santa Barbara, go to Rori’s Artisanal Creamery at 1024 Coast Village Road.

Posted in Abitudini, Cucina italiana, Differenze culturali, English, Foto, Italia, Mantova, Santa Barbara, Vacanze | 1 Comment

Confessioni di un ladro d’arte

Posted on August 20, 2020 by babbityjean

Nel dicembre 2002, Octave Durham e un complice sono saliti sul tetto del Museo di Van Gogh di Amsterdam con una scala, hanno rotto una finestra con una mazza e hanno staccato dalla parete due inestimabili dipinti di Vincent van Gogh. Lui e il suo complice sono fuggiti facendo calando una corda dalla finestra. Ci hanno messo 3 minuti e 40 secondi. Durham racconta in un documentario del 2017: “Appena finito, la polizia era lì e io stavo entrando nella mia macchina per andare in vacanza. Mi sono tolto la maschera da sci, ho abbassato il finestrino e li ho guardati. ” I suoi principi guida erano: essere cool, avere un’auto veloce, vestirsi sempre di nero e non toccare mai nessuno”. In effetti, nelle sue numerose rapine, non è mai stato violento.

Perché ha rubato i dipinti di Van Gogh? “L’ho fatto perché ne vidi l’opportunità.” Vide la finestra del museo e pensò che sarebbe stato facile. Prese i due più piccoli dipinti più vicini alla finestra d’ingresso. Non aveva in anticipo un acquirente ma pensava comunque di poter vendere i dipinti o usarli come gettoni di scambio con le forze dell’ordine. In effetti, da giovane, Durham aveva un vicino criminale che aveva restituito alla magistratura olandese due dipinti di Van Gogh rubati nella speranza di ottenere una pena più leggera per aver spacciato droga. Nel caso di Durham, lui offrì per la prima volta i dipinti a due noti criminali, ma entrambi furono assassinati prima che l’accordo potesse concludersi.

Alla fine, ha venduto i dipinti per circa $380,00 a Raffaele Imperiale, il famoso boss della Camorra, conosciuto per il traffico di droga,  che all’epoca possedeva un “coffee shop” ad Amsterdam. Durham e il suo complice hanno speso i soldi in circa sei settimane: motociclette, una Mercedes, gioielli, un viaggio a New York. Gli acquisti hanno aiutato gli investigatori a rintracciare Durham, ma è stato il DNA del berretto da baseball, lasciato nel museo, a condannarlo per il crimine nel 2004. Ha trascorso 25 mesi in prigione senza rivelare dove si trovassero i dipinti.

Secondo i suoi avvocati, Imperiale sapeva che i dipinti erano stati rubati, ma li acquistò comunque perché era “appassionato di arte” ed erano “un buon affare”. Ma dopo aver trasferito i dipinti nella casa di sua madre, vicino a Napoli per motivi di sicurezza, lasciò i Paesi Bassi per Dubai, intorno al 2013. Nel 2016 ha scritto a un pubblico ministero di Napoli informandola che aveva i dipinti. Forse sperava in un trattamento di favore, ma è stato condannato in contumacia a 20 anni di prigione. I pubblici ministeri stanno collaborando con altri paesi per la sua estradizione, mentre Imperiale soggiorna in ville costose e camere d’albergo da 1.500 dollari a notte a Dubai, godendo i frutti della sua carriera nel traffico di droga.

Gli investigatori hanno fatto irruzione nella casa di Castellammare di Stabia e hanno recuperato i dipinti, che alla fine sono stati restituiti al museo di Amsterdam. Ci sono molti altri esempi del legame tra arte rubata e criminalità organizzata, il più rilevante dei quali è il furto del 1969 del “Presepe” di Caravaggio dall’Oratorio di San Lorenzo a Palermo. Rimane il Santo Graal dei Carabinieri ed è tra le 10 opere più ricercate dall’FBI.

La connessione con la criminalità organizzata è importante perché, altrimenti, chi acquisterebbe un dipinto ampiamente pubblicizzato come rubato? I ladri non rubano l’arte per appenderli alle loro pareti, vale a dire per bellezza, orgoglio o status. Rubano arte per fare soldi. Alcuni ladri meno sofisticati potrebbero pensare di essere in grado di vendere arte sul mercato aperto e invece scoprire che non ci sono acquirenti legali. Devono rivolgersi ad infimi criminali che venderanno un dipinto venderà solo per circa il 5% del suo valore nel mercato dell’arte legittimo. Molto probabilmente il ladro o il criminale all’altra estremità dell’accordo spera di usarlo come chip di contrattazione con le forze dell’ordine … anche se ciò non ha funzionato per Imperiale.

Durante la pandemia del  coronavirus, Octave Durham ha visto il video di sorveglianza dell’erede del marzo 2020 di un altro van Gogh, questa volta dal Singer Laren Museum di Amsterdam. Durham pensava che il ladro non fosse abbastanza professionale, perché non era completamente vestito di nero. Indossava jeans e scarpe da ginnastica Nike. Ma almeno quel ladro non si è lasciato alle spalle il berretto da baseball.

Posted in Arte, Campania, Foto, Italia, Italiano, Mafia, Napoli, Storia | 1 Comment

Confessions of an Art Thief

Posted on August 20, 2020 by babbityjean

In December 2002, Octave Durham and an accomplice climbed onto the roof of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam using a ladder, broke a window with a sledgehammer, and lifted two priceless Vincent van Gogh paintings off the wall.  He and his accomplice escaped by sliding down a rope they had put in place. The heist took 3 minutes and 40 seconds.  Durham recounts in a 2017 documentary: “When I was done, the police were there, and I was passing by in my getaway car.  I took my ski mask off, rolled the window down, and I was looking at them.”  His guiding principles are to be cool, have a fast car, always wear black, and never touch anyone.”  In fact, in his many robberies, he has never been violent.

Why did he steal the van Gogh paintings?  “I did it because I saw the opportunity.”  He saw the museum window and thought it would be an easy smash.  He took the two smallest paintings closest to the entry window.  He didn’t have a buyer beforehand but thought that he could either sell the paintings or use them as a bargaining chip with law enforcement.  In fact, as a youth, Durham had a criminal neighbor who returned two stolen Van Gogh paintings to the Dutch judiciary hoping to get a lighter sentence in a drug smuggling case.  In Durham’s case, he first offered the paintings to two known criminals, but both of them were murdered before the deal could go down.

Ultimately, he sold the paintings for about $380,00 to Raffaele Imperiale, the renowned Camorra drug boss who, at the time, owned an Amsterdam “coffee shop.”  Durham and his accomplice spent the money in about six weeks—motorcycles, a Mercedes, clothes, jewelry, a trip to New York.  The purchases helped investigators track Durham, but it was DNA from the baseball cap he left in the museum that convicted him of the crime in 2004.  He spent 25 months in prison without revealing the whereabouts of the paintings.

According to his lawyers, Imperiale knew that the paintings had been stolen but bought them anyway because he was “fond of art” and they were “a good bargain.”  But after he moved the paintings to his mother’s house near Naples for safekeeping, he left the Netherlands for Dubai around 2013.  In 2016 he wrote to a public prosecutor in Naples informing her that he had the paintings.  He may have hoped for leniency but he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison.  Prosecutors are seeking his extradition while Imperiale stayed at expensive villas and $1,500-a-night hotel rooms in Dubai, enjoying the fruits of his career in drug trafficking.

Investigators raided the house in Castellammare di Stabia and recovered the paintings, which were eventually returned to the museum in Amsterdam.  There are many other examples of the link between stolen art and organized crime, the most notable being the 1969 theft of Caravaggio’s “Nativity” from the Oratorio of San Lorenzo Church in Palermo.  It remains the Holy Grail of the Carabinieri and is among the FBI’s 10 most wanted works.

The connection with organized crime is salient because, otherwise, who would buy a painting widely publicized as stolen?  Thieves don’t steal art to hang on their walls—that is, for beauty, pride or status.  They steal art to make money.  Some less sophisticated thieves may think that they will be able to sell art on the open market and then find out that there aren’t legal buyers.  They have to turn to the criminal underworld where a painting will sell for only about 5% of its value in the legitimate art market.  Most likely the thief or the criminal at the other end of the deal hopes to use it as a bargaining chip with law enforcement…although it didn’t work for Imperiale.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Octave Durham watched the surveillance video of the March 2020 heist of yet another van Gogh, this time from the Singer Laren Museum in Amsterdam.  Durham thought the thief wasn’t professional enough, because he wasn’t fully dressed in black. He wore jeans and Nike sneakers.  But at least that thief didn’t leave behind his baseball cap.

 

Posted in Arte, Campania, English, Foto, Italia, Mafia, Napoli, Storia | 1 Comment