Renzo Piano and the Gardner Museum

Italians don't always do it better.

Renzo Piano is a world-famous and hyper-successful architect from Genoa. He is perhaps best known (along with Richard Rogers) for the Beaubourg building in Paris. When I was there in 1990, I asked a Frenchman where it was. With a twinkle in his eye, he pointed and answered: "C'est cette grande usine la'." It's that big factory there. 'nuff said.

Fast forward three and a half decades from the construction of the factory in Paris in 1977.

Renzo Piano completes the addition to Boston's distinguished Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, to the tune of 118 million smackeroonies. This project was approved under director Anne Hawley, under whose watch (so to speak) a Vermeer, a Rembrandt and other irreplaceable stuff disappeared from the Gardner. If you only realized how much I love Dutch art and Vermeer in particular, you would understand that I already resent this Hawley person. It wasn't the best Vermeer, but still.

So they approved Renzo's project, which will basically house functions and objects not originally part of Isabella's home museum. It is indeed a home museum, like Milan's Poldi Pezzoli (which partly inspired Gardner). What we have now in the new wing is a glass box that could be anywhere (just like a mall or a chain store). In the process, they tore down Gardner's original carriage house and greenhouse.

The Italian daily La Repubblica rather triumphantly reported this in a fatuous article/interview called "I'm bringing Italy to Boston." Give me a break. The Italian presence has already been strong in Boston for a century, and American Isabella Stewart Gardner did infinitely more to enhance this presence than Renzo Piano ever could.

The glass box opens to the public on January 19th.

(In the photo- a new university library in the Midwest? A neuroscience research center in Holland? An office building in Abu Dhabi? No, it's Italy in Boston.)

Trader Joe's peach and blueberry panna cotta

Although I have been and, alas alack, continue to be, on a diet, I finally gave in a few weeks ago at my local (Brookline, Massachusetts) Trader Joe's and bought their sinful peach and blueberry panna cotta (Italian for cooked cream). I had already noticed it long before, but held out, rather heroically. Then, upon a close examination of its not prohibitive calorie count or price, I took the bold step of purchasing a package. About three dollars for two servings, and 270 calories per portion.

I coldly calculated that I could have one (just one, and nothing else) for breakfast, having defrosted it overnight in the fridge. What happened is that I woke (I wonder why) at four am that morning, and remembered (I wonder how) that there was a now-defrosted peach and blueberry panna cotta in the refrigerator. I proceeded (in my jammies) to remove it from its container by turning it upside down and squishing the bottom a bit. Delectable.

Since then, diet or no diet, I have brazenly purchased it again. Once, I must confess, I got home from Brookline in the evening and did not even wait to defrost it. I hurriedly boiled some water in a small pot and dunked the container in, an impromptu bain marie. It's that good.

Yes, folks. This will suit a) you b) your guests, if you are that altruistic (which I doubt.) If you are indeed so noble as to leave it for others, properly defrost, carefully run a wet, sharp knife along the interior edge, then upturn and gingerly place on small plate. Some of the yummy topping will cling to the bottom. Resist the urge to eat it yourself; spoon carefully on top of dessert, in its proper blueberry or peach place.

Now I know that many, even most of you who are reading this are not within easy reach of a Trader Joe's. You are probably feeling frustrated and angry by now. Do not despair. You can make your own panna cotta. It's not that hard! But it's harder than buying two of them at the store for three dollars!

A recipe can be found here. I advise use of the gelatin sheet alternative he proposes. There are many other recipes on the Web. I myself am a purist, and like to keep the panna cotta portion unflavored (not counting the vanilla), with a fruity, seasonal topping of my choice. Berries are excellent.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Who would think of building a faux-Venetian palazzo in a marshy backwater of Boston? Isabella Stewart Gardner, that's who.

The Gardner Museum is so famous that it was already known to me long before I had ever set foot in what is now my hometown. It is now over a hundred years old, and looking mighty good for its age.

Is it really like a Venetian palazzo? No, nothing is. Buildings in other parts of the Veneto (for example, Vicenza) come much closer. But it is still a major achievement.

When I first visited it long ago it brought to mind the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan (my mother's town), and in fact ole Isabella got her idea for a museum house from the latter. She was a native New Yorker from a wealthy family who atoned for this original sin by moving to Boston and becoming a Red Sox fan (the museum and Fenway Park are in the same area, although the museum predates the stadium).

Very sadly, she lost her toddler son and could have no others. She thus channeled her superabundant energies into her house/art collection. And a very fine and memorable collection it is; not to be missed. Mrs. Gardner benefited from the advice of specialists such as Bernard Berenson, but the building, courtyard garden and collection are all hers and have her mark. Look for a number of works showing a mother and child motif, especially a Giovanni Bellini work in which the Madonna holds the infant in the pose of a pieta', with a sad and knowing expression, as if foreseeing the child's end.

It also has a Piero della Francesca (a gigantic Samson), a treat. Not one of his best, but still. Piero (as he is known to his friends and fans) is with Giovanni Bellini and Jan Vermeer my favorite artist. And the museum used to have a Vermeer (above), but it was stolen before I even got there (along with a Rembrandt and some other good stuff). Fortunately it was not one of my favorite Vermeers. But still. If the thieves are reading this: please bring it back.

It also enjoys a good but not inexpensive cafe' overlooking the outside garden. Fellow Bostonians: occasionally, entrance is free, often on holidays. Keep eyes peeled. Entrance is also always free to all Isabellas, in honor of its founder.

Edward Kennedy has died

Ted Kennedy, our distinguished senator for 46 years here in Massachusetts, has died.

Here's hoping that his noble work in favor of health care for all be fulfilled. Although it doesn't look likely at this point.

(Above, the last of the Kennedy brothers in his young and handsome days)

MFA exhibition on Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese

Anybody who knows me knows that I am partial to everything Veneto: food, wine, art and even accent (and I have a Veneto accent!)

So it is with considerable delight that I see the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston has eschewed the rivalry of those smarty-pants central Italians (see previous post) in favor of the fabulous Venetians (although this term is inaccurate, as they were not by any means all from the city of Venice, but from its region as a whole.)

The exhibition is on until August 16 and is $25. Well worth it! See exhibitions's site here.

(Above, a portrait by Titian)

Please come to Boston

As the man sang: please come to Boston for the springtime. And Air One was in fact scheduled to start its flights from Milan (my mother's hometown) to my adopted city tomorrow. But they have been delayed and will now launch their maiden flight into our fair city two weeks from now, thus, in summer. But we ain't changin' the song.

Air One, the major Italian private airline (Alitalia is in deep trouble), will also have inexpensive flights from Milan into Chicago O'Hare. They promise an Italian atmosphere on their planes, with Italian food and movies. Air One is partnered with Lufthansa.

(in the photo, the lighthouse at Little Brewster island in Boston Harbor)

Neo-realist holidays

I spent part of my holiday leisure re-watching two great classics of world cinema and Italian neo-realism, that is, The Bicycle Thief and Rome, Open City. These were also in my top ten for Italian movies.

What's more, I watched them free, online. If you are in Boston or have a Boston Public Library card (available to all Massachusetts residents), you can go to the BPL's site and download free videos by using your card number. You must download the appropriate software first. A similar service may be available outside Boston, especially if you live in a major city.

Some considerations. In the current Italian climate of deep discouragement and widespread whining, it would behoove the Italians to watch both movies in order to remember what their recent past was. It is curious that a people with such a long history forgets so quickly. Or maybe that's the problem. Maybe they're like computers, and they're out of memory. If so, time for an upgrade.

Other consideration. After decades, the films lose none of their power. Must watching, whether you're interested in Italy or not.

Both movies are set in Rome, and The Bicycle Thief in particular is very Roman, including the dialect, romanesco. And in both, young Roman boys, amateur actors, (almost) steal the show. They are very true to life; I've actually seen Roman kids like this, an endearing amalgam of jaded wordliness and childish innocence. I don't think it was a coincidence that the directors placed the kids in such a prominent role: it was a projection toward a better future. A projection the Italians no longer seem to believe in.

Some trivia: the screenplay for Rome, Open City was co-written by a young Federico Fellini. The male lead for The Bicycle Thief was chosen when he took his sons to audition for little Bruno's part, which was then given to the unforgettable Enzo Staiola.

Thoreau and food

I've been re-reading that most un-European of Americans lately, namely, Henry David Thoreau.

In picking through Walden (inset, Walden Pond), I've particularly noticed the many considerations he has on food and drink. We know of course that he advocated simplicity. But I think that he was particularly prescient in stating boldly that our lifestyle in terms of these very things may be our downfall: "Such apparently slight causes destroyed Greece and Rome, and will destroy England and America."

Now he makes this remark in the context of a rather drastic view of the matter, discouraging the consumption of coffee, tea, and (gasp!) wine. But he also generously and intelligently stated earlier in the book that he does not wish to impose his life choices on anyone. I would strike at the Mediterranean goal of a happy medium. To include wine. Of course. But keeping in mind that if you have to err between the extremes of Henry David in 1854 and the average American in 2007, Henry David is the way to go.

Hawthorne does Italy

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of my favorite authors. Here, in the notebooks he kept while in Italy, he has me laughing my head off at the thought of the Massachusetts boy discomfited by Italy and its weather.

"We had heard rumors of robberies lately committed on this route; especially of a Nova Scotia bishop, who was detained on the road an hour and a half, and utterly pillaged; and certainly there was not a single mile of the dreary and desolate country over which we passed, where we might not have been robbed and murdered with impunity. Now and then, at long distances, we came to a structure that was either a prison, a tavern, or a barn, but did not look very much like either, being strongly built of stone, with iron-grated windows, and of ancient and rusty aspect. We kept along by the seashore a great part of the way, and stopped to feed our horses at a village, the wretched street of which stands close along the shore of the Mediterranean, its loose, dark sand being made nasty by the vicinity. The vetturino cheated us, one of the horses giving out, as he must have known it would do, half-way on our journey; and we staggered on through cold and darkness, and peril, too, if the banditti were not a myth, - reaching Rome not much before midnight. I perpetrated unheard-of briberies on the custom-house officers at the gates, and was permitted to pass through and establish myself at Spillman's Hotel, the only one where we could gain admittance, and where we have been half frozen ever since.
And this is sunny Italy, and genial Rome!"

Boston's North End

I've lived in Boston eleven years now, and have no intention of leaving, despite the high prices and sub-optimal weather.

How does a half-Italian, half-American Eggplant who has lived twenty years in Italy feel about the North End, Boston's Little Italy?

I have mixed feelings. I most certainly do not think it is Italy. Neither do I think it is a mere tourist trap for the unwary.

I go there once every month or two, and make a day of it. Despite what people will tell you, there is still a very significant Italian presence above and beyond the mere numbers, or stats that show that Italian-Americans are an ever-decreasing presence. Although many of them have moved elsewhere, they somehow maintain a base in da hood. Witness the old men in their outdoor chairs who come in from the 'burbs.

There are many reasons to visit the North End. Countless eateries, often not authentic, but rarely bad, and sometimes quite good. Gelati, salumerie. Polcari's herb and dry goods store, quite unique. Hidden resources such as my friends at the Green Cross Pharmacy, who have (besides some nostalgic Italian toiletries such as Pino Silvestre), Italian CDs, magazines, and even my beloved Settimana Enigmistica, the inimitable puzzle magazine I have known since my childhood and which hones my Italian skills.

As if this wasn't enough, we have the Haymarket open market on Fridays and Saturdays, just across the way. In summer, we have the proximity to Long Wharf, whence boats to the Boston harbor and beyond depart. More than once I have spent the day first shopping and eating in the North End, and then on the ocean, perhaps to Georges Island.

Don't forget that the North End was the site of one of the oldest settlements in America, including the (very reasonably priced) Paul Revere's House, a must see, right smack in the middle of the North End. And other colonial American sites as well.

Boston's North End. 1) Go there 2) Buyer beware.

Sacco and Vanzetti, eighty years on

Yesterday, August 23rd, 2007, was the eightieth anniversary of the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchists charged with murder in connection with a holdup in South Braintree, Massachusetts.

Several years ago I gave a course at the Boston Center for Adult Education on "Italy in Boston." As part of the preparation, I naturally had to bone up on this famous instance of the Italian presence in our fair (sometimes unfair) city. These are my conclusions.

It is far from certain that the two men were innocent. Those who maintain their innocence state that the trial was vitiated by political motivations (anti-left, anti-anarchists). But it is also true that those making such claims tend themselves to fall into a certain political camp (anti-right, anti-establishment, anti-capital punishment, often anti-American). In other words, in these many decades, very few clear, unbiased heads have prevailed.

Our former governor, Michael Dukakis, proclaimed this day "Sacco and Vanzetti Day" in 1977, issuing what he called a "pardon" to the pair. I am by no means a judicial expert, but common sense tells me that if it is hard for the judge and jurors, who are present at the time of the trial, to determine the truth, this determination becomes impossible decades after the fact. The whole thing reminds me of those doctors who "diagnose" historical figures (George III- porphyria? Lincoln-Marfan's syndrome?). Futile and misleading. Let me add that Dukakis (who is not a bad guy) was up on his promotion (re-election as governor) and was probably courting the important Italian-American vote.

In other words, I know that I don't know, as another, wiser Greek said some time before Dukakis. What I do know is that these two men were no heroes and should not be idealized or held up as martyrs to justice. Incontrovertible evidence has it that they were not mild-mannered philosophical anarchists. They were known followers and supporters of Luigi Galleani, a distasteful immigrant subversive who advocated violent overthrow of government. Among his finest accomplishments was the production of the booklet La salute e' in voi (health is within you). Such a kidder, that Luigi. He penned this little manual on how-to-make-a-bomb with the help of chemist and explosives expert, Professor Ettore Molinari. Sacco and Vanzetti never disavowed their allegiance to Galleani, and even refer to him in their letters from jail.

Finally, over the years and continuing to the present, Italians have made much of this case as a symbol of American injustice vis-a'-vis Italians. Let me remind you that due process was had, and how. Due process is guaranteed by our Constitution (which the two men despised), a favorable outcome of that due process is not. It also strikes me that while this seven-year-long legal saga unfolded in Massachusetts, their native country capitulated to Fascism and its thugs. The Italians might do better to concentrate on this little injustice of their own making.

It is clear that the case still resonates, even more so in these times of threats from foreign subversives, divisiveness over immigration, controversy over capital punishment, and ongoing anti-Americanism. I see it as another opportunity to exercise what the poet John Keats called "negative capability," the ability to recognize a state of moral or intellectual tension for what it is, and not as something that can be definitively resolved.

Formaggio Kitchen

Formaggio Kitchen, which has long operated out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is actually a small family of three stores. The other, smaller, branches are located in the South End of Boston and in New York City. I am very familiar with the South End store, having frequented it for years. I can therefore vouch for their quality and competence. They have their own cheese cave beneath the Cambridge store, and regularly impart instruction on cheeses in the Boston area. But let's hear directly from South End employee Leslie, a competent and simpatica young woman:

"Our most popular Italian product is undoubtedly Parmigiano Reggiano. Over the past year (Aug. 2006 – Aug. 2007), we’ve sold over 900 pounds of Parmigiano!! Other popular items include pappardelle dried pasta, Prosciutto di Parma, pancetta, and San Pellegrino limonata/aranciata sodas. On the wine front, our most popular Italian wines are Copertino from Puglia and Corte Marzago’s Bianco di Custoza from the Veneto. We are also very excited about some special nebbiolo-based wines that are on their way to us from Valtellina.
Our staff’s favorite cheeses include our small-production robiolas (especially the Robiola di Pecora and Robiola di Roccaverano), our Taleggio Latte Crudo, and, of course, our Parmigiano. We also love our Italian olive oils, since many of them are made in tiny batches as a side-project by our favorite winemakers, and our cornmeal biscuits from Lombardy are a favorite as well as our Romanengo confections from Milano.

We ship wine to some states, but not all (the inter-state shipping laws vary by state). We do have a store in New York. It is in the Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side. The New York store is very small and does not have its own website, though it is mentioned on our Formaggio Kitchen website. We consider the FK website to be a master website for all the stores; any online orders should go through that site (and our South End Formaggio website will redirect you to the Cambridge website when you click on the “shop” icon)."

One qualm I have about the online shopping through FK. Their site does not, alas, show the detailed ingredients of such things as sauces, condiments, and other expensive little goodies. Before I spend over ten bucks on a jar of pesto, I want to know if it has olive oil and pine nuts. I do much of my bulk food shopping online. Some services show the ingredients (Peapod), others, such as Roche Bros. in Eastern Massachusetts, do not. For that matter, igourmet.com doesn't show detailed ingredients either. I e-mailed them yesterday about this and will report back to you on this matter of the highest urgency.