Photo
September 11, 2012
35 notes
gourmet: cheesenotes: Lou Bergiere Pichin, from Fattorie Fiandino in the Piedmont region of Italy. The french-sounding name (“pichin” means “little shepherd” in Piedmontese dialect) is a testament to the region’s cross-cultural pollination with France. Villafalletto, the town in the Cuneo province where Fiandino is located, is equidistant between Milan and Nice, and Piedmont has in the past been a French territory. The unusual cross-cultural references don’t end there: the Pichin is coagulated with enzymes from wild-harvested alpine flowers and naturally occurring lactic acids, using the traditional “kinara” method, a technique far more common in Spain and Portugal than Italy.  This natural-rinded tomme is made with raw cows milk, and features a stony-gray, mottled rind scattered with white and yellow molds. The ivory-colored, lightly eyed and open paste is soft and chewy, warming to an oozing, luscious texture.  In flavor it is milky and tangy, mushroomy, and lightly herbaceous and floral (perhaps due to the dried blossoms used in the coagulation process), with a bit of barny pungency and meatiness and just a subtle bitter finish; in fact it’s notably lacking in the the stronger (but not necessarily bad) bitterness that often marks plant-coagulated cheeses. Purchased at Stinky Brooklyn. This is lovely: The ivory-colored, lightly eyed and open paste is soft and chewy, warming to an oozing, luscious texture.

gourmet:

cheesenotes:

Lou Bergiere Pichin, from Fattorie Fiandino in the Piedmont region of Italy. The french-sounding name (“pichin” means “little shepherd” in Piedmontese dialect) is a testament to the region’s cross-cultural pollination with France. Villafalletto, the town in the Cuneo province where Fiandino is located, is equidistant between Milan and Nice, and Piedmont has in the past been a French territory.

The unusual cross-cultural references don’t end there: the Pichin is coagulated with enzymes from wild-harvested alpine flowers and naturally occurring lactic acids, using the traditional “kinara” method, a technique far more common in Spain and Portugal than Italy. 

This natural-rinded tomme is made with raw cows milk, and features a stony-gray, mottled rind scattered with white and yellow molds. The ivory-colored, lightly eyed and open paste is soft and chewy, warming to an oozing, luscious texture. 

In flavor it is milky and tangy, mushroomy, and lightly herbaceous and floral (perhaps due to the dried blossoms used in the coagulation process), with a bit of barny pungency and meatiness and just a subtle bitter finish; in fact it’s notably lacking in the the stronger (but not necessarily bad) bitterness that often marks plant-coagulated cheeses.

Purchased at Stinky Brooklyn.

This is lovely: The ivory-colored, lightly eyed and open paste is soft and chewy, warming to an oozing, luscious texture.

Tags: Lou Bergiere Pichin Italy cheese cheesemaking side note: is it time for second breakfast?

Photo
August 07, 2012
124 notes
archaeology: Roman-era boat found off Italy coast ‘almost intact’ Divers say they have discovered a ship off the coast of Italy which they believe is about 2,000 years old. The ship, which was found in the sea off the town on Varazze in the province of Liguria, is thought to be a Roman-era commercial vessel. Fishermen in the area said they had been finding shards of pottery in their nets for years, prompting police divers to launch a search. The ship is said to be in a very well-preserved condition. “The peculiarity of this is that the wreck could be almost intact,” Lt Col Francesco Schilardi of the police divers’ group told the BBC. “We believe it dates to sometime between the 1st Century BC and the 1st Century AD,” Lt Col Schilardi said. The mud on the seabed had hidden but also protected the wreck, he added. The divers say that study of the vessel should help to understand commercial activity in that era. The ship is thought to have traveled on trade routes between Spain and what is now central Italy and was loaded with more than 200 clay amphorae likely to have contained fish, wine, oil and grain. full story here

archaeology:

Roman-era boat found off Italy coast ‘almost intact’

Divers say they have discovered a ship off the coast of Italy which they believe is about 2,000 years old.

The ship, which was found in the sea off the town on Varazze in the province of Liguria, is thought to be a Roman-era commercial vessel.

Fishermen in the area said they had been finding shards of pottery in their nets for years, prompting police divers to launch a search.

The ship is said to be in a very well-preserved condition.

“The peculiarity of this is that the wreck could be almost intact,” Lt Col Francesco Schilardi of the police divers’ group told the BBC.

“We believe it dates to sometime between the 1st Century BC and the 1st Century AD,” Lt Col Schilardi said.

The mud on the seabed had hidden but also protected the wreck, he added.

The divers say that study of the vessel should help to understand commercial activity in that era.

The ship is thought to have traveled on trade routes between Spain and what is now central Italy and was loaded with more than 200 clay amphorae likely to have contained fish, wine, oil and grain.

full story here

Tags: news archaeology roman history ships Italy Spain shipwreck roman-era

Photoset
June 21, 2012
8 notes

What’s the Biggest Archaeological Find in History?: 

Our choice for biggest archaeological find in history is not a stone, a scroll or a skeleton — it’s Pompeii, an ancient city located on the plain of Campania in southern Italy (find out how we chose Pompeii over all the other amazing places we could have chosen).

A little bit of context: Pompeii was founded in the 6th century B.C. and became incorporated into Rome by 80 B.C. As a Roman colony, the city bustled with life and activity, supporting somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants. Then a series of man-made and natural disasters struck the city. First, in A.D. 59, a riot between the Pompeians and the Nucerians erupted in the amphitheater. Next came an earthquake, which destroyed much of the city in A.D. 62. Finally, on Aug. 24, A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii beneath nearly 9 feet (3 meters) of ash, pumice and other volcanic debris.

The city lay undiscovered — and almost perfectly preserved — for almost two millennia. Formal excavations began in 1748 and have continued to this day.

Don’t stop learning here. Read on to discover much MUCH more.


Tags: archaeology Vesuvius Italy Pompeii history volcano travel

Photo
June 12, 2012
23 notes
huffingtonpost: Rome’s famous Fontana di Trevi is showing its age a bit. Italy’s unusually cold winter is being blamed for causing chunks of plaster and stucco to fall from the fountain. Rome’s Trevi Fountain Crumbling Due To Bad Weather

huffingtonpost:

Rome’s famous Fontana di Trevi is showing its age a bit. Italy’s unusually cold winter is being blamed for causing chunks of plaster and stucco to fall from the fountain.

Rome’s Trevi Fountain Crumbling Due To Bad Weather

Tags: Rome travel history Italy Environment art