ITALIAN NEWS - Issue # 10, October 2008

Italian News
Periodical On-Line that Promotes, Supports, Spreads ITALY,
and ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy,
Articles, Products, Services, Every Aspect of ITALIAN Life Style
by THE ITALIAN PROJECT

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Italian Regions

BASILICATA (LUCANIA)

Official Website: www.regione.basi licata.it

Basilicata (Lucania) is divided into 2 Provinces, Potenza
(PZ) and Matera (MT). It is a small region, mostly
mountainous, situated in Southern Italy and with two short
coastlines on the Ionian and the Thyrrenian Sea. The most
important mountains are Volturino, 2005 m, and Sirino,
1835 m. Among the rivers are the Gravida, Bradano,
Basento, Cavone, Agri, Sinni; the lakes are San Giuliano,
Lake of Pietra del Petrusillo and Lake of Abate Atonia.

Population
The region, due to massive emigration in the past, is
underpopulated, the economy is mostly based on
agriculture, though the Eastern and central areas are
almost desert. Industrial development is low, though there
are still some flourishing crafts sectors, such as ceramics,
woodwork and textiles. A great promise and hope is
tourism, mostly along the Thyrrenian coast.

History
Archeological findings show that the areas of the rivers
were inhabited since Paleolithic times. In the 13th century
BC the Lyki (probably at the origin of the name Lucani),
coming from the Danube area, settled in the region and in
the following century were greatly enriched culturally by
the the Greeks, who colonized the region in the 8th century
BC, who founded at the mouths of the largest rivers the
cities of Metaponto, Heraclea, Posidonia.

The Lucani established a strong military state and fought
against the inhabitants of Apulia for long centuries. After
being allied to the Romans, they sided with Hannibal in the
Punic wars. Under the Italian Empire the region was called
"Bruttium", then between 1932 and 1945 was renamed
"Lucania", to become finally "Basilicata" under the Italian
Republic.

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Italian Genealogy

HOW TO FIND Places of your Ancestors
and Living Relatives in ITALY

Here are Step-by-Step, Detailed, and Useful Suggestions:

1- Go to PAGINE BIANCHE.it Web Site, by clicking HERE.

2- In the "Cognome o nome Azienda" box, Write the Family
Name, or the Last Name of your Ancestors, and of your
Living Relatives in ITALY.

3- In the "Nome" box, Write the First Name of your
Ancestors, and of your Living Relatives in ITALY, or Leave
it Blank, if you are Looking for the Family Name in ITALY.

4- In the "Dove" box, Write the Name of the Birth Town, or
Province, or Region of your Ancestors, and of your Living
Relatives in ITALY.

5- Click on the button "Cerca": a List of Persons with that
Family Name, with their full names, addresses, and
telephone numbers will appear!

6- Save, and/or Print their full names, addresses, and
telephone numbers, and Towns, and/or Provinces that you
have found, where they are living in ITALY!

They are your "Potential" Living Relatives, and the
"Potential" Towns, and/or Provinces of Birth of your
Ancestors in ITALY!

7- Then, click on the LINKS here below, to Know HOW TO
OBTAIN Information and Extracts, Acts, Certificates of your
ITALIAN Ancestors, and/or HOW TO CONTACT your Living
Relatives in ITALY!

H OW TO OBTAIN Information and
Documents of your Ancestors in ITALY

H OW TO CONTACT your Living Relatives
in ITALY

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Italian Recipes

Chopped Italian Salad

Ingredients
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into 1-inch squares
1/4 pound sliced pepperoni, chopped
1/3 cup drained sliced pimientos
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1 1/2 cups drained, rinsed, and chopped canned artichoke
hearts
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Cooking Directions
In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the
romaine, pepperoni, pimientos, onion, and the artichoke
hearts or olives. Toss to combine.
Add the vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan to the
bowl. Toss thoroughly to combine the ingredients.

Yield
4 servings

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Italian Companies

Benetton

Benetton Group
Type: Public (BIT: BEN)
Founded: Treviso, Italy (1965)
Headquarters: Ponzano Veneto
Luciano Benetton, Chairman
Giuliana Benetton, Director
Gilberto Benetton, Director
Carlo Benetton, Deputy Chairman
Industry: Clothing
Products: United Colors of Benetton, Sisley, Playlife, Killer Loop
Revenue: ▲ €1.8 billion (2005)
Employees: 7,987 (2005)
Official Website: www.benettongroup.com

Benetton Group S.p.A. is a global clothing brand, based in Treviso, Italy. The name comes from the Benetton family who
founded the company in 1965. Benetton Group is listed in Milano (Milan) (BIT: BEN) and the Frankfurt (FWB: BNG).

Early Years
Facade of the Benetton store in Milan, ItalyIn 1955, Luciano Benetton, the eldest of four children, was a 20 year-old
salesman in Treviso. He saw a market for colourful clothes, and sold a younger brother's bicycle in order to buy his first
second-hand knitting machine. His initial small collection of sweaters received a positive response in local stores in the
Veneto region, and soon after he asked his sister and two younger brothers, Giberto and Carlo, to join him.

In 1968, the Benettons opened their first store in Belluno and the year after in Paris, with Luciano as chairman, his brother
Giberto in charge of administration, their younger brother Carlo running production, and Giuliana as a chief designer.

Soon afterwards Luciano met Flavio Briatore who at the time was working at the Italian stock exchange. Briatore led the
company's assault on the US market, they started with 5 stores in 1979 but reached 800 within 10 years by franchising
aggressively.

Products
The company's core business remains their clothing lines. Casual clothing is marketed as the "United Colors of Benetton";
there are also a fashion-oriented "Sisley" division, "Playlife" leisurewear, and "Killer Loop" streetwear brands. Their
products include womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and underwear and they have recently expanded into toiletries,
perfumes, exclusive watches and items for the home such as kitchen accessories and baby products.

Product lines vary from region to region; for instance, most stores in North America stock little, if any, of their men's and
children's collections. To protect franchisees, the company does not sell online, using its websites solely for marketing
purposes without listing prices.

Marketing

The 1984 season Tyrrell 011, showing the company's logo at the time.

The company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the controversial "United Colors" publicity
campaign. The latter originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton
management. Under Toscani's direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products
being sold by the company.

These graphic, billboard sized ads included depictions of a variety of 'shocking' subjects such as a deathbed scene of a
man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS, a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached,
two horses mating, close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women, a collage
consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, and pictures of
inmates on death row. The company's logo served as the only text accompanying the images in most of these
advertisements.

Briatore explained how they raised the company's profile: "We decided to do something very controversial that people
would pick up on - 50% of people thought it was great and 50% thought it was awful, but in the meantime everyone was
talking about Benetton."

Sponsorship

Schumacher's B194 of the 1994 season.

Benetton Group entered Formula 1 as a sponsor of Tyrrell in 1983, then Alfa Romeo in 1984; this arrangement was
extended to both Alfa and Toleman in 1985. Benetton Formula Ltd. was formed at the end of 1985 when the Toleman and
Spirit teams were sold to the Benetton family. The team saw its greatest success under Briatore, who managed the team
from 1990 to 1997. Michael Schumacher won his first Drivers' Championships with the team in 1994 and 1995, and the
team won their only Constructors' title in 1995. From 1996, the team raced under an Italian licence although it continued to
be based, like Toleman, in Oxfordshire in England. The team was bought by Renault for US$120m in 2000 and was
rebranded Renault F1.

In 1979 Benetton first sponsored their (then amateur) local rugby team, A.S. Rugby Treviso. Benetton Rugby has since
become a major force in Italian rugby, with 11 league titles and supplying many players to the national team.

In 1982 the company bought its local basketball team, Pallacanestro Treviso, now commonly known as Benetton Basket.
Their Sisley brand sponsors the local volleyball team, Sisley Volley Treviso.

Collaborations
Benetton teamed up with Mattel in 1991 for the Benetton Barbie and her friends Ken, Christie, and Kira dolls. Mattel made
Benetton Shopping Barbie and friends dolls for the European market in 1992. In 2006, Benetton collaborated with Mattel,
once again, for Benetton Fashion Fever Barbie and friends dolls.

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Italian Language

Definite Article
In English the definite article (l'articolo determinativo) has
only one form: the. In Italian, l’articolo determinativo has
different forms according to the gender, number, and first
letter of the noun or adjective it precedes.

i ragazzi e le ragazze (the boys and girls)
il quaderno e la penna (the notebook and pen)

Here are some rules for using definite articles:

1. Lo (pl. gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with
s + consonant or z.
2. Il (pl. i) is used before masculine nouns beginning with all
other consonants.
3. L’ (pl. gli) is used before masculine nouns beginning with
a vowel.
4. La (pl. le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with
any consonant.
5. L’ (pl. le) is used before feminine nouns beginning with a
vowel.

The article agrees in gender and number with the noun it
modifies and is repeated before each noun.

la Coca–Cola e l’aranciata (the Coke and orangeade)
gli italiani e i giapponesi (the Italians and the Japanese)
le zie e gli zii (the aunts and uncles)

The first letter of the word immediately following the article
determines the article’s form. Compare the following:

il giorno (the day)
l’altro giorno (the other day)
lo zio (the uncle)
il vecchio zio (the old uncle)
i ragazzi (the boys)
gli stessi ragazzi (the same boys)
l’amica (the girlfriend)
la nuova amica (the new girlfriend)

In Italian, the definite article must always be used before the
name of a language, except when the verbs parlare (to
speak) or studiare (to study) directly precede the name of the
language; in those cases, the use of the article is optional.

Studio l’italiano. (I study Italian.)
Parlo italiano. (I speak Italian.)
Parlo bene l’italiano. (I speak Italian well.)

The definite article is used before the days of the week to
indicate a repeated, habitual activity.

Domenica studio. (I’m studying on Sunday.)
Marco non studia mai la domenica. (Marco never studies on
Sundays.)

Indefinite Article
The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo)
corresponds to English a/an and is used with singular
nouns. It also corresponds to the number one. INDEFINITE
ARTICLES
MASCHILE FEMMINILE
uno zio (uncle) una zia (aunt)
un cugino (cousin, m.) una cugina (cousin, f.)
un amico (friend, m.) un’amica (friend, f.)

Uno is used for masculine words beginning with z or s +
consonant; un is used for all other masculine words. Una is
used for feminine words beginning with a consonant; un’ is
used for feminine words beginning with a vowel.

un treno e una bicicletta
un aeroplano e un’automobile
uno stadio e una stazione

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Italian History

Italo-Argentini (Italian-Argentines)

Notable Italian-Argentines

Carlos Pellegrini - Arturo Frondizi - Ástor Piazzolla - Luciana Pedraza - Lionel Messi - Gabriela Sabatini

Total Population
20 - 25 million
Up to 70% of Argentina's population

Regions with Significant Populations
Throughout Argentina

Languages
Rioplatense Spanish. Minority speaks Italian and Italian dialects.

Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism

Related Ethnic Groups
Italians, Italian Brazilian, Italian American, Italian Uruguayan

An Italian Argentine (Spanish and Italian: italo-argentino) is an Argentine citizen of full or partial Italian ancestry. It is
estimated between 20 to 25 million Argentines have some degree of Italian descent (up to 70 % of the total population).
Italians began arriving to Argentina in great numbers in the 1870s, and this migratory flow continued to the 1960s.

Italian settlement in Argentina, along with Spanish settlement, formed the backbone of today's Argentine society. Argentine
culture has significant connections to Italian culture, also in terms of language, customs and traditions.

Italian immigration to Argentina began in the nineteenth century, just after Argentina won its independence from Spain.
There are many reasons explaining the Italian immigration to Argentina: Italy was enduring economic problems caused
mainly by the unification of the Italian states into one nation. The country was impoverished, unemployment was rampant,
certain areas witnessed overpopulation, and Italy was subject to significant political turmoil. Italians saw in Argentina a
chance to build for themselves a brand new life.

The Argentine government wanted to populate the new lands they acquired from the wars, such as the Conquest of the
Desert and War of the Triple Alliance, to legitimize Argentine claims on those lands from the neighbouring nations.
Argentina required a labour force for its growing industrial and agricultural economy. The Argentine government
welcomed the immigrants for racial reasons, because many Argentine politicians considered the Indigenous and the
Mestizo to be inferior and could not be trusted. These politicians also believed that Argentina should be a White nation, so
following 19th century positivist ideas, the Argentine government encouraged and promoted European immigration.

It is estimated that more than 20 million Argentines have at least one Italian forefather.

Settlement
The original Italian settlers came from Northern Italy. Until 1894 most immigrants arrived principally from Piedmont,
Lombardy and Liguria. Many settlers from North Italy established towns in the Pampean region of the provinces of Santa
Fe and Córdoba, as well as in the province of Mendoza. They also constituted the main population in the foundation of
Resistencia, that then would be the capital of Chaco. After 1894, the afflux of Italians was mainly from Southern Italy,
especially from Campania, Sicily and Calabria.

Italians became firmly established throughout Argentina, but the greatest concentrations are in the Province and the City
of Buenos Aires, the Province of Santa Fe, the Province of Entre Rios, the Province of Córdoba, the Province of Tucumán,
the Province of La Pampa and, in the nearby country of Uruguay.

The Italian population in Argentina is the second largest in the world, by numbers, outside of Italy (after Brazil)[4]. By
concentration, along with Uruguay, it is the highest outside of Italy.[citation needed]

Italian historian, Marcello De Cecco has specified:

"Italians, as it is known, were a people of emigrants. For many centuries, they spread out into the four corners of the
world. Nevertheless only in two countries, they constitute the majority of the population: in Italy and in Argentina..."
—Marcello De Cecco (La Repubblica de Italia).

Causes of Immigration

Italian Immigrants

Immigrants Hotel in the port of Buenos Aires currently Immigration Museum

The cause of Italian people emigration towards the Argentina were diverse:
The weak capacity of adjustment of the Italian economy to the industrial revolution. The modernization did not manage to
overcome structural problems of organization.
The crises of subsistence between 1816 and 1817.
The epidemics of cholera in the following periods: 1835-37; 1854-55; 1865-67; 1884-85.
The downswing of the welfare organs.
The monetary penuries arisen from the high tax rates and the usury. It was necessary that departs from the family was
emigrating to obtain external earnings that were allowing to overcome the above mentioned penuries. It is because of it
that many immigrants were sending part of their income to the family that had stayed in Italy to be able to raise the
mortgages that were weighing on their lands.
The complex adjustment of the craftsmen to the industrial process. Before the inability to compete with the industry, they
emigrate to support the form of production in still not developed countries that were valuing the "art". Many people were
cobblers, tailors, leather workers, who were overcome by the industrial production.
The consequences of World War I and World War II

Italian Influences

Homage to the Immigrant, in Rosario, Argentina.

Language
According to Ethnologue, Argentina has more than 1,500,000 Italian speakers; this tongue is the second most spoken
language in the nation.

In spite of the great many Italian immigrants, the Italian language never truly took hold in Argentina, in part because at the
time the great majority of Italians spoke only their local Italian dialect and not the unified, standard Italian. This prevented
any expansion of the use of the Italian language as a primary language in Argentina. The similarity of the Italian dialects
with Spanish also enabled the immigrants to assimilate, by using the Spanish language, with relative ease.

Rioplatense Spanish
Italian immigration from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century made a lasting and
significant impact on the intonation of Argentina's vernacular Spanish. Preliminary research has shown that Rioplatense
Spanish, and particularly the speech of the city of Buenos Aires, has intonation patterns that resemble those of Italian
dialects, and differ markedly from the patterns of other forms of Spanish. This correlates well with immigration patterns as
Argentina, and particularly Buenos Aires, had huge numbers of Italian settlers since the 19th century.

According to a study conducted by National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina, and published in
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (ISSN 1366-7289). The researchers note that this is relatively recent phenomenon,
starting in the beginning of the 20th century with the main wave of Southern Italian immigration. Before that, the porteño
accent was more similar to that of Spain, especially Andalusia.

Lunfardo

Italian Immigrants Reunion in the Barrio of La Boca

Copy of a Colonization Contract in a History Museum in the Province of Entre Ríos

Much of Lunfardo arrived with European immigrants, such as Italians, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and Poles. It should
be noted that most Italian and Spanish immigrants spoke their regional languages and dialects and not standard Italian or
Spanish; other words arrived from the pampa by means of the gauchos; a small number originated in Argentina's native
population.

Most sources believe that Lunfardo originated in jails, as a prisoner-only argot. Circa 1900, the word lunfardo itself
(originally a deformation of lombardo in several Italian dialects) was used to mean "outlaw". Lunfardo words are inserted
in the normal flow of Rioplatense Spanish sentences. Thus, a Mexican reading tango lyrics will need, at most, the
translation of a discrete set of words, and not a grammar guide.

Tango lyrics use lunfardo sparsely, but some songs (such as El Ciruja, or most lyrics by Celedonio Flores) employ
lunfardo heavily. "Milonga Lunfarda" by Edmundo Rivero is an instructive and entertaining primer on lunfardo usage.

Examples
Parla - To speak (from the Italian parlare -to speak-)
Manyar - To know / to eat (from the Italian mangiare -to eat-)
Mina - Female (from the Italian femmina -Female-)
Morfar - To eat (from French argot morfer -to eat-)
Laburar - To work (from Italian lavorare - to work-)
Algo voy a cerebrar - I'll think something up (cerebrar from cerebro -brains-)
Chochamu - Young man (vesre for muchacho)
Gurí - Boy (from Guaraní -boy-) Feminine: gurisa - girl. Plural: gurises - kids
Garpar - to pay with money (vesre for "pagar" which means to pay)
Gomías - Friends (vesre for amigos)
Trucho - False/Fake/Not Real
Fiaca - laziness (from the Italian fiacco -weak-)
Engrupir - To fool someone (origin unknown, but also used in modern European and Brazilian Portuguese slang).
Junar - To look to / to know (from Caló junar -to hear-)

Cocoliche
Between about 1880 and 1900, Argentina received a large number of peasants who arrived with little or no schooling in
the Spanish language. As those immigrants strove to communicate with the local criollos, they produced a variable
mixture of Spanish with Italian and Italian dialects. This pidgin language was given the derogatory name cocoliche by the
locals.

Since the children of the immigrants grew up speaking Spanish at school, work, and military service, Cocoliche remained
confined mostly to the first generation immigrants, and slowly fell out of use. The pidgin has been depicted humorously in
literary works and in the Argentine sainete theater, e.g. by Dario Vittori.

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Italian Products

Lasagne

Lasagna (singular, pronounced [laˈzaɲa] in Italian; plural lasagne pronounced [laˈzaɲe]) is both a form of pasta in sheets
(sometimes rippled, though seldom so in Northern Italy) and also a dish, sometimes named lasagne al forno (meaning
"oven-cooked lasagne") made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese, and often ragù (a meat sauce) or tomato sauce. In
Italy the dish is called "Lasagne" and not "Lasagna".

The word lasagna, which originally applied to a cooking pot, now simply describes the food itself. Most English-speaking
people follow the Italian usage and use the plural "lasagne" to refer to both the dish and the pasta, but Americans
commonly use the singular "lasagna".

Variants

"Lasagne verdi" (green lasagne); made with spinach and cheese.

Various recipes call for several kinds of cheese, most often ricotta and mozzarella. Mozzarella is made in the Naples
region so the use of these two cheeses is typical of Lasagne dishes made in Naples or further south.

Lasagne alla Bolognese uses only Parmigiano Reggiano, Bolognese meat ragù and a nutmeg flavored béchamel sauce
(besciamella). Classic Bologna lasagne are always made with Lasagne verde (green lasagne) which is the normal egg
pasta with spinach added, though in other towns of Emilia-Romagna the lasagne need not be green.

Today there are hundreds if not thousands of variants of lasagna from artichoke spinach lasagna to spicy chipotle
lasagna. The dish lends itself favorably to many creative changes of ingredients by the home cook as well as the chef.
Other variations include vegetarian or seafood versions of the dish.

Łazanki is a similar dish made in eastern Europe.

Origin

Rippled Sheets of Pasta are common in North America, but not in Italy.

Although the dish is generally believed to have originated in Italy, the word "lasagna" is derived from the Greek word
λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot". The Romans later borrowed the
word as "lasanum", in Latin, to mean cooking pot. The Italians then used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagna is
made. It wasn't long before the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish.

Another theory suggests that lasagna might have come from Greek λάγανον (laganon), a kind of flat sheet of pasta dough
cut into stripes.

The recipe was featured in the first cookbook ever written in England, leading to an urban legend that the dish originated
in the British Isles. The claim is dubious, due to the much earlier Roman use of "lasanum", and the Italian embassy in
London particularly speaks out against such theories.

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Italian Latest News

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Famous Italians

Alessandro Manzoni

Born: 7 March 1785 (1785-03-07)
Milano (Milan), Italy
Died: 22 May 1873 (aged 88)
Milano (Milan), Italy
Occupation: Poet, Novelist
Genres: Lyric, Tragedy, Novel, Essays
Literary movement: Romantic

Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni (March 7, 1785 – May 22, 1873) was an Italian poet and novelist.
He is famous for the novel The Betrothed, one of the major works of Italian literature.

Biography
Manzoni was born in Milano (Milan), Italy, on March 7, 1785. Pietro, his father, aged about fifty, belonged to an old family of
Lecco, originally feudal lords of Barzio, in the Valsassina. The poet's maternal grandfather, Cesare Beccaria, was a well-
known author, and his mother Giulia had literary talent as well.

Alessandro Manzoni was a slow developer, and at the various colleges he attended, he was considered a dunce. At
fifteen, however, he developed a passion for poetry, and wrote two sonnets of considerable merit. Upon the death of his
father in 1805, he joined his mother at Auteuil, and spent two years mixing with the literary set of the so-called
"ideologues", philosophers of the 18th century school, among whom he made many friends, notably Claude Charles
Fauriel. There too he imbibed the anti-Catholic creed of Voltairianism, and only after his marriage, under the influence of
his wife, did he exchange it for a fervent Catholicism.

In 1806-1807, while at Auteuil, he first appeared before the public as a poet, with two pieces, one entitled Urania, in the
classical style, of which he became later the most conspicuous adversary, the other an elegy in blank verse, on the death
of Count Carlo Imbonati, from whom, through his mother, he inherited considerable property, including the villa of
Brusuglio, thenceforward his principal residence.

Manzoni's marriage in 1808 to Henriette Blondel, daughter of a Genevese banker, proved a most happy one, and he led for
many years a retired domestic life, divided between literature and the picturesque husbandry of Lombardy. His intellectual
energy of this period in his life was devoted to the composition of the Inni sacri, a series of sacred lyrics, and a treatise on
Catholic morality, forming a task undertaken under religious guidance, in reparation for his early lapse from faith. In 1818
he had to sell his paternal inheritance, as his money had been lost to a dishonest agent. His characteristic generosity was
shown on this occasion in his dealings with his peasants, who were heavily indebted to him. He not only cancelled on the
spot the record of all sums owed to him, but bade them keep for themselves the whole of the coming maize harvest.

In 1819, Manzoni published his first tragedy, Il Conte di Carmagnola, which, boldly violating all classical conventions,
excited a lively controversy. It was severely criticized in a Quarterly Review article to which Goethe replied in its
defence, "one genius," as Count de Gubernatis remarks, "having divined the other." The death of Napoleon in 1821
inspired Manzoni's powerful stanzas Il Cinque maggio, one of the most popular lyrics in the Italian language. The political
events of that year, and the imprisonment of many of his friends, weighed much on Manzoni's mind, and the historical
studies in which he sought distraction during his subsequent retirement at Brusuglio suggested his great work.

Round the episode of the Innominato, historically identified with Bernardino Visconti, the novel The Betrothed (in Italian I
Promessi sposi) began to grow into shape, and was completed in September 1822. The work when published, after being
revised by friends in 1825-1827, at the rate of a volume a year, at once raised its author to the first rank of literary fame. It
is generally agreed to be his greatest work, and the paradigm of modern Italian language. In 1822, Manzoni published his
second tragedy, Adelchi, turning on the overthrow by Charlemagne of the Lombard domination in Italy, and containing
many veiled allusions to the existing Austrian rule. With these works Manzoni’s literary career was practically closed. But
he laboriously revised The Betrothed in the Tuscan idiom, and in 1840 republished it in that form, with a historical essay,
La Storia della Colonna infame, on details of the XVII century plague in Milano (Milan) so important in the novel. He also
wrote a small treatise on the Italian language.

Statue of Alessandro Manzoni in Milano (Milan), Italy.

The death of Manzoni's wife in 1833 was followed by those of several of his children, and of his mother. In the mid 1830s
he attended the "Salotto Maffei" salons in Milano (Milan), hosted by Clara Maffei, and in 1837 he married again, to Teresa
Borri, widow of Count Stampa. Teresa also died before him, while of nine children born to him in his two marriages all but
two pre-deceased him. The death of his eldest son, Pier Luigi, on April 28, 1873, was the final blow which hastened his
end; he fell ill immediately, and died of cerebral meningitis. His funerals were celebrated in the church of San Marco, with
almost royal pomp. His remains, after lying in state for some days, were followed to the Cimitero Monumentale in Milano
(Milan) by a vast cortege, including the royal princes and all the great officers of state. But his noblest monument was
Guiseppe Verdi's Requiem, written to honour his memory.

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ITALIAN LANGUAGE: Lessons of Italian Grammar, Spelling, and Usage: Definite Article
- Indefinite Article
ITALIAN GENEALOGY: How to Find Places of your Ancestors and Living Relatives in
Italy
ITALIAN REGIONS: Basilicata (Lucania)
ITALIAN PROVINCES: Potenza - Matera
ITALIAN RECIPES: Linguine with Eggplant and Mushroom Sauce - Chopped Italian
Salad - Wild Mushroom Crostini
ITALIAN HISTORY: Italo-Argentini (Italian-Argentines)
FAMOUS ITALIANS: Alessandro Manzoni
ITALIAN COMPANIES: Benetton
ITALIAN PRODUCTS: Lasagne
ITALIAN LATEST NEWS: Life in Italy

In This Issue:

Issue # 10, October 2008

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Italian Recipes

Wild Mushroom Crostini

Ingredients
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1 loaf long Italian bread, sliced 1/4 inch thick on the diagonal
Extra-virgin olive oil, for bread
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 pounds assorted wild mushrooms, such as shiitake,
cremini, oyster, and chanterelle, cut into 3/8-inch slices

Cooking Directions
In a bowl, combine dried porcini and 1 1/2 cups hot water.
Let sit until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from soaking
liquid. Carefully pour off liquid, leaving sediment in bowl;
reserve liquid. Coarsely chop porcini.
Chop together garlic, parsley, and salt.
Make crostini by grilling or toasting bread under broiler.
Brush lightly with extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt
and pepper.
In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1
tablespoon oil over medium-low heat. Add porcini, shallots,
and thyme, and cook, stirring often, until shallots wilt, about
10 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Add wine,
and cook over medium-high heat until liquid is almost
completely reduced, 5 to 7 minutes. Add reserved porcini
liquid, and cook until almost completely reduced again, 5 to
7 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a small bowl, and
set aside.
Rinse skillet, dry, and return to high heat. Starting with the
firmest, cook wild mushrooms in two batches using a
tablespoon of butter and oil for each batch. Season well
with salt and pepper, and reduce heat to medium. Cook,
stirring often, until mushrooms are nearly tender, 5 to 10
minutes. Keep in a large bowl while second batch cooks.
Return all the mushrooms to the pan. Add porcini and
parsley mixtures. Cook over medium-high heat until garlic
gives off an aroma, 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust seasonings, and
remove pan from heat.
Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and serve with crostini, or
spoon a bit of the mushroom mixture on each slice of
crostini and arrange on a plate.

Yield
15 servings

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Italian Recipes

Linguine with Eggplant
and Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1/2 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade
stock
3/4 pound linguine

Cooking Directions
In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil
over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring
occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to moderately high and add another
tablespoon of the oil to the pan. Add the mushrooms and
cook, stirring, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to moderate. Add the remaining tablespoon
of oil to the pan. Stir in the eggplant and cook, stirring
occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the salt, cayenne, thyme,
tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat
and simmer, covered, until the eggplant is very tender,
about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the
linguine until just done, about 12 minutes. Drain; toss with
the sauce.

Yield
4 servings

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