Category Archives: veneto

M&M Enterprise Cooking, Vol. XVIII

Posted on November 16, 2018 by hnbjr

Ragú Redux Ragù. Pride of Emilia-Romagna, the rich, wine-and-broth simmered stuff which is indescribably comforting on a cold, foggy day in the Valpadana. And of course, a testament to its inherent goodness is its bastardization worldwide as “meat sauce” or, … Continue reading →

Posted in food, italy, veneto | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“San Martino, ogni mosto diventa vino”

Posted on November 11, 2018 by hnbjr

Republishing this for the 103rd anniversary of Armistice Day — It’s not only the 100th anniversary of Armistice, now Veterans, Day, it’s also San Martino, an autumnal feast day in Italy that celebrates not only the fourth-century patron saint of … Continue reading →

Posted in italy, poesia, veneto | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Amid What Bells Do You Appear Rovigo?

Posted on April 26, 2014 by hnbjr

April’s poetry discovery was that Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert has not only a poem, but an entire volume entitled Rovigo, with the eponymous poem being indeed about that small town in Veneto midway between mythical Venice and sumptuous Bologna where I … Continue reading →

Posted in italy, veneto | 2 Comments

So you want to write a book?

Posted on April 16, 2011 by hnbjr

Tim Parks stands out from most expatriate writers on Italy by choosing to write about the daily realities of a life lived among regular people. Lesser writers are enchanted into irrelevance by the cultural, gastronomic and sartorial consumption opportunities afforded … Continue reading →

Posted in italy, literature, tim parks, veneto | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Friday AM Roundup

Posted on February 18, 2011 by hnbjr

What’s great about Friday morning?  Having the Economist placed at your feet.  And even though this is a blog, sometimes it takes having the paper placed in your hands to do a good scan. Premesso’s not-quite week in review, drawn … Continue reading →

Posted in art, Balkans, Bossi, electoral crisis, eu, film, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, macedonia, obama, the italian left, the italian right, the right in europe, veneto | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Italian Neighbors

Posted on November 20, 2010 by hnbjr

It’s been a long time since I’ve stayed up late to finish a book. But Tim Parks, with his impeccable rural Veneto credentials, has long fascinated me, and I finally got hold of his Italian Neighbors. To his credit, I … Continue reading →

Posted in lega nord, literature, macedonia, veneto | Tagged , , | 1 Comment