Google Becomes an Artisan with Made in Italy

Google’s Made in Italy page was recently published online and it is spectacular.

It is an enthralling encyclopedia of handmade Italian products that cannot be easily copied anywhere in the world. 

The information is so replete that most Italy buffs will certainly discover a few surprises themselves. Browse by map location, category, or view the entire slide and click for an in-depth look.

In its efforts to clarify and inform, Google shows us what mozzarella really looks like (to taste it, you should look for it in the Regions of Campania, Apulia, Molise and Lazio). Most of what you eat that is labeled mozzarella in the U.S., for instance, just doesn’t cut it once you’ve had the real deal. And how could it? How many water buffalo milking establishments have you seen back home?

Besides Mozzarella di Bufala, some of my personal favorites are Velvet from Nuoro, Umbrian Knitwear, Grosseto Saddles, Mozzarella di Bufala, and Goldsmithery of Crotone.

The Google Made in Italy page is very details-oriented when it comes to history and techniques.

The fact that certified and protected Made in Italy food, fashion, and other artisan products are ruled by intense, longstanding traditions that intertwine with the history and culture, climate and topography of any given spot on the map really hits home once you have been in Italy for a while. Having said that, Google’s new addition is excellent both as a primer and tool for further learning.

You can see it all at Google Made in Italy.

By the way, Italy’s official website for tourism, Italia.it, contains its own articles on Gastronomy and Made in Italy, and they are bursting with information and photos: I particularly like Emilia Romagna, Formula1 and Ferrari; Italy in Fashion; Sorrento and Limoncello and Turin and Its ChocolateTradition. The site is also social, so stay updated and  enjoy a little bit of Italy everyday via Facebook and Twitter.

Enjoy!

Fantasy and Caput Mundi

via Capo d'Africa, 
Watercolor by Andy Devane

In case it were not already obvious, I find no end to my love for the Mediterranean, a reality formed by the rise and fall of civilizations, the movements, migrations and conquests of a thousand cultures and populations. 

The Persians ruled its eastern end 550-330 B.C.E. Outside of modern-day Lebanon, the Phoenicians managed to call parts of Tunisia, Morocco, Spain and Sardinia their own, from the 8^th to 6^th Centuries B.C.E., while at the same time, the Greeks formed colonies in modern-day Egypt, Sicily, southern Italy and southern France.

Of course the Romans conquered all, and Rome and much of Italy itself – traversed as they have been by Arabs, Greeks, Swabians, Normans, Byzantines, Ottomans and Spaniards – are synonymous with the rest of the multi-cultural hotbed that is the great and passionate sea that hosts it. 

Gold Sunset, 
Andy Devane

The fact that the Mediterranean was such a prolific crossroads leaves one in disbelief every time when confronted with the beauty and rich historical detail residing deep inside its languages and dialects, music and architecture, food and spirit, and like it or not, its complex – and sometimes maddening – mentalities.

So far I have created one or two short posts holding a candle up to artists whose work is in the spirit of the blog: those who open to us a window onto the historic passages and conquests of this magnificent and beautiful personage that touches three continents.

I have posted much less than I would have liked to on similarly-inspiring singers/writers/creators. Thus, I actually think it’s high time I did it again!

Statues Underwater, 
Andy Devane

(Click below to read more...)