Falling out of love
Plus Eco-Mafia and Alex Sakalis heads to FICO
Back in the summer of 2022, when the national election campaigns were in full swing, two of Italy’s most outspoken politicians, the ex-PM Matteo Renzi and liberal posterboy Carlo Calenda, made a dramatic decision. They were - or so they announced - faced with no choice but to break ranks with colleagues in the Partito Democratico (PD) once and for all. They and their minor parties (Azione and Italia Viva) would not campaign with or go into coalition with the PD and Five Star Movement. Instead, they pledged to make their own ‘Terzo Polo’ (Third Pole) which, according to the PR, would provide a new, safe haven for rational minded democrats. Well, look how that all turned out. Not only did the Terzo Polo win just 7% of the vote last year, making it’s flop the largest single factor in Giorgia Meloni’s ascension to power, it also drove a wedge between the two liberal leaders themselves. This week, after months of low level bickering between Calenda and Renzi, the ‘Third Pole’ collapsed entirely. And while the reasons are multiple - the former’s brazen embrace of right, the latter’s arms dealing in Saudi, the rise of Elly Schlein in the PD - it all boils down to the same underlying motive. This was a narcissistic project from the beginning, a failed power grab from two self-interested and careerist leaders. And it’s now come to an appropriately narcissistic and entirely predictable end. Readers with a strong stomach may well enjoy poring over the protagonists’ public emails and texts and tweets, but I think for most of us it’s the headline that matters most. Farewell Terzo Polo. You will not be missed.
Ahh Italy. The bel paese. “The beautiful country”. Europe’s top-ranking nation for biodiversity. A country with the highest number and density of both animal and plant species in the EU. There is another side to this romantic vision, however. Because Italy is also a country plagued by poor environmental wellbeing. A country with high rates of smog. A country which faces some of the worst forest fires on the continent and where fly tipping and illegal dumping are present in every region. One of the most serious and under-discussed threats to all life here, and the icing on cake in terms of environmental destruction, is the so-called ‘eco-mafia’. I was reminded of this once again the other day, reading the following local news story. Last week, the carabinieri in Campania announced that, for two years, they have been monitoring an area of land in the foothills around Mount Vesuvius where criminal groups are known to be dumping chemical waste. According to the investigations, which began in 2021, nine individuals linked to organised crime have been forging permits in order to pick up industrial waste from companies on the false claim that they have access to a safe means of disposal. Instead, these men have simply been dumping the materials illegally into the mud around the Sarno river which, according to scientists, is currently contaminated with asbestos, kerosene and Isopropanol (solvent). Yes, this is a disgusting and shameful story, and a sad reminder of how far-reaching the consequences of bad government and mafia power are in today’s Italy. Because sometimes, let’s face it, the bel paese… is very brutto indeed.
Another environment story that’s worth keeping an eye on. The Guardian has just published a piece about the small town of Piombino where, as Tuscan readers might be aware already, local residents have been mobilizing to challenge the government’s recent decision to use the historic port to harbour a giant gas ship called the Golar Tundra. The economic rationale, according to policy makers, is to use the ship to ‘re-gasify’ across the Mediterranean without need for a new pipeline; thereby compensating for Russian sourced natural gas shortfall. The problems, as campaigners have pointed out, are multiple. First, as the mayor himself has been complaining, the sufficient safety checks have not yet been conducted. And indeed, even the project’s administrators admit they do not yet have the full picture in terms of possible impact on the ecosystems. Environmental activists also have other reasons to oppose the project: not only is the area around Piombino home to 60% of Italy’s fish nurseries, it is also an area rich in marine biodiversity. SNAM, the gas company which owns the Golar Tundra, insists that “the concentrations of chlorine will settle on very low values without interfering with agro-fishing or other activities,” but this is hardly reassuring for those of us who eat Italian fish, or, god forbid, care about the animals themselves. For more details and a nuanced, informed take, read the full story here.
Arts and culture: the wrong side of the tracks
Since it opened in a suburb of Bologna back in 2017 FICO - Eataly’s flagship superstore - has been at the centre of a furious debate about culinary authenticity, invented tradition, capitalism and postmodern consumer culture. Well now, five years on, the so-called “Disneyland of Italian Food” appears to be in financial (and arguably spiritual) trouble. Alex Sakalis has published a hard hitting piece for Italy Magazine about his experience there which, understandably, pulls few punches. Based on Alex’s experience, the place is a mess, conceptually incoherent, vulgar and increasingly unsure even of it’s own dubious narrative-spinning. The full piece is worth reading I think - to truly grasp the scale of this failure - but the following passage particularly hit home the absurdity of the venture to me: “if it’s authentic food experiences you’re after, then the centro storico of Bologna is home to one of Italy’s most beautiful and historic food markets, a bustling place which always has a sense of magic and wonder about it. FICO’s food markets, by contrast, are in a sterile hangar in an unappealing suburb next to the big Decathlon store.” Well put Alex. And what a mess! Read the full story here.
Vinicio Capossela is and has long been my favourite Italian cantautore [singer songwriter]. Born in Germany in the 1960s - the child of emigrants from Irpinia - the poet and multi-instrumentalist has a unique gift among contemporary Italian folk artists (in my view) in that he succeeds in valorising peasant traditions and the rural life of his ancestors in a way that is fully conversant with the realities of the modern world and modern music industry. His new single - La parte del torto [on the wrong side] - is the first cut from his forthcoming album and it’s a banging mix of Campanian-inspired melody lines, spaghetti western ambient textures and Bob Dylan inspired growling. I’ve just bought myself some tickets for the summer tour and can’t wait. So join me on 7 July if you’re in town, in Fiesole’s Roman amphitheatre! Tickets are 20 euros. If not, or if you don’t know his work, hit up the back catalogue on Spotify.
Recipe of the week: Chicken Cutlets with Grana Padano and Black Pepper
I don’t know about you but I do love a good cutlet. Breaded meat, fish, vegetables are a staple in my kitchen; served, ideally, with a contorno or two of fresh seasonal salads. Well, a couple of weeks ago I tried my hand at a minor variation on a tried-and-tested theme: chicken coated in the usual crumbs but with the addition of grana padano cheese and black pepper. I started out with this recipe from Saveur but made a personal tweak of quintupling the amount of pepper — to basically make a kind of pseudo-Roman-cacio-e-pepe-inspired casing. The result, I thought, was really effective, and exceeded all expectations. I served this to family alongside some pickled red cabbage and stewed green beans in creme fraiche a couple of weeks ago back and it all seemed to go down well! This one’s the dish of the spring so far for me. So here’s the link again.
About Me
My name is Jamie Mackay (@JacMackay) and I’m an author, editor and translator based in Florence. I’ve been writing about Italy for a decade for international media including The Guardian, The Economist, Frieze, and Art Review. I launched ‘The Week in Italy’ to share a more direct and regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds.
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