Skinning a cat...

...apparently, there is more than one way of doing it. Beppe Bigazzi, the well-known Italian TV foodie, would know. Beppe is one of our favourite TV personalities. He has a slot on the midday program on RAI 1, La Prova del Cuoco, which is basically a re-hashed version of Ready Steady Cook with knobs on. In his ten minutes he usually talks about regional Italian foods - the best salami one week, cheese another; he tends to prattle on endlessly while the presenter (a former Miss Italy) vainly tries to steer him in the right direction. Anyway, the other day, instead of keeping to the usual format, he decided it was time to share with the nation his favourite recipe for cooking...cat!


A famous dish in the Valdarno region of Tuscany, better than chicken or pigeon, or so he claims. It's casseroled in case you're interested. He has now been suspended following huge numbers of complaints, which is a real shame - we spent at least an hour last night wandering around San Lorenzo with a fishing net looking for dinner...


(don't worry, that's not cat he's holding)

For the full story (or The Times' version of it) look here. A campaign is sure to be started.

Bombay dreams!

Last night we had a great night out in Pigneto. We started with glasses of red wine and a delicious platter of bits and bobs at Bar Necci - one of the best places in Rome (see below). Then we went to the amazing Tiger Tandoori just around the corner. Like desert travellers stumbling towards an oasis of spicey goodness, for once we were in our culinary element and knew much more about what was going on than most of the people there. The Fritti Misti - mixed fried stuff (pappadums, bhajis, samosas, etc.) - were immense and looked great served on a wooden board. The Chicken Tikka Masala, Goan Fish Curry with Idli, and the Kingfisher were all splendid. We feel properly topped up now.



The inside of Tiger Tandoori is a great mix of eye-popping decor, retro Bollywood posters and diner-esque vinyl-covered booths. Very cool. When we read up about it this morning we were unsurprised to discover that the people behind the rejuvenation of Bar Necci also set up Tiger Tandoori.

SNOWPOCALYPSE! Neve a Roma

Never in our lives did we think we would see this...



When we woke up this morning we had a powercut, which was very odd. But even odder, outside it was snowing! Madness. We jumped straight on a bus, but by the time we had got into the centre of town it had nearly stopped. We decided to go to the Capitoline Museums (no point going home to a cold and dark flat), only for the snow to start again when we were in there. We rushed out and managed to photograph the Forum in snow.




We then headed straight to the Pantheon, since it's been a lifetime ambition of Ben's to see snow coming through the hole in the top. Motorini were sliding everywhere, people were running out of shops and restaurants, and snowballs were whizzing around (think how mad people go in the UK when this happens, and snow is a lot more common there!).



Well that's one thing ticked off the list then. This winter has just been snowtastic, everywhere!

Casa di DIANA

We just got back our latest batch of photos from our lovely Diana camera. Opening the pack to see if they have come out or not is quite frightening for two people who have got so used to digital cameras; and we tend to forget what's on the films! Anyway, here are some shots from a sunny Ostia in January - fittingly one of the best-known sites at Ostia is the House of Diana!

Freaky fauna (or animals what shouldn't be here)

Now, we're as much fans of animals in funny places as the next person. But, seriously, parrots in Rome? There are loads of these noisy little green chaps in Rome now. We've seen them in Villa Borghese, on the Janiculum and in Pigneto of all places, the Bohemian pests.


Apparently, they're also in London now. They'll be everywhere soon. In fact, this reminds me of when a parrot landed in a tree outside Rachel's office in Reading and she phoned Facilities to tell them that it looked 'sad' - they phoned the RSPB, who said there was nothing to be done. Shame on them.

But better than parrots: beavers! Beavers, on the Tiber. We spotted these cheeky little rodents paddling around near the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II a couple of years ago and we've been keeping our eyes peeled ever since.



No idea where they came from - maybe washed down river in the flood waters - but I hope they come back.

(This is the bit when some random specialist in Italian wildlife pipes up to tell us that beavers are in fact very common in Italy, like pigeons, or worse, that these are in fact just big rats... We'd never live it down...)

Amendment: Oh!! Now we know what they are! They are coypu! Basically, beavers but not quite. In Italian they are called 'castorino', little beavers. Apparently they escaped from fur farms and were also introduced into parts of Italy in the early 20th century. Phew - now we can all sleep sounder at night.

The Society of Big-Eaters!

A.S. Roma are now second in Serie A.
This may not mean much to many of you, but it means a lot to us. You see, the better Roma do, the less sleep we get. On match nights the social club across the road is packed out and screams and shouts greet every goal; we don't even need to leave the house. And since the boys in red and gold having been doing alright of late, the party has continued out on our street until way into the night.

To be honest, I'm happy to loose some sleep so long as they keep on winning (Rachel, incidently, is largely ambivalent). Both of us, though, are now massive fans of the A.S. Roma hymn. Like all good football songs, it's wondrously camp.
Some extracts:

...Roma, beautiful Roma,
I painted you
yellow like the sun,
red like my heart!

Roma, my Roma,

...you were born great
and great you have to remain!
...Roma, Roma, Roma,
heart of this city,
one and only love
of many and many people,
you made us fall in love!

Good stuff, no? But even better, is a second song that I found on an A.S. Roma fansite. This one, the 'hymn of Roman people' apparently, is called La societa' dei magnaccioni or 'The Society of Big-Eaters'. Amazing. The key lines (in the Roman dialect and then in English):

La societa' de li magnaccioni,

la societa' de la gioventu',

a noi ce piace

da magna' e beve

e nun ce piace da lavora'...

(or)

The society of big-eaters,

the society of the youth,

what we like

is to eat and to drink

and what we don't like is to work...

The above has been officially adopted as the motto of the Russell-Wilson household. Rachel is scratching it above the door as I write. But, what does it sound like you ask? Listen for yourselves here (and it's the karaoke version!).