A MINTy Evening
MINT is an exhibition.
Oddly enough, this exhibition, which goes by the name ‘MINT’, has nothing to do with the sweet, although you could say that it is quite refreshing. Sorry, I could not resist. And my weak attempts at associating the MINT event and the sweet have fallen on deaf ears where Italians are concerned. Not many Italians, it would seem, are able to understand the connection between ‘MINT’ and mint, or ‘menta’ as they say here in Italy.
Must be my quirky English sense of humour. Oh well.
Anyway, MINT does not stand for anything apart from MIlan INTernational, and this will most probably not help you to understand just what this event is all about. So, I’ll shed some light on this mysterious happening.
Basically, MINT is all about antiques and art, both the old stuff and that, sometimes odd, modern stuff.
Last night I was lucky enough to attend the inauguration of MINT (my other half works in the trade - such sweet luck!) and it was not at all bad. First of all, this exhibition is held in what is, to all intents and purposes, a large tent, situated to the rear of Milan’s castle. In the foggy Milanese winter evenings, this location is certainly rather atmospheric, and so it should be in a way, seeing as the items on display are just about all available for purchase, at, wait for it, atmospheric prices.
By way of example, there was a fabulous two and a half metre high portrait of a poor woman on show. This gem was on offer at around one million Euros. I was sorely tempted, but the size of the thing put me off rather, oh, and then there was the minor problem relating to finding the odd million Euros. That old cash flow problem again. Oh well, never mind. Maybe I could negotiate the price down a wee bit, by say ninety nine percent?
Although my own finances may be limited, there were plenty of well dressed Italians there, many of whom, I suspect would have been able to stump up the odd million or so. Indeed, talking of expensive paintings, there were some lovely images of Venice on display. I did not even inquire as to the price. And, no, I cannot remember the artists.
I believe that this event is open to the public from the 21 / 26 November 2007, between 12 a.m. and 9 p.m.. If you would like to know a little more, then the MINT site may interest you, and it is here (in English).
If are into art and you do manage to find your way there, then you may well like what you see. I did, and I am not really into art.
The Gorgonzola of the Gods
Sometimes in your life you make a discovery. For me, this discovery was made yesterday at the Via Paolo Sarpi street fair here in Milan. I espied this interesting looking cheese from afar, and its odd red coloured granular coating caught my eye. Upon closer inspection I realised that the cheese was probably a form of Gorgonzola, a cheese which is already known internationally. Well, I like Gorgonzola, so I could not resist trying this interesting looking ‘formaggio’. I was not disappointed, for it was delectable, delicious and dangerously moreish, but also real treat to savour.
The dark red granular coating or rind, and I know not how it is made, was derived from a mix of woodland fruits. This coating gave the cheese an exquisite odour. A sort of sweet fragrance that probably would have been more appropriate had it been emanating from some exotic Italian or French woman’s perfume, not from a cheese, of all things! But this was no perfume, this was a cheese. And it was not your usual Gorgonzola either, this was made from ‘capra’ - goat’s milk. It is the one of the finest cheeses I think I have ever tasted, certainly the best Gorgonzola in the world, bar none.
Unlike normal Gorgonzola, this variety, apart from it’s most un-Gorgonzola like fragrance, was lighter and more subtly flavoured. This is the kind of cheese that should be grace the tables of all of the finest restaurants in the world, Italian or otherwise. It looks so wonderful and tastes as good that anywhere not having this cheese really cannot lay claim to having the best food in the world. This is the Angelina Jolie of cheeses, a cheese superstar. An A-list product, if ever there was one. Delectable, delightful - you get the idea.
Knowing I was on to a good thing, as do those in Atlanta, London, and Barcelona, where this cheese is exported, I grabbed the information sheet that the company making this delightful cheese kindly provided. I could feel a blog post coming on.
The company that makes this cheesy delicacy, called Lo Sciur (Sciur - pronounced like ’sure’ - means Sir in Bergamo dialect) trades as La Via Lattea, and is based in Brignano Gera d’Adda (near Bergamo) and it has a web site which is here. You can email them on lavialattea [at] libero dot it
And here is La Via lattea’s address and telephone number:
La Via lattea, Brignano Gera d’Adda (Bergamo area)
Via Provinciale per Verdello,33. Telephone and fax: 0039 0363 817001 - ask to speak to Valentina Canò, who is the owners wife, and who speaks English, or ask for Lorenzo, her son, should Ms Canò not be around.
Unsurprisingly, this small company has already won recognition in Italy for its goats milk based products, but it should be recognised at an international level for this ‘frutti di bosco’ - woodland fruits - Gorgonzola alone. This is just the sort of Italian product I want to tell the world about. And no, they are not paying me for this, they did not even know about this post, but they do now.
As a matter of interest, La Via lattea’s products are distributed in London by La Machiavelli Ltd, 102/104 Machiavelli House, Stewarts Road, London - telephone: 0044 207 498 0880, and you can try asking for Patricia. Here is the Machiavelli Food website.
How about a book on Italian cheese:
And before you ask, I have a piece of this gorgeous Gorgonzola languishing in our fridge, and it is taking all my willpower to resist from wolfing the whole lot down, although I shall be heart broken once it is all gone, I can tell you. In fact, it is rather painful writing this, the temptation is proving too strong. I cannot resist. I MUST have another piece. NOW!
Gianpietro Carlesso - pure creativity
Gianpietro Carlesso is an Italian sculptor from Bolzano, which is in the north east of Italy. I have just completed another translation for him about the item on the left.
It is a work he is entering in a competition dedicated to sculptures in steel- the European Contest for Monumental Sculpture in Steel - Art is Steel.
I have to say that I think it is a fabulous creation and, even if he is unlucky enough not to win the contest, his creation is something I could easily imagine being placed at the entrance to Microsoft or Oracle’s worldwide headquarters. This sculpture really does capture the nexus between natural form and technology. The designs cut into the surface, which resemble some indecipherable language (his words, not mine, alas), give the sculpture a look that is at the very least quite alien, and at most highly futuristic, almost surreal, and always intriguing. It is the sort of thing that might descend from the sky one day and just hover silently just above the ground.
The finished article will not be small at 3 metres high, by 6 metres long and 4.5 metres wide, although I’d love to see it much much larger.
Gianpietro has done a lot of other sculptures and here are two other examples of his creativity. The wooden water sculpture really is striking and completely complements its environment. Take a look at this marvel:
Here is another shot of the same:
And last but not least, to finish off, something which could have acted, at least in part I suspect, as inspiration for the sculpture he is entering in the Art is Steel contest:
Sometimes creativity is wonderful, don’t you think? You can see some more examples of Gianpietro’s work here. Many thanks to Rob Tousain, in the Netherlands for the link.
Please Note:
Although I am more than happy to put people in touch with Gianpietro Carlesso, I feel as though I ought to point out that what could be seen as an attempting to ‘bypass’ local galleries that stock his work in order to possibly obtain a lower price will cause problems for Gianpietro Carlesso.
In much the same way as a business, Gianpietro uses distributors who sell work on his behalf. To an extent this means that such outlets have a form of ‘exclusive’ supply agreement with him.
If Gianpietro is seen to be avoiding such agreements, then he will end up with no distributors, and thus no outlets for his work. This means no income for him, or his family. This would be a shame, and it is the last thing I would wish to do, as I am sure you, my esteemed readers, will appreciate.
However, if you live in a country or town where Gianpietro has no distributors, then direct contacts are fine, especially if you wish to display or sell his work.
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