One of the things I like about Italians is their public recognition of hypocritical conduct by religious figures, especially around the issues of overindulgence. It’s food all over again.
The picture to the left is a Presepe figure of a monk. It’s my favorite. Tickling him with your mouse and clicking will make him much, much bigger.
Monks, you see, are supposed to live the simple life. They often take vows of poverty and of silence. But in their Christmas cribs, Italians have a way of reflecting life as it is, not as it was supposed to be. Our monk seems to have gotten used to living the good life.
Food itself can be the vehicle for this “knowing wink” of the faithful. I was reminded of this from Serena, who writes of The Priest Stranglers, a gnocchi dish allegedly given the name gli Strozzapreti because of the fervor with which a parishioner’s gnocchi were consumed by a visiting priest, who might shove enough of the free food down his greedy gullet to choke himself to death. Sure is a more colorful name for a dish than “Spinach Dumplings with Herbs” in any case.
In America, we accept greed as part of a modern “Christianity” which seems to have been built solely around selective misreadings of Leviticus. On television, religious figures sit on golden thrones, dispensing their vindictive advice to all who can stomach it. Whatever happened to the simple life, the turning of the other cheek, the love of neighbors?
In Italy, it’s all in the gnocchi.