It’s the middle of January. At the time of writing, it is “Pesto Day”. Yes, Genoa wants you to know all about their “oily green sauce” (they need an English-speaking PR person, obviously, and it’s a rather odd time to celebrate, considering the climate, me thinks.)
Over 2,000 participating restaurants in roughly 40 countries will honor real Genovese pesto on January 17, marking the fourth annual International Day of Italian Cuisine (IDIC). Genovese pesto was chosen as the official dish of IDIC 2011, a worldwide celebration of authentic Italian food that will even see pesto-based Ligurian specialties served on 14 ships of the Italian cruise company Costa Crociere. ~ ‘Pesto Day’ set to be celebrated
I’ll be darned if I can find even a single leaf of basil here in California so that I might celebrate with the Gourmet Genovese. I mean, it’s winter, the danged climate doesn’t allow us fresh pesto this time of year—and I’d rather chow down on a big pile of somebody else’s eat ear wax than eat the bottled crap. Besides, Genovese pesto is tiny and easily whipped to a foam with the pestle.
(Here’s how to make pesto right)
All of this pesto trash talk brought me to thinking about the historic climate of Italy. I’ve been making and posting climate charts lately, so that you might get some idea of what kinda weather to expect on your Italian vacation, especially since you’re probably thinking of going in the off season when it’s marginally cheaper because even fairly well-off travelers can’t escape the fact that the rich people made a shambles of the economy with all their gambling but are unrepentant on account of being raised to think they deserve to make more money from nothing than everyone else possibly could.
Anyway, I assembled some historic climate charts for Palermo, along with one for water temperatures. Holy cow, I hadn’t realized that the water temperatures were so warm. No wonder the world tried to settle in Palermo: Arabs, Normans, Mafia types and so forth. The sea is a hot tub there. Sheesh, the temperatures are so moderated by the water that the highs and lows are hardly separated from each other. Check out the link to see what I mean; the stacked bar chart is hardly stacked.
I’m concentrating on islands for now, so I’ve made pages on Cagliari and Oristano in Sardinia. Islands are the most fascinating places in that once isolated cultures are, in a historical minute, suddenly forced to share their little bit of paradise with anyone who had the sense to build a warship in the Med when the technology became available. The mix of cultures makes things interesting. Or at least I think so.
By all means take your vacation in the off-season. They don’t want you to know it’s better than in the searing summer. Or at least I think so.
Dang, I’ve been thinking too much lately.