When a woman in Marino, a small Italian town south of Rome, turned on her kitchen tap, she got a spurt of wine instead of water. "Miracolo!" she shouted, and ran outside to tell others. Word quickly spread, and soon residents all over town were filling bottles and containers with Frascati, the local white wine made from trebbiano and malvasia grapes.

It turns out the wine wasn't blessed from above after all. Plumbers were supposed to have connected the 3,000 liters of Frascati to the town fountain for the annual harvest festival, but they accidentally hooked it to the water supply instead.

"People were calling it a miracle which it wasn't--it was a mistake," said mayor Adriano Palozzi. Mistake or miracle, I'd be pretty pleased if wine came out of my kitchen tap.

Preserved meat counter at an Ipercoop supermarket in Italy. From Flickr user cary b's Flickr.

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously-- Midnight Sausage: Donaueschingen, Germany

You heard it here first! As of June 1, the pig farmers of Italy are going on strike. That puts Parma ham, prosciutto, and Piacenza pork neck salami, as well as other Italian pork products, under threat.

The Italian farmers say their earnings have been cut in half, with falling pork prices and rising feed costs. They decided to strike when financial assistance talks with the government fell through earlier this month. Part of the strike calls for farmers to not recognize Protected Designation of Origin certificates, which then can't be sold under EU rules.

If you're a big fan of Italian pork products, you might want to think about stocking up. If the garbage strike in Naples is any indication, this could last for a while.

[Via ANSA]

Well, the reputation of Italian products has been suffering lately, and this latest news on olive oil doesn't help. Apparently a counterfeit olive oil ring was busted. They had been exporting "soya beans or sunflower seeds - some of it genetically modified - mixed with beta carotene and industrial chlorophyll" all dressed up as authentic Italian olive oil.

Police arrested 39 people and confiscated 25,000 liters of the fake oil. The authorities say the good news is that proper checks and new labeling laws are working to catch these counterfeiters. However some people in the Italian olive oil industry are worried that consumers will compare Italian products with the recent fiasco of Chinese exports. The prosecutor who ordered the arrests did say that the oil wasn't harmful, but that it was produced in facilities which weren't checked by the health department.

Unfortunately some people are always going to be on the lookout for ways to make a quick buck. All we can do is hope to not get caught up in it, or that it won't hurt us if we do.

The Italians must be pissed.

The European Court Justice ruled that Germany can keep calling that hard, salty, crumbly cheese often grated on top of pasta and pizza "parmesan." Italy and the European Commission had filed suit against Germany for labeling their non-Italian-made cheese as Parmesan even though it had not been made in the Italian region of Parma.

Wait, I'm pretty sure that the grated "Parmesan" they sell in those green-topped plastic bottles at the grocery store for $2.99 isn't from Parma either.

Europeans are crazy about labeling where a product is from. In some cases, wine for instance, it is more common for the product to be named after its originating region than it is to be named after what's actually in it. From now on, olive oil will have more specific labeling requirements as well.

The Coldiretti farmers union pressed the Italian government to pass a new law to include information on the label about where the olives were actually picked and pressed. They were upset about olive oils which claimed to be Italian but used olives from other country's around the Mediterranean. The new labeling information must also include what percentage of different olives were used in each product.

A consumer group called Codacons has endorsed the new law. They say that it helps to protect the consumer from fraud and poor quality olive oil. I say the more information on a label the better. Just make it clear and easy to read. Just because I want to know as much about the product I'm buying as possible doesn't mean I want to spend all day doing it.

[Via ColdMud]

Designboom, a mod blog devoted to the latest and greatest in product design, recently came out with the winners of its 2006 Dining in 2015 contest. The challenge was exactly as it sounds: to design a food-related product that would be useful in 2015 at work, in travel, or at home.

Chefs and designers from Italy and Japan judged the entires and came up with the top three and an honorable mention.

Let's start from the bottom and work up. The honorable mention [ed. note: shown in photo] was an eco-friendly solution to dinner prep: silicone and nylon triangle-shaped buckets that allow the cook to boil three different foods all in one pot, thereby saving energy, time, and water. I totally expect it to be selling out on QVC in no time.

Third place? A creative ceramic salt and pepper shaker that forces you to physically break open the canister to access the spices inside. The goal of the project? There isn't any, really, but we bet it's really, really fun to break open. Save it for a day when you're really pissed off at someone, and then smash away. (But don't get carried away - - then you'll just have a mess of salt, pepper, and white ceramic shards to clean up).

Mozzarella made from water buffalo is one of Italy's most important exports. Now that product is threatened. There has been an outbreak of Brucellosis, which is a bacterial disease affecting livestock. It leads to infertility, abortion and reduced milk production. It is estimated that up to 30% of the herd in the Naples area have been infected.

Though the Italian government has set up a commission to try to stop the spread of the disease, they are planning to begin slaughtering 32,000 infected water buffalo in the next two months. Apparently the problem has gotten bad in large part because the local mafia prevented the early cases from coming to light. Now the government is sending in armed police along with government veterinarians to get rid of the infected livestock.

This is a crisis for the farmers and makers of mozzarella di bufala. They are responsible for one of Italy's biggest exports, but they're about to lose a sizable portion of the water buffalo herds. Also, the disease may be transmitted to humans, so there may be some kind of scare. The cheese is actually safe to eat if the milk used to make it is pasteurized. Just look for pasteurized mozzarella di bufala and you will be fine.

[Via ColdMud.com]

Italy is in crisis! There's a public spending emergency! There is general mistrust of elected public officials!

There's no gelato at the Senate building?

Apparently, Italian senators Rocco Buttiglione and Albertina Soliani are campaigning to have Italian ice cream, "gelato," served in the cafeteria of the Senate building, claiming that it would "improve the quality of life" in the Senate.

I mean really. Don't these senators have more important issues to worry about than whether their favorite dessert is being offered in the cafeteria?

Looks like more food is being recalled, this time the kind humans eat.

The Food and Drug Administration is recalling olives by the Charlie Brown di Rutigliano & Figli. The Italian company bottles the olives under the names Borrelli, Cento, Flora, Roland, Vantia, Bonta di Puglia, Corrado's, Dal Raccolto, and other names. The codes start with the letter G and have 3 or 4 digits after the G.

No sickness has been reported yet, but the olives could be contaminated with a bacteria that could cause botulism. Here's more info for the U.S. and Canada.

In Kim Severson's mind, her grandmother's "red sauce" recipe, a marinara sauce that stuck with her family through all of her many childhood moves, originated in her grandmother's Italian hometown, where there would undoubtedly be a "single iconic red sauce." After traveling to Italy and tracking down her nearest relatives in that town, she discovered that there was no such sauce because there was no one way to make sauce taste "right" - there was just good sauce.

Frozen yogurt is one of the hottest cold foods around, thanks to a growing interest in yogurt products from consumers and the desire for tasty, lower fat snacks. While some consumer still like the flavor and texture of low fat ice cream, more are drawn to the hint of tartness found in good-quality fro yo. Competition among shop owners is tough, especially for those looking to enter in to the higher end part of the market that Pinkberry (rapidly expanding in LA and NY despite lots of recent criticism) has a large chunk of.

A tribute to the artist/foodie/chef Gordon Matta-Clark will open tomorrow at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Lamb stew is hearty, but surprisingly bright and sweet, thanks to the addition of apricots, which are complemented by olives and buttered almonds.

Frank Bruni dines at Momofuku Ssam Bar and gives it two stars.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes Babbo's Maple Crema, Vanilla Pudding and Indian Cornmeal Pudding.

Caviar seems to represent luxury and good taste, both in food and in life, so caviar fans can rejoice that the global ban on caviar is being lifted this year as stocks of sturgeons are up and caviar-producers can start exporting their wares again. Farmed caviar, and American caviar in general, is still an outstanding alternative for a caviar fan because it is often a good value and seems to be improving in quality every year.

If you're not a fan of the fish eggs, you're not alone. There is an alternative to them that will give you the same classic look, but with a much improved texture and flavor: Chocaviar. This caviar is made with chocolate from the Italian chocolate-maker Venchi, which has been expressing "chocolate's soul" since 1878. Each little piece of chocolate is dusted with unsweetened cocoa powder, which intensifies the flavor (something you might not want with the fishier caviar) and makes the product slightly reminiscent of tiny chocolate truffles.

Maybe the reason is that I love soup. Maybe the reason is that it's so befitting for a January evening.

Or maybe the reason is that I have been sick for five days and I am getting really tired of the same old chicken noodle soup!

Whatever the reason ( I just can't figure it out with the way this fever has scrambled my brain), Heidi Swanson's Ultimate Chickpea Noodle Soup featured on her blog 101 Cookbooks is looking mighty good right now. She took inspiration from her travels through Puglia, Italy, and created a wholly vegetarian version of this soup. The slightly opaque broth dotted with rich oil, the hearty ceci beans (chickpeas), and of course, the undulating ribbons of pasta are all beautiful together in the bowl.

The Feudi di San Marzano Primitivo di Manduria D.O.C. Sessantanni 2003 is 14.5% abv. and is produced from very old, 60-80 years, Primitivo grape vines that are very low yielding. The vines grow in Puglia in the Neviera and Casa Rossa vineyards in the district of San Marzano. Old vines with low yields of fruit tend to mean a wine that has lots of intense and great flavor to it, and this is certainly the case here.

This 100% Primitivo grape wine has an intensely deep ruby color to it and a medium/heavy body. The aroma is full of fruit, and hints of coffee and the barest whiff of sweet aged pipe tobacco. This is a smooth and rich wine, almost like a young and intense port, with a big, mouth filling, forward fruit and berry flavor full of cherries and hints of dried fruit. This is supported by a dense and complex middle with just enough tannic bite to it to balance the huge flavors, and ends in a incredibly rich and silky finish. This wine will go very well with beef, such as my Beef Rib Roast, or with lamb and game.

Usually this bottle sells for around $30 each, and well worth it. Luckily my local store, run by a friend, was having a sale. I loved this big wine so much that I ran back to the store the next day and bought every single case and bottle they had left in stock at the the amazing price of $14 each. If you can find this wine for under $30 in your area it's really worth trying. It comes in a very dark, thick, heavy oversize bottle that looks like it holds a liter but holds the typical 750 ml. The bottle is perfect to hold such a big wine, and will help store it as it ages and improves over the next 6-8 years.

Castelmagno is another interesting cheese like Robiola from the Piedmont/Piemonte region of Italy. It is a sometimes blue cheeese, I say sometimes because while it is classified as an erborinato cheese, meaning that it has blue veins, it doesn't always have the blue to it. The older the cheese the more chance of blue veins, but sometimes the cheese behaves whimsically and develops the veins young, or not at all. For some folks the strong, pungent flavor of this strangely crumbly textured cheese takes some time to adjust to, but then, like an addict, you start to crave it.

Again, like Robiola, it can be made with several types of milk. Mostly cow's milk, but some goat and sheep's milk is sometimes added to the batch as well.

Castelmagno is one of Italy's oldest cheeses that can trace back its origins to the 1200's. Wheels of it were once used to pay landowners for the grazing rights for the herds. Castelmagno is a DOP cheese, so strict government regulations oversee its production. There are only three communes in the Cuneo province allowed to make it, although similar cheeses are made nearby, they are not allowed to use the Castelmagno name. This means that production is low and the price is high.