Taste of Italy: Pampepato

We have just had visitors from Italy, who brought us a most delicious treat, Pampepato, a specialty of their town of Terni, homemade by D's Grandma.   I have never had anything like this: a delicious, dense mound of chocolate with hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, raisins, and a mysterious combination of spices. I was trying to guess all the ingredients and then they gave it away when they explained that Pampepato means bread of pepper in Italian. Pepper?! 

I enjoyed reading more about the rich history of Pampepato on this official site here 

I'm savoring my taste of Italy.

On my Italian friends' last night in NY we went together to see the movie "New York, I Love You", a collage of short stories by 11 different directors. Enchanting, funny and poignant. We really enjoyed it! A huge cast, including Julie Christie, Natalie Portman, Ethan Hawke, Drea De Matteo (x-Sopranos and now in Desperate Housewives - she is good!), Carlos Acosta (in a non-dancing role) and many more...The series started with "Paris, je t'aime" and will include Rio, Shanghai, Mumbai and Jerusalem. I'm putting a vote in for one that takes place in Italy, in Rome, Florence or Venice.

links: technorati