Friday, November 5, 2010

Just don't breathe!

Temperatures plummeted last week and somewhere between devouring a cream filled croissant and downing my second cup of Fortnum’s smoky Earl Grey, I was forcing to carry out an emergency "cambio di stagione".  Traditionally it takes a whole weekend to store away the linen and unwrap the cashmere but masterfully I achieved it in under 15 minutes partly due to the absence of my mid-weight early Autumn outdoor collection which went up in smoke last September after the coat stand in my hall got jammed up against a 17th century Venetian wall light and carbonized its entire contents.  Another time saving was to leave unexamined and packed away the mounting reserve of trousers no longer able to find their away around my waist. It’s not just the annual arrival of  Pandoro and Panettone which will hinder any attempt to squeeze back into these clothes but recently, a Roman friend confirmed what I had always suspected: Roman air is in fact fattening.  The calorific output and daily exchange of gastronomic pleasure from a zillion pasticcerie, gelaterie, and trattorie dotted around the city releases something intangible into the atmosphere which facilitates the delightful Roman phenomenon of ” Passive Eating”.  It doesn’t matter where you sit, there are no compartments which can save you from the effects of passive eating in Rome. Your ears will hear flowery descriptions of food, your nose will pick up the aroma and even if you keep your mouth firmly closed, you will never be far from a chef prepping, a barista grounding or somebody’s grandma peeling.  If you really insist on losing weight in the Eternal city (why would you?), the only solution is to actually stop breathing.

Alternatively, go and breathe in the skinny, low-fat, semi-skimmed air at the biggest fruit and vegetable market in Rome: “ Il  Mercato Esquillino” in Piazza Vittorio.  Here, one could forget they were in Rome with the mountains of ethnic spices, nuts and vegetables from all over the world. In November the glow of autumnal orange throughout the market is due to Loti season. Known to Romans as cachi they are a delicious fruit grown locally , are too delicate to transport and look like a piece of a Pre Raphaelite still life.  Here the air is proported to be much less fattening and if you walk from Termini Station, you just might lose a kilo, if you can hold your breath for that long. 


9 comments:

  1. You made me laugh thankyou :) I hope you kept some lighter clothes handy as it has turned warmer again if only for a few days. We have a Persimmon Tree in our garden and have been trying out various recipes found on the internet.

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  2. lucky you! I really love persimmon-loti-cachi It's such a shame the season is so short. I've tried freezing them, maybe they would make lovely jam? Do you have any recipes to share?l

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  3. There may be some of that fattening air in Paris also, emanating from all the bakeries and patisseries... But I fear the heaviest concentration of fattening air is still in the USA. Probably comes from the exhaust fans over french fry cookers in hundreds of thousands of fast food places. There are lots of people who should probably stop breathing it...
    :-)

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  4. So that's what it is! It isn't just Rome, you know, Ligurian air is also thick with empty calories... I bought a large panettone the other day as a friend was coming to stay. The friend never came, and the panettone vaporised directly onto my hips. The injustice of it all...

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  5. We have been experimenting with recipes I must try and find the links for you, but here is one for jam I found today.
    http://www.lifeinabruzzo.com/cachi-winner-italy-most-beautiful-autumn-fruit/

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  6. I wonder how many calories a 'gasp' has. I put weight on solely looking at beautiful monuments. It had nothing to do with my Roman auntie's cooking.

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  7. LindyLouMac... Thanks so much for the cachi recipe. I'll give it a try. Just love the taste of them and just looking at them.

    Scintilla.... a gasp within 2 metres of a panificio will require a brisk walk around the Borghese Gardens to even things out!

    Status... I haven't started on the P cakes yet as the season is long and the Zanzibar hasn't even started appearing on the shelves yet...

    Owen... yes I think the same could definitely be said of Paris. As for America, not the same sentiment. Calories breathed in from pasticcerie or boulangere are like a delicate kiss from an adoring lover, those breathed in from fast food joints are more like porn.

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  8. so lovely persimmon, my kids love persimmon very much, but my wife and I do not like, very strangely

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  9. Lovely story! Not only persimmons are a real delight but they are also very healthy! But can you soak it in capuccino? No! This is why italians have biscotti, cornetto, tozzeti, crostate and you know the rest:)

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