Only in Italy: the Ucelùt grape

The Ucelùt is an autochthonous grape from Friuli in the North-western Italy. You can find it only near Valeriano, Pinzano al Tagliamento and Castelnuovo del Friuli. It is a so-called "uva uccellina" or, very loosely, "bird grape" because it grew near woods and bird used to eat its fruits. The Ucelùt gives a very good dessert wine.

A very popular religion in Rome

Rome is the city of bell towers: catholic churches are simply countless. That's not a big surprise in the city of the Pope. But would you be able to guess which religion is classified at the second place in an all-time chart based on the number of places of worship?

Not any of the other Christian confessions. Nor Muslim religion or Buddhism.

It is Mithraism, an ancient oriental monotheistic religion which was extremely popular during III and IV century of the Christian Era all over the Roman Empire. Mithra was identified with the Sol Invictus - the Undefeated Sun - and it was by far the most adored divinity by legionnaires. As usual, the Wikipedia entry about Mithraism is a good place to start to know more about some topic. It is curious to note as Christian and Mithraic iconography influenced each other a lot: the halo of the saints, for example, comes from a Mithraic tradition. Again, Mithra was born on December 25th, the day when daylight starts to increase again after Winter's solstice. Does this date remind you anything?

But how many Mithraic temple were built in Rome?

Probably about 2,000.

Eight of them are identified with absolute certainty and can be visited in Rome more or less easily:

1. The Mithraeum of Chancellery;
2. The Mithraeum of Via Giovanni Lanza;
3. The Mithraeum of S. Stefano Rotondo;
4. The Mithraeum Barberini;
5. The Mithraeum of Circo Massimo;
6. The Mithraeum of Caracalla's Thermae;
7. The Mithraeum of S. Clemente;
8. The Mithraeum of S. Prisca.

Pizza owes a lot to Sex...

Ok, my title is a shameless attempt to attract attention, but there is a very funny anecdote connecting tomato and sex. And what would pizza be without tomato?

Tomato and many other vegetables arrived in Europe and then in Italy only after that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Mais, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and many kind of beans were not known in the Old Continent. Now they are very very common on our tables and sometimes intimately connected with iconic italian dishes like pizza or spaghetti, but the road to success was not equally easy for all of them. For example, italian name for eggplant is melanzana, which comes from 'mela insana', literally 'unhealthy apple'.

But let's come to our Tomato. The first variety imported was the one who resembles cherries, like the ones we call Pachino now. Both leaves and berries went under examination to verify if they were fit for human consumption. The doctors discovered solanina, which was considered poisonous during the XVI century. So tomato was cultivated only as an ornamental plant for about two centuries. It was very indicated as gift for ladies instead of flowers.

But gossip is always stronger than science. At some point in 1700 somebody devised the 'real' reason behind the prohibition to eat tomato's berries. The Spanish government proscribed the poor tomato under the influence of Church because of its extraoirdinaire aphrodisiac properties. This gossip spread faster than light and... the rest is history.

So, is it so wrong to say that Pizza owes a lot to Sex (and Gossip)?

Caedicia Victrix, a successful businesswoman

We are inclined to think that businesswomen are something belonging to the very recent history. A phenomenon started from the USA to reach Europe and then Italy not so long ago.

But it is not like that.

During first century AD Caedicia Victrix was one of the most important wine trader in the Mediterranean Sea as it is attested by her many sigils found on broken amphoras all around its coasts in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Northern Africa.

Caedicia lived in Pompei, which was the most important and active Mediterranean wine market. It hosted more than 200 taverns (tabernae) and perhaps even more brothels (lupanari). To understand the importance of wine for the ancient port of Pompei before its destruction by an eruption of the Vesuvio, just think that 29 out of the 31 villas discovered by archaeologists belonged to families working in the wine market.

Historical evidence shows that Caedicia produced Falerno, the most appreciated wine in ancient Rome. She sold it in the Caediciae Tabernae along Via Appia, but, as we already said, she also exported it in all the Roman Empire.