International Food Receipes

Gianni Truvianni asked:


There are places where one is always welcome not because one maybe rich or famous but simply because one showed up and took a liking to the what one found as well as the people. The kind of place I have in mind is the one where guests mingle with one another in an atmosphere that is created not by anybody in particular but by the little things for instance the way in which guests say “ciao” (hi or bye in Italian) to one another whenever coming or going or the way everybody knows ones name. It is these details and many more which make the bar-restaurant “San Lorenzo” located in downtown Warsaw on “John Paul 2nd street” be precisely that sort of place.

I am talking about a place where Italians as well as their descendents like myself or even people who have no traces of being Italian what so ever are never denied the affability and joy that is in the Italian way of entertaining. This holding true in San Lorenzo because of it’s main owner, Gianfranco who is equally charming when talking to the President of Poland (who can on occasions be found there nibbling away at his Lasagna) as when talking to the most modest of guest.

As for my relationship with “San Lorenzo” this dates back to late in the summer of 2001 when I accompanied by my wife and daughter ventured to take a table outside deciding to give this place a go. My wife and I were not hungry so we limited ourselves to ordering espresso for me and a cup of tea for her while our daughter (Paullina, The Star of “The Little Opera Singer”) needing to satisfy her youthful sweet tooth ordered Tiramisu with her favorite drink, apple juice to wash it down.

I as a person who had traveled to over 30 countries had encountered many a restaurant claiming to be Italian with not as much as the slightest connection to the “old country” apart from the name of the establishment or the fact that they served pseudo Italian dishes. I for my part can not claim to have immediately noticed from the outside or even the inside which I saw when I went to the men’s room that this was a restaurant whose proprietor was Italian. It was not that the interior of this restaurant was in bad taste as that was not the case but I also had seen places which though well decorated were not Italian. I had even been to this particular place before which I knew to have two stories as I had visited it on many an occasion when it was being used as both a clothing store which was the upstairs part and a cafeteria on the lower level.

The interior decorating I had to admit was nice even more then it had been but I was still curious to see if the owner was Italian so after having looked the place over both upstairs and down, I went outside again to join my wife and daughter who had already been served.

The tiramisu my daughter ordered tasted like the real thing (her allowing me a small taste) but I needed proof in regards to the authenticity of this place.

The verification came when Paullina stood up as she was 3 and a half years of age at the time and kneeled on the floor to play with a toy car she had brought with her and just as she was in the middle of playing a dark haired man approached the table and said “Hey Pokemon” due to my daughter’s t-shirt of the popular cartoon character. This man whose name I would eventually find out was Enrico Buscema, part owner, his partner in the business being Gianfranco Lucese, a Florentine man living in Poland married to a Polish lady whose mother is Stefania Koz?owska, a well known Polish singer of some years back.

There wasn’t anything special I noticed about Enrico till he sat down joining the group of people who were sitting at his table who were speaking Italian. I don’t know what it is but there is something about hearing people speak my language in a foreign country that unites me to them. Perhaps it is knowing that that person is also a foreigner from the same place I am from or curiosity to simply share impressions of another country but be what it might I always seek to became acquainted with people whom I hear speaking Italian outside of Italy.

This being a large group made me shy about approaching making me bid my time till the party that had been at the table nearby was reduced to a party of one. A well attired redheaded gentleman who was rather on the portly side had been left alone leaving me with my chance to speak.

“Excuse me, are you Italian?” me of coarse addressing him in Italian which seemed to catch him slightly of guard as he in Italian replied “yes, I am and you?”. I at this point having his full attention told him that I was American but my father was Italian, like the actor Sylvester Stallone. I also introduced by wife and child to this man whose name escapes my memory as it has been over 5 years since I last saw him. We must have conversed for about 5 minutes when Enrico came back to the table and upon hearing that I spoke Italian introduced himself to me and the rest of my family.

This was my first visit to San Lorenzo which like most firsts we never forget specially when they are not lasts as this place saw me come back the following week on August 9. This date being of significance because it was the one on which 4 years prior my then fiancée and I took our vows in the church in the act of holly matrimony. Our daughter was past the age of 3 and capable of proper conduct prompting my wife and I to let her join us on that occasion for a relatively late dinner. A dinner which delighted all of us specially Paullina (the restaurant having a special chair for her) by including some of the finest dishes in what is known as Italian cuisine with the wine that again could not be other then Italian.

One of the things that impressed me about that particular visit was that several of the guests whom I had not yet introduced myself to who saw me sitting at my table or walking around the place with my daughter seemed to know who I was. They knew my name, that I was a writer born in New York but could speak Italian because of my father and many other things all of which I had told the gentleman with the red hair in the short conversation I had had with him.

Another thing that caught the eye of my wife as well as my own (my daughter being to young at the time) was the photographs on the walls of all the famous people who had already been there. Then the place being open less then a year only included photographs of local celebrities such as Kasia Figura (Polish actress) but eventually this collection of photographs grew to include such noticeable patrons as Jose Carreras, Steven Segal, Roman Polanski, Alexander Kwa?niewski (then President of Poland), Lech Kaczy?ski (current President of Poland) and his brother Jaros?aw (current Prime Minister of Poland) and many others to numerous to mention.

The evening was a true enchantment for the 3 of us for many reasons but above all it had been the Italian cuisine. The dishes which we tasted not only on that evening but on many others to follow were the real flavor of Italy and it is with intensions of not influencing anybody who should go to San Lorenzo after reading this that I refrain from mentioning any by name.

The year was 2001 which like one can expect was followed by 2002. That being a world cup year which saw the greatest enthusiasm for the “Squadra Azurra” as its fans mostly Italians but not only gathered at “San Lorenzo” to show their support for what would be the fiasco of being eliminated by South Korea before even getting to the quarterfinals. It was a bitter pill for us the “Fratelli d’Italia” (this meaning brothers of Italy while also being the Italian National anthem) to have to swallow seeing our “nazionale di calcio” play 4 games which only yielded us one win combined with 2 losses and one draw.

However it was in defeat that we see the real character of the individual particularly the one who can keep his dignity as that is how we did it taking comfort in having previously won the world cup on 3 different occasions and with the hope that there would be brighter days for our “azurri”.

Another consolation for us was how some of the local television stations came over to our beloved San Lorenzo to see how the many nationalities living in Warsaw were following the world cup. Me being fortunate enough to be among those who were interviewed on TV.

Like the saying goes “it is always darkest before dawn” this meaning that Italy’s time would come as it did last year in the “2006 World Cup” held in Germany. This was the world cup in which Italy claimed its 4th F.I.F.A. world championship after 7 games the last two being the most grueling of all.

The last two games being the most arduous as they were the semifinal and the final. It was the first of these games which pitted Italy against Germany, the home team as well as 3 time champion and 7 time finalist. The second of these games pitted Italy against France who had won it all in 98 as well as being the team that had eliminated us from the 86 and 98 world cups and had defeated us in the 2000 final of the European Championship.

It was the way in which San Lorenzo was packed to capacity by all the people whom I had been seeing on a weekly basis for the last 5 years that gave me the courage to believe that such opponents could be overcome. These people after all had been with me through the tragedy that had been the previous world cup at least as far as Italy was concerned.

The semifinal against Germany was difficult to watch as we suffered at the agony of seeing two of our shots hit the woodwork in overtime but out of it all came the moment that allowed us to yell out the word “goal” in a huge action of relief as Italy was finally able to break the deadlock through Grosso who scored in the last minute of O.T.. however the game was not over nor was the scoring which would continue less then a minute later when Del Piero found the back of the German net for what would be our second goal guarantying us a place in the final.

If the semifinal was a spectacular show then the final could not be any less as the brave Italian tifossi at San Lorenzo some of which were Polish, Egyptian, Russian etc braced themselves for what would be a game against “Le Blue” of La France which would be winner take all. The place was naturally packed to capacity one more time on the Sunday of the final with tensions running as high as the expectations of being world champion for the fourth time. If truth be known I do not think I would have preferred to be any where else but at San Lorenzo with the sole exception of the site of the final itself in Berlin. This was where I would celebrate or cry with my fellow Italians like I had done 4 years ago but win or loose the friendships would not fade.

The final kicked off with us sitting in many tables drinking our beers and eating our pasta, pizza and other Italian dishes and just as we were getting in to the flow of the game a mistake by the referee gave France a penalty. A penalty which lead to France drawing first blood when Zidane barely converted giving France the early 1 to 0 advantage.

We the Italian tiffosi were down but far from out as it took a little over 5 minutes for San Lorenzo’s supporters to once again shout goal when Matterazzi’s header leveled matters at one a piece. As anybody who has ever seen his country in a final can confirm there is nothing like seeing ones country score and for us it was elation extraordinaire as we had not come this far to give up after trailing by only one goal.

The rest of the game including overtime went by with the score leveled at one a piece necessitating penalties which had never at least in a world cup seen Italy come out on top but this I felt deep down was our day as all the people whom I had known for so long were not going to be denied.

8 penalty kickers took their turn with only Trezeguet missing for France and it all came down to Grosso (scorer of Italy’s first goal against Germany) to deliver us to the promised land that was our 4th title leaving us with only one less title then Brazil. The moment of truth had arrived one kick, one goal to end all and earn all, would he do it? Our hearts were in our mouths as we saw Grosso step up to take the penalty which he converted sending me along with everybody else in to a wild frenzy that lead to fireworks on the street as well as an all night party.

Italy winning the world cup was wonderful and it no doubt would have been such no matter where or with whom I had seen it (as had been in 82 when we beat Germany in the final 3 to 1) but for some reason I felt that being at San Lorenzo made it just that wee bit better particularly because all those familiar faces were there to share it with me.

Harwood E Woodpecker asked:


Food is everything in Italy, it’s what brings the family together to sit a round a table after a long day working or at the beach. Meal times are where extended families will sit for hours discussing life, family matters, Italian politics (always popular) and the world as a whole.

Whenever I go to Italy I love sitting down with my immediate family to eat, the whole process is different to what we do at home in England. There may still be five of us sat around a table but it’s not the same. Meal times are a relaxed affair in Italy, you don’t feel the urge to eat your meal down as quickly as possible so you can rush off to do something else.

The food is brought to the table at a more leisurely pace, eaten slower and after the meal we all hang around and talk.

Similarly in an restaurant in Italy it’s not uncommon to see people sat at there table for hours after they’ve finished eating and holding court with the family or as most restaurants in Italy will have a television on it’s not un common to see finished diners still sat their table watching and discussing the latest Italian quiz show. When we have a big family gathering we start the preparation hours in advance of the first guest arriving and when the first person does arrive they’re usually armed with more food that needs preparing.

It’s not until everyone arrives that the event gets underway, it’s an un-written rule that until all the guests have arrived and all food prepared that anyone can get in the mood to enjoy themselves. This is of course except for the children who run around getting under everyone’s feet and pinching salami and cheese from the table when the adults aren’t looking. When you finally sit down for the meal it’s usually a very long, relaxed and drawn out process. Italians think nothing of sitting down to a meal of in excess of 10 courses eaten over 3 hours, the bigger the family gathering the more courses there will be as everyone usually brings something with them to add to the table.

This will always be good traditional home-made Italian food. Granted the courses are generally rather small and are usually served on large platters in the centre of the table for everyone to dig into. If you’ve never experienced this before the trick is not too get too over confident on the fist few courses as there will always be another course further down the line that you’ll regret not having space for.

The courses usually consist of cheese and salami, pickles, vegetables, one or two fish dishes, a couple of meat courses, cheese again and dessert. All of these are washed down with lots of wine or beer over the course of an afternoon or evening. There is always something going on at an Italian dinner table and I’ve never known a quiet Italian dinner table. The females of the family are usually rushing back and to from the kitchen with more trays of food, the older men are sat at the head of the table discussing the old days, the younger generation, competing to be heard sit around the centre of the table discussing the state of the world and the children do what children do.

As the meal reaches it’s finale a few people may saunter off to relax but generally everyone stays around the table with conversations going on for hours or maybe a game or two of scopa, a traditional Italian card game. At the end of the meal you are generally exhausted and unable to eat a single thing, but at night you’ll sleep well and be as relaxed as you’ve ever been before.

Sunita Kaushal asked:


When it comes to talking about Italy, food is everything - sitting around a table after a long day working or at the beach, it is food that brings the family together. Discussions about life, family matters, Italian politics and the world as a whole are quite popular during meal times when extended families sit for hours.

Italians love sitting down to eat with their immediate family, the whole process is different than that in England. There may be family members sitting around a table, but it’s not the same experience. Meal times are a fairly relaxed affair in Italy; there is no urge to eat your meal down as quickly as possible, to rush off to do something else. The food is brought to the table at a relaxed pace and eaten slowly; afterwards, of course, the family talk follows.

In case of a big family gathering, the preparations start hours in advance of the arrival of the first guest and continue till much later, as the hosts usually prepare much more food than needed. The event gets underway only when everyone arrives – it is like an un-written rule that until all the guests arrive and all food is prepared, no one gets in the mood to enjoy. Children, however, are an exception to this rule posted at mexicanfoodsrecipes.com, as they tend to get past watchful eyes of adults, and pinch salami and cheese from the table.

Finally, when you do sit down for the meal, it is a very long, relaxed and drawn out process. Generally, Italians can sit down to a ten-course meal, eaten for over three hours pointed out by italianfood-recipes.com. There will be more courses if the family gathering is bigger, as everyone usually brings something with them to add to the table - a good traditional homemade Italian food. The courses are generally rather small and are usually served on large platters in the center of the table, within easy reach of everyone at rentbarcelonaapartment.co.uk/planning_europe_vacation.htm. If you are new to this experience; remember, not too get so full on the fist few courses that you regret not having space for another course further down the line.

There is never ever anything like a quiet Italian dinner table something is always going on! The older men sit at the head of the table discussing the old days, the women usually rush back and to from the kitchen with more trays of food, the younger generation, compete to be heard when all sit around the center of the table discussing the state of the world and the children do all that children normally do.

Even as the meal reaches it’s grand finale, most members stays around the table with conversations going on for hours, or maybe a game or two of scopa. The event gets underway only when everyone arrives – it is like an un-written rule that until all the guests arrive and all food is prepared, no one gets in the mood to enjoy. Children, however, are an exception to this rule, as they tend to get past watchful eyes of adults, and pinch salami and cheese from the table. A traditional Italian card game – though a few people may saunter off to relax!

Dinah Leabeau asked:


You do not have to speak a word of Italian to explore Italy. Italian hand signals, an outgoing personality, and a genuine smile are all you require. You’ll be all set to explore Il Bel Paese before you know it.

If you learn Italian online, you will be better off enjoying Italian culture and relating to Italians. Nonetheless, here’s a short guide to Italian hand gestures that you can apply to supplement your Italian.

To explore Italy, you do not have to speak a word of Italian. Italian hand signals, an outgoing personality, and a genuine smile are everything you need. Before you know it, you’ll be able to conquer Il Bel Paese.

Still, you are better off studying Italian before you leave. To guide you, however, you can utilize these Italian hand signals.

Un momento!

In English, this means “one moment, please.” Just make a number one with your index finger, pointing upwards. You can also use this to mean “may I speak, please?”, though learning Italian will come handy then.

Ho fame

” I’m hungry”, is what this conveys. Hit your stomach with the side of your flat hand to send a clear message to your hosts to feed you. Learn Italian to know the difference between polipo and pollo if you’re sick of pasta and pizza. You will be able to prevent allergies and grasp Italian food better.

Ehi tu, vieni qui

“Come here”, this hand gesture conveys. It’s the same come hither gesture used in America. You must use this with care because this could seem sexually inviting or rude. It is still safer practice to learn to say “prego, potete aiutarli” to ask somebody to come over.

Silenzio

This is done by pressing your index finger to your lips, the universal gesture of “silence.” But successfully explaining why you want quiet is another story. You’ll need to learn Italian to achieve this!

Idea!

You can aptly translate this as “I have an idea!” Simply put your hand on your head and wear a happy face, and you have conveyed that you do have an idea. But putting your great idea across will require time and effort if you didn’t bother to study Italian.

Perfetto

To compliment somebody with a perfect score, use the thumbs and index fingers of both hands to create a circle. This is very useful in your Italian travels as this does not demand that you speak Italian.

Scusi, devo andare al bagno

Put on a pained expression while holding up your index and middle fingers if you want to go to the bathroom. This is handy if you need frequent bathroom trips.

This is a very useful signal that translates to “I have to go to the rest room.” Just hold up your index and middle fingers, put on a pained expression, and you’ll be directed to the closest bathroom. For the diarrhea-prone traveler, this is very important indeed.

Indeed, it’s sheer poetry, these Italian signals. To read Italian street signs and speak with the locals, though, learning Italian is still handy. You can choose to have the best of both worlds.

Ana Maria Da Costa Vasconcellos asked:


Italian traditional food is known for its wonderful recipes and wines, but often an important side of it is hidden or even unseen.

This side is what eating means for Italians. It’s not just eating, it means much more.

If you happen in a major Italian city you may find some shops with continued opening time. But the most close from 1 to 4.30pm. Italians do stop for lunch.

Life has changed in Italy too, not allowing everyone to go home for lunch and maybe take even a rest. But most public offices close at 2.00pm and the ones that work from 9 to 5 have lunch time, where people go to restaurants and have a real meal.

I went to meet a friend who works in a bank office in Rome and we had lunch together. She suggested a small familiar restaurant (trattoria) where I ate wonderful potato gnocchi and unforgettable artichokes with potatoes. A real lunch, that is maybe served in luxury Italian restaurants abroad, eaten during a lunch break from job.

This idea lead to another interesting fact about restaurants in Italy and Italian restaurants abroad.

Usually, the Italian restaurants abroad are good and sometimes luxury restaurants. Very well decorated and often a very pleasant environment, many times tied to society fashions.

In Italy, the luxury and the “environment” are secondary. Often an Italian friend takes you to a very good restaurant, and it looks too poorly decorated. Don’t worry, he cares about you, because…you eat wonderful food, and that’s the important thing for your friend.

He does not think about taking you to a fashionable place where food is not good. He would fail towards you, and for an Italian, it hurts.

There are so many restaurants in Italy that are square spoiled rooms that are really not inviting…but their food is wonderful. They just don’t consider the decoration, but what you’re going to eat.

In Italy go out to have dinner is also a social program, as all around the world. But what you eat has a stronger role in the whole evening.

Among other cultures, the food may be medium, and people talk about other things and have a good evening.

In Italy, may be the most enjoyable people, but if the food is not good, they will feel like the evening was a little bit wasted for that. They will talk about it, comment it, showing that the food isn’t merely part of the evening, but quite the main attraction.

Another side of tradition concerning Italian food regards eating at certain times, following a established order in eating (never eat a meat dish before the pasta one, for example), and some other small but present rules.

Concerning time, Italians have lunch from 1.00pm to 2.00pm. Most restaurants close at 2.30 pm. It’s frustrating for a tourist visiting Rome, for example, to find the restaurant closed at 3pm.

Now some restaurants are offering different scheduled times, but these are the tourist restaurants, not the good ones. These keep pasta cooked and re-warm it. It’s better not to trust them if you desire a good Italian homemade dish.

A traditional Italian meal begins with the antipasto (which means before the meal). Usually it’s “from land”(di terra) or “from sea” (di mare). Those from land are usually Italian cold cuts, olives, cheese and so on. Those from sea are seafood salad and similar.

After the antipasto comes the first dish, that can be pasta, soup or rice (risotto). After then there’s the second, when you can choose between meat and fish. It’s necessary to add a side, because in Italy they are not included. If you ask for a steak, it will come by itself, with no French fries or salad.

After that, you can eat fruit and a dessert. Then a good coffee and a liquor called “ammazza caffè” (kill the coffee). It can vary between many choices, being the more used nowadays the lemon liquor (limoncello) and grappa.

At this point, your Italian friend looks satisfied. He will probably rest his shoulders on the back of the chair and take a long breath. After a perfect meal, these few minutes just enjoying it all are surely needed.

Gianni Truvianni asked:


There are places where one is always welcome not because one maybe rich or famous but simply because one showed up and took a liking to the what one found as well as the people. The kind of place I have in mind is the one where guests mingle with one another in an atmosphere that is created not by anybody in particular but by the little things for instance the way in which guests say “ciao” (hi or bye in Italian) to one another whenever coming or going or the way everybody knows ones name. It is these details and many more which make the bar-restaurant “San Lorenzo” located in downtown Warsaw on “John Paul 2nd street” be precisely that sort of place.

I am talking about a place where Italians as well as their descendents like myself or even people who have no traces of being Italian what so ever are never denied the affability and joy that is in the Italian way of entertaining. This holding true in San Lorenzo because of it’s main owner, Gianfranco who is equally charming when talking to the President of Poland (who can on occasions be found there nibbling away at his Lasagna) as when talking to the most modest of guest.

As for my relationship with “San Lorenzo” this dates back to late in the summer of 2001 when I accompanied by my wife and daughter ventured to take a table outside deciding to give this place a go. My wife and I were not hungry so we limited ourselves to ordering espresso for me and a cup of tea for her while our daughter (Paullina, The Star of “The Little Opera Singer”) needing to satisfy her youthful sweet tooth ordered Tiramisu with her favorite drink, apple juice to wash it down.

I as a person who had traveled to over 30 countries had encountered many a restaurant claiming to be Italian with not as much as the slightest connection to the “old country” apart from the name of the establishment or the fact that they served pseudo Italian dishes. I for my part can not claim to have immediately noticed from the outside or even the inside which I saw when I went to the men’s room that this was a restaurant whose proprietor was Italian. It was not that the interior of this restaurant was in bad taste as that was not the case but I also had seen places which though well decorated were not Italian. I had even been to this particular place before which I knew to have two stories as I had visited it on many an occasion when it was being used as both a clothing store which was the upstairs part and a cafeteria on the lower level.

The interior decorating I had to admit was nice even more then it had been but I was still curious to see if the owner was Italian so after having looked the place over both upstairs and down, I went outside again to join my wife and daughter who had already been served.

The tiramisu my daughter ordered tasted like the real thing (her allowing me a small taste) but I needed proof in regards to the authenticity of this place.

The verification came when Paullina stood up as she was 3 and a half years of age at the time and kneeled on the floor to play with a toy car she had brought with her and just as she was in the middle of playing a dark haired man approached the table and said “Hey Pokemon” due to my daughter’s t-shirt of the popular cartoon character. This man whose name I would eventually find out was Enrico Buscema, part owner, his partner in the business being Gianfranco Lucese, a Florentine man living in Poland married to a Polish lady whose mother is Stefania Koz?owska, a well known Polish singer of some years back.

There wasn’t anything special I noticed about Enrico till he sat down joining the group of people who were sitting at his table who were speaking Italian. I don’t know what it is but there is something about hearing people speak my language in a foreign country that unites me to them. Perhaps it is knowing that that person is also a foreigner from the same place I am from or curiosity to simply share impressions of another country but be what it might I always seek to became acquainted with people whom I hear speaking Italian outside of Italy.

This being a large group made me shy about approaching making me bid my time till the party that had been at the table nearby was reduced to a party of one. A well attired redheaded gentleman who was rather on the portly side had been left alone leaving me with my chance to speak.

“Excuse me, are you Italian?” me of coarse addressing him in Italian which seemed to catch him slightly of guard as he in Italian replied “yes, I am and you?”. I at this point having his full attention told him that I was American but my father was Italian, like the actor Sylvester Stallone. I also introduced by wife and child to this man whose name escapes my memory as it has been over 5 years since I last saw him. We must have conversed for about 5 minutes when Enrico came back to the table and upon hearing that I spoke Italian introduced himself to me and the rest of my family.

This was my first visit to San Lorenzo which like most firsts we never forget specially when they are not lasts as this place saw me come back the following week on August 9. This date being of significance because it was the one on which 4 years prior my then fiancée and I took our vows in the church in the act of holly matrimony. Our daughter was past the age of 3 and capable of proper conduct prompting my wife and I to let her join us on that occasion for a relatively late dinner. A dinner which delighted all of us specially Paullina (the restaurant having a special chair for her) by including some of the finest dishes in what is known as Italian cuisine with the wine that again could not be other then Italian.

One of the things that impressed me about that particular visit was that several of the guests whom I had not yet introduced myself to who saw me sitting at my table or walking around the place with my daughter seemed to know who I was. They knew my name, that I was a writer born in New York but could speak Italian because of my father and many other things all of which I had told the gentleman with the red hair in the short conversation I had had with him.

Another thing that caught the eye of my wife as well as my own (my daughter being to young at the time) was the photographs on the walls of all the famous people who had already been there. Then the place being open less then a year only included photographs of local celebrities such as Kasia Figura (Polish actress) but eventually this collection of photographs grew to include such noticeable patrons as Jose Carreras, Steven Segal, Roman Polanski, Alexander Kwa?niewski (then President of Poland), Lech Kaczy?ski (current President of Poland) and his brother Jaros?aw (current Prime Minister of Poland) and many others to numerous to mention.

The evening was a true enchantment for the 3 of us for many reasons but above all it had been the Italian cuisine. The dishes which we tasted not only on that evening but on many others to follow were the real flavor of Italy and it is with intensions of not influencing anybody who should go to San Lorenzo after reading this that I refrain from mentioning any by name.

The year was 2001 which like one can expect was followed by 2002. That being a world cup year which saw the greatest enthusiasm for the “Squadra Azurra” as its fans mostly Italians but not only gathered at “San Lorenzo” to show their support for what would be the fiasco of being eliminated by South Korea before even getting to the quarterfinals. It was a bitter pill for us the “Fratelli d’Italia” (this meaning brothers of Italy while also being the Italian National anthem) to have to swallow seeing our “nazionale di calcio” play 4 games which only yielded us one win combined with 2 losses and one draw.

However it was in defeat that we see the real character of the individual particularly the one who can keep his dignity as that is how we did it taking comfort in having previously won the world cup on 3 different occasions and with the hope that there would be brighter days for our “azurri”.

Another consolation for us was how some of the local television stations came over to our beloved San Lorenzo to see how the many nationalities living in Warsaw were following the world cup. Me being fortunate enough to be among those who were interviewed on TV.

Like the saying goes “it is always darkest before dawn” this meaning that Italy’s time would come as it did last year in the “2006 World Cup” held in Germany. This was the world cup in which Italy claimed its 4th F.I.F.A. world championship after 7 games the last two being the most grueling of all.

The last two games being the most arduous as they were the semifinal and the final. It was the first of these games which pitted Italy against Germany, the home team as well as 3 time champion and 7 time finalist. The second of these games pitted Italy against France who had won it all in 98 as well as being the team that had eliminated us from the 86 and 98 world cups and had defeated us in the 2000 final of the European Championship.

It was the way in which San Lorenzo was packed to capacity by all the people whom I had been seeing on a weekly basis for the last 5 years that gave me the courage to believe that such opponents could be overcome. These people after all had been with me through the tragedy that had been the previous world cup at least as far as Italy was concerned.

The semifinal against Germany was difficult to watch as we suffered at the agony of seeing two of our shots hit the woodwork in overtime but out of it all came the moment that allowed us to yell out the word “goal” in a huge action of relief as Italy was finally able to break the deadlock through Grosso who scored in the last minute of O.T.. however the game was not over nor was the scoring which would continue less then a minute later when Del Piero found the back of the German net for what would be our second goal guarantying us a place in the final.

If the semifinal was a spectacular show then the final could not be any less as the brave Italian tifossi at San Lorenzo some of which were Polish, Egyptian, Russian etc braced themselves for what would be a game against “Le Blue” of La France which would be winner take all. The place was naturally packed to capacity one more time on the Sunday of the final with tensions running as high as the expectations of being world champion for the fourth time. If truth be known I do not think I would have preferred to be any where else but at San Lorenzo with the sole exception of the site of the final itself in Berlin. This was where I would celebrate or cry with my fellow Italians like I had done 4 years ago but win or loose the friendships would not fade.

The final kicked off with us sitting in many tables drinking our beers and eating our pasta, pizza and other Italian dishes and just as we were getting in to the flow of the game a mistake by the referee gave France a penalty. A penalty which lead to France drawing first blood when Zidane barely converted giving France the early 1 to 0 advantage.

We the Italian tiffosi were down but far from out as it took a little over 5 minutes for San Lorenzo’s supporters to once again shout goal when Matterazzi’s header leveled matters at one a piece. As anybody who has ever seen his country in a final can confirm there is nothing like seeing ones country score and for us it was elation extraordinaire as we had not come this far to give up after trailing by only one goal.

The rest of the game including overtime went by with the score leveled at one a piece necessitating penalties which had never at least in a world cup seen Italy come out on top but this I felt deep down was our day as all the people whom I had known for so long were not going to be denied.

8 penalty kickers took their turn with only Trezeguet missing for France and it all came down to Grosso (scorer of Italy’s first goal against Germany) to deliver us to the promised land that was our 4th title leaving us with only one less title then Brazil. The moment of truth had arrived one kick, one goal to end all and earn all, would he do it? Our hearts were in our mouths as we saw Grosso step up to take the penalty which he converted sending me along with everybody else in to a wild frenzy that lead to fireworks on the street as well as an all night party.

Italy winning the world cup was wonderful and it no doubt would have been such no matter where or with whom I had seen it (as had been in 82 when we beat Germany in the final 3 to 1) but for some reason I felt that being at San Lorenzo made it just that wee bit better particularly because all those familiar faces were there to share it with me.