Ah that makes sense... It was quite different for me, being an only child (and son).
I was very much fussed over and protected, as you can imagine, especially as my mum had me quite late (and had already experienced a miscarriage) and so was unlikely to have any more kids, so I was the 'golden boy', as it were, and that included in the eyes of my grandparents.
Yeah that is pretty typical, and my dad did similar, although he never bothered with trying to make wine, which would've been near-impossible with the climate in Scotland!
But gardens and growing your own produce *is* definitely a BIG part of Italian life, not only Italian, but European life, especially those coming from warm climates. In that respect. it's pretty much unheard of not to have a garden and/or the ability in some way to grow your own produce, which is why I was brought up on food made with fresh herbs and fresh vegetables - in my culture such things are very much the norm.
Tins, packets and/or frozen foods/ready meals would only ever be a LAST (and largely undesired) resort! And other sacrifices if necessary, financially or otherwise, would always be made WAY before anything relating to food, as eating well (and healthily) was always *the* most important thing.
Lol - I know *exactly* what he means and agree; indeed it's a long-standing and well-established 'moan' Italians have about British food: the 'dry' and bland, totally unadventurous salads, and the crap quality of the bread!! The latter, however, has improved massively in recent years as folks have (thankfully) become more discerning.
The olive oil thing is funny, as certainly up in Scotland in those days, olive oil was only available in chemists, to treat earache!
Whereas, we'd either be bringing shedloads of it back from Italy by car or using our local Italian delis, some of which were owned by our cousins. Therefore, back then, olive oil, salami, Parma ham, Parmesan cheese, etc, etc, were all very much used and enjoyed everyday!
Lol - as did i! Regardless of the 'curfews' imposed on me, which I didn't always stick to either, and got a slap for off of my dad!
I certainly was no 'goody two-shoes', I can assure you, and got up to all sorts, especially when I reached 17. I did live with my parents though until I was 27, so was always used to having that level of parental care, all my meals cooked for me and clothes washed and ironed, etc, although I did contribute to the household bills.
As you can imagine though, when I met Del and announced that I was leaving home, and then to go and live in Wales, it didn't, erm, go down too well!
Marco.
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Originally Posted by Marco
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