Montalbano: the coolest cop on Italian TV
Tonight, Montalbano returns to Raiuno for some summer reruns. Montalbano is the most successful thing Rai ever did. The shows are translated into 12 languages and sold around the world. There aren’t that many of them, either.
Montalbano was created by Camilleri, an Italian writer who has threatened even to kill him off, which suggestion caused moans of despair among women worldwide. There must be many men who also like Montalbano, but it’s the women who talk about it. I have read every single one of the books that has been translated by the extremely skillful Stephen Sartarelli, who is a poet and that really shows in these translations.
Montalbano's favorite: recipe from Camilleri.
Montalbano is “un uomo vero” or a real man. He isn’t pretty, he isn’t thin, he’s bald as a billiard ball and he is the sexiest thing on TV. It’s really Luca Zingaretti, whose work is always good, but in this case must be called genius. There’s a scene in the current promos for the opening of the series (tonight raiuno 21:20) in which he is lying on his messy bed wearing ridiculous knee length undershorts, the like of which have not been seen since 1948, fanning his armpits with a sheaf of papers. And that, believe it or not is dead sexy.
This photo comes from his Facebook page. Everybody in Italy does Facebook. Probably even the priests. Must see if Benedetto XVI is on there.
What has all this to do with the small pile of lemon ice in the big photo? I made it to celebrate Montalbano’s return to TV and I made it using the recipe provided by Camilleri in one of the books. It’s as simple as 1, 2, 4. I put a pan on the scale, tare it, then squeeze a lemon into it. Whatever that weighs, I add double the weight of sugar, then 4 times the weight in water. I heat it slightly to melt the sugar and then chill it. I like it best frozen in my tiny Donvier ice cream maker, but it is more traditionally Sicilian to freeze it and then scrape across the frozen surface with a spoon. Pick your method and give it a try while it’s almost unbearably hot, like right now. If you buy a Montalbano DVD or watch the new season starting tonight, you’ll need the extra super-cooling power anyway.
Sex bomb, sex bomb, you’re my sex bomb…
Ciao folks, I have a date tonight.
[ad]
I’ve never watched any of them on RaiUno, but now I’m tempted. I do enjoy the books though.
PS the Pope is on many pages, and has many fans.
Where are you? I thought you were gone?
Yummy!
And, I can’t believe the Pope is on Facebook! Is Berlusconi? Never mind, I don’t want to know.
.-= Mary´s last blog ..Playing in the sand =-.
Ewww! You said the B word!
If I want to start reading these books…is there a printed list of all of them in order they were written….thanks
I don’t know what order they were written in, but it can make a bit of difference, because his relationship with his father althers through the stories and his affir with Livia, too. Part of his complex character has to do with how Camilleri develops him through the series. I think we are condemned to read them as translated, one by one… unless you prefer to read them in Italian. I have bought them as they came available, but don’t remember which was the first, even.
Maybe using the Amazon link I made to see pub dates will help?
.-= Judith in Umbria´s last blog ..Montalbano: the coolest cop on Italian TV =-.
As far as I can tell, they’ve been translated in the order in which they came out, and the translations are at least two or three behind.
The first three are The Shape of Water, The Terracotta Dog and The Snack Thief.
OK, I found the rest of them on the Web site of Camillerl’s publisher. The others are (roughly translated from the Italian; I’m no poet): The Voice of the Violin, Excursion to Tindari, The Odor of the Night, Around the Buoy, The Patience of the Spider, Paper Moon, August Heat, The Wings of the Sphinx, The Sand Beach, The Potter’s Field, The Age of Doubt.
Thank you both…I am a big didbin and leon fan so I love the idea of adding someone new…and when I get home I am getting the kindle so I can download them and have them to read…
Kewl! You two figured this all out while I was searching for a recipe that isn’t here! I know I have not yet read August Heat, Potter’s Field or The Age of Doubt, not sure about Paper Moon.
Next you have to get the Zingaretti DVDs that are ready, because altghough there are things in the book that you miss on TV, there’s definitely something missing without Luca…. ; )
I will have to wait until I get back home to get dvd’s but I am sure I will love it…he really looks cool and again thanks for posting all of this…i will definily have to follow your blog when I get back…
Thanks… (if you order the DVDs from clicking on my link you pay my internet bill)
Meantime, it might be too hot even to take up with Luca Z.. nah, it’s never that hot
.-= Judith in Umbria´s last blog ..Sauté of Summer Vegetables =-.
Yeah – we’re in Amsterdam where the weather is gorgeous. Swappers at the house caring for Matilda. Just finished book 2 in the Millenium series and have several more books packed for the next few weeks. Gym, cycling, reading and exploring on foot on the agenda….
Ohhhh, Montalbano is fun!!!