"Brandy and Grappa in Trentino's uses and customs"
Both historical work and liqueur recipe book, ethnographic study and handbook of effective remedies, this volume by Raffaelli offers an extremely pleasant and stimulating reading. Because it deals with a product - Grappa - that has its roots firmly set in Trentino's culture, of which it is certainly part since ancient times, and because it encourages to experiment with tasty liqueurs and healthy infusions. Here we have, coming back to life, terms perhaps forgotten or in any case less used than in the past, like «baga», «scorlazer», «ponzena», while others are almost ennobled by the research («brasche», «lambic» and «lambicar»), words and procedures still used in the winter of the Trentino valleys. It is a whole world of proverbs , sayings and popular jokes; customs and old traditions emerge in sharp relief from the meticulous and passionate collection that Umberto Raffaelli, vice director of the Museum of Uses and Customs of Trentino People, has gathered in years of research, interviews, conversations and archival studies. The work is the result of field investigations confirmed by documentary investigations, both lovingly conducted by the author with poetic sensitivity. The Museum reproposes now the book in a new print, after the rapid success of the first edition, renewing its thanks to the author who has revived, for the eyes of the heart even more than those of the mind, one aspect often neglected of the «lambicada» life of mountain people.
Dr. Guido Lorenzi
- Title:
- Acquavite e Grappa nell'uso e nel costume trentino
- Author:
- Raffaeli Umberto
- Year:
- 1980
