La Dolce Italia

by cecylia on August 13, 2012

Ciao bella! I was super blessed to not have to work this weekend! If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (@cecyliadotcom) you probably know that I attended a bestie’s wedding (more on that in the next post) and the long awaited Italian Lifetyle Event, La Dolce Italia! Over the weekend, the Royal Exhibition Building was transformed into a ‘Little Italy‘, where fashion parades, car displays, cooking classes, wine tastings, fencing shows, art exhibits, pizza competitions and even more was showcased. Evidently, it exceeded my expectations on so many levels, so without further ado, there are some of my favourite momentos from La Dolce Italia.

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你们好！上个周末我很蒙福参加了我好朋友的婚礼（请等下一片博客:) 和独一无二的意大利展览会 ‘甜蜜的意大利’.有可能你们在我的Facebook, Twitter或 Instagram (@cecyliadotcom) 上已经看到了一些照片。墨尔本的皇家展览馆变成了一个‘小意大利’，那里有意大利著名的食物，葡萄酒，艺术展览，音乐表演，服装演示，车子，击剑，烹厨班等等都由宾客们来品尝，体验。我就不多说了，接着是我最难忘的一些‘意大利’记忆。

The best artist on show is Italian born architect-turned-photographer Howtan Re, who is a master of compilation. This installation is titled ‘Hell and Paradise‘, each letter is composed of modern waste products. What a creative way to recycle!

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最精彩的艺术是意大利摄影师（他原是建筑师）Howtan Re用废物制作的字母。它们的含义是让观众更注意到回收的重要性。

Watching chefs create fariry-tale decorations from just sugar and heat blew me away. I was also bewildered to witness ginormous Nutella tubs (and people buying them!), so much so I adopted the same surprised look as the saccharine caterpillar…separated at birth?

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左边的雕塑是由一位厨师用糖和颜料做成的。多么精制多彩啊！右边的我那么惊讶是因为我从没见过这么巨大的榛子酱罐头！甚至还有很多人买。。。

Buon appetite! Of course the absolute highlight of La Dolce Italia for us was the Truffle Bar. I believe it was my very first ‘diamond of the kitchen” experience! Essentially truffles are fungi that share symbiotic relationships with tree roots. The delicacy bears an uncanny resemblance to brain matter and an aromatic affinity to boar pheromone, hence it is renowned for its incredible smell and apparently aphrodisiac effects. Some visitors may have been disappointed as the original truffle bar menu was cancelled at the last minute due to logistical problems, but we still enjoyed ourselves immensely. We were told by the experts that the aroma and flavour of the truffle is more important than its shape or size. How true that is also, I thought, of people!

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在意大利展览会最突出的一项是松露品尝！这是我第一次尝试‘厨房的钻石’。松露像蘑菇，生长在树根上。它似乎像大脑，味道又像猪的荷尔蒙，所以古代搜寻松露的是野猪，现在多数是训练了的狗。松露并没有许多健康性质，但它好香啊！原来厨师预备的松露菜非常精彩，但不巧他们最后不能来参加，所以我们只能品尝在比萨上的松露。专家告诉我们松露的形状和长相不重要，要紧的是它的香气和美味。让我想到人也如此，我们流出来的馨香比我们的外表重要的多！