Italy Says Ciao to Pasta for a Day

Companies accused of colluding to drive prices up 36%

(NEWSER) - Financial police have searched the offices of Italy’s top five pasta makers to investigate claims that they’ve rigged the price of rigatoni—and you know, other pasta, too (rigatoni was just alliterative). The investigation has been ongoing since 2007, after consumer groups complained that prices were up as much as 36%—and recommended that Italians boycott the stuff. Earlier this year, 26 firms were fined, though pasta makers are appealing, and maintain they never formed the alleged cartel. More»

Outraged as Iranian, Swiss leaders meet at UN racism conference

(NEWSER) - Israel has angrily called home its ambassador to Switzerland after that country's president met with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of a politically charged UN meeting on racism that began today, the Times of London reports. On Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day, Switzerland’s “guest of honor is a racist and a Holocaust-denier who doesn’t conceal his intention to wipe Israel off the face of this earth,” PM Benjamin Netanyahu said. More»

Laws against new ethnic eateries prompts charges of gastronomic xenophobia

(NEWSER) - Kebabs, Chinese food, and curries are the targets of a growing Italian campaign against foreign food, the Times of London reports. The Tuscan town of Lucca has slapped a ban on new foreign eateries opening in the city, and Milan has now followed suit. Government-backed campaigners say they are fighting to protect Italian food from the increasingly popular ethnic competition. More»

(NEWSER) - If you want white truffle shavings sprinkled over your Thanksgiving leftovers, the biggest specimen found in Italy this year is up for auction tomorrow. You'll need some big bucks—and perhaps the moxie to outbid David and Victoria Beckham. The delectable fungus weighs about 2½ pounds and is expected to spark a bidding war, ANSA reports. More»

The city dines on the pasta once a month—but why?

(NEWSER) - Most restaurants in Buenos Aires only serve gnocchi on the 29th of the month—but why? Marisa Robertson-Textor scoured the city for answers for Gourmet, and uncovered conflicting accounts. Gnocchi day may be a Genovese tradition, one diner said—or perhaps Uraguayan. Another claimed it is meant to give people luck on payday. “Hardly!” a musician told her. “You’ve just been paid, so who needs luck?" More»