XIII 02 /2015 © Caffè Moak S.p.A.

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XIII 02/2015 © Caffè Moak S.p.A.
Someone says that you have to go on in life without once
looking back. This is not always true, as history wouldn’t exist
otherwise. Just as you cannot neglect that behind every coffee, behind those coffee beans, there are people, histories and
market dynamics you often don’t think about. Men – or better
women – working in coffee plantations, who are often paid
with alarm clocks, compact mirrors or pens. As if this would
help to improve their lives. Since the beginnings, we followed
the way of innovation combined with traditional production,
firmly believing in such business model and such cultural
value that always brings the attention to those people making
coffee as well as their environment. With the year 2015, we
strengthened this idea and awareness, beginning a direct dialogue process with small producers, whom we started to select
excellent monorigins from. So I got to travel again, starting
from Africa. I reached the plantations, talked to the farmers,
became familiar with their habits, and verified the quality of
cherries and beans with my sense of smell and my eyes, while
bundled women looked over these big cloth pieces including
tons of freshly picked coffee. I just came back from those
equatorial places and I am fully convinced – without worrying
that it could only be a consequence of nostalgia for Africa –
that you have to indeed go on in life, innovate yourself and
progress; however, if you stop and observe the world also
from other viewpoints, you find out that there is more, that
there are other ways to be “ahead”, even if you pass through
dirt roads.
The President
Giovanni Spadola
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Sicily in pink. Paola Maugeri - Article on page 18
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XIII 02/2015 © Caffè Moak S.p.A.
On the cover:
Music pattern
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Magazine Subscript. R.O.C. nr. 23325 – valid from 18/03/2013 Aut. Court. Modica nr.218/2013 VG - News nr.2/2013.
Responsible Director: Sara di Pietro
Editing: for[me]moak.
Pictures: for[me]moak.
Graphic Coordination: for[me]moak
Art work: for[me]moak
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Mymusic coffee: Moak reaches “homes” with the new
capsule and pad line
Here’s who will select finalists of Caffè Letterario
and Fuori Fuoco Moak
Put your face contest
Moak at the Microcosmi Festival
Historical places, Grand Hotel Timeo
Coffee between sweet and salty
Lillo Freni and Tony Lo Cocco
Flower bombs, vegetable gardens in the house and
pencils sprouting plants, for a grin future
Sicily in pink. Paola Maugeri, between centrifuges
and vinyl, supporter of zero impact life
Farm Cultural Park, from impoverished village to
sixth wonder in the world of contemporary art
Coffee and health
Coffee is good for hair
Foodss, businesses and students between
food and design
Coffee to read
Moak people contest
The style of furnishing
Coffee and healthy surroundings
[ the sign moak ]
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Mymusic coffee: Moak reaches “homes” with the
new capsule and pad line
I
t is called “mymusic coffee”, the new capsule and pad
product line Moak launches for the serving market. With
the new project, the company turns its attention – besides
the bar sector – to the single-dose product world, offering
a new range of products that expresses the values, from
blends to packaging, which have always been supported by
Moak: quality, research and passion for culture. Six blends
are available in three different formats – capsule, fap and
pad – able to satisfy the different tastes of lovers of the
Gift of David, from north to south. As already referred to
in the headline and packaging, Mymusic coffee once again
ratifies the bond between coffee and culture. With this serving line, Moak, mécène company that has been promoting
young writers, filmmakers and photographers for years,
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is now bringing the art form to the stage, which connects
us to memories, people and places, just like coffee: music.
According to the research of Charles Spence from Oxford
University, sounds enhance and change flavours of food
and beverages: the acute ones amplify the sweet and sour,
the lower ones the bitter flavours. To the same extent, a
coffee blend can recall a music genre thanks to its aromatic
and sensory features. Therefore, to encourage the project
Moak created a modular packaging where each blend is
represented by the music genre that is closest to its aroma,
recognizable by a pantone colour. While each of the six
blends in the three different formats is characterized by the
iconographic language of the group of musical instruments:
wind instruments for capsules, string instruments for pads
and percussion instruments for the fap format. Moreover,
in order to optimize product presentation and make it easier
for consumers to select the six blends in the three different
formats, for[me]moak designed a modular furniture system
made of mdf – eco-friendly material obtained from wood
scraps – and inspired by bookcases of the Fifties by Franco
Albini for Cassina. The lines and the sectional feature of the
elements – which allow to set shelves and boxes at different
heights – turns the structure into a real design piece of furniture for the home sector. The for[me]moak bookshelves
can be also bought online (store.caffemoak.com). Attention
to sustainability has also been directed to the use of packaging materials made with FSC®certified paper, the brand
that distinguishes products including wood coming from
forests managed in a proper and responsible way according
to strict environmental, social and economic standards.
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[ the sign moak ]
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Moak and Feltrinelli
Moak chose a special partner to launch mymusic coffee on the market: the LaFeltrinelli group. Connection
of the two brands is not only the historical and thousand-year old bond between coffee and literature. There
is far more: Italianity, two companies that still enhance
the importance of a family-run business, common passion for culture and Bob Noorda, same father of the two
brands. A partnership that meets the new market trends
and consumers’ habits, who can be nowadays caught
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by different impulses in a single space and single time.
Twenty bookstores of the Feltrinelli Group, from Milan
to Naples, where Moak corners are present. The mymusic coffee blends can be bought also online on store.
caffemoak.com, besides in the Feltrinelli retail stores.
“Our purpose – explains Alessandro Spadola, General
Manager of the Moak Group – is to continuously draw
up new business and cultural synergies by choosing
partners that share our philosophy, aiming for quality
and innovation”.
The mymusic project
To promote and spread the music projects of bands and
young artists, Moak entrusted scouting to someone that
knows about music: Paola Maugeri, historical face of
MTV and speaker of Virgin Radio, who selected an
emerging group of the Italian artistic panorama for each
music genre. Each box includes a dynamic “my selec-
Song suggested to read this article: Listen, learn, read on - Deep Purple
tion” QR-Code pointing at a pre-homepage where Paola
Maugeri presents the chosen music group related to the
product type. From here, you access automatically to
the section of the chosen blend, launching a player that
reproduces the whole song of the chosen band. Mymusic
is a multisensory trip, where coffee break also becomes
“listening break”.
[ the sign moak ]
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Here’s who will select finalists of Caffè Letterario
and Fuori Fuoco Moak
by Sara Di Pietro
Mauro Covacich
T
he panel of judges for Caffè Letterario Moak has
been defined and is proud of having Mauro Covavich as president for this year; Italian writer and journalist and finalist of the Premio Strega 2015 with his novel
“La Sposa” (The Bride). He also cooperates with Corriere
della Sera, Panorama, Il Gazzettino and Vanity Fair since
’98, writing news reports, travel stories and news stories.
Moreover, Covavich made some radio documentaries and
the radio-drama Safari for Rai (Italian State Broadcaster).
Next to him, we will find again, as in the previous editions,
trustworthy Guido Conti e Gianluca Morozzi, both connected by their passion for verses. While the new entry in
the panel is Enza Campino, winner of the Mauri Award
as “bookseller of the year” and responsible for the section
“parola di libraio” (Word of the bookseller), the cultural
Sunday insert of Il Sole 24 Ore. Another woman completes
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the pool of jury members: Elena Stancanelli, nationally
renowned writer and co-operator of several newspapers,
among which “Repubblica”, “Il Manifesto”, and “l’Unità”.
In 1998, she wins the Giuseppe Berto award with her novel
“Benzina” (Petrol), which was filmed by director Monica
Strambini in 2001, keeping the same name. The panel of
judges is already working and considering the manifold
manuscripts, and is again commissioned to award the will
of emerging and well-known writers to expose themselves,
who will have to show the ability in conciliating passion
and art of writing.
Info:
www.caffe-letterario.it
www.facebook.com/letterariomoak
www.twitter.com/letterariomoak
The identities of the “Fuori Fuoco” commission, international photography contest arrived at its second edition, have
been also revealed. In the panel of judges of Denis Curti1,
even for the 2015 edition leading celebs of the national artistic panorama are going to evaluate works presented by aspiring and expert photographers. Graphic designer and member
of Aiap Ginette Caron2 is the only woman of the panel. Born
and raised in Montreal, she is currently living in Milan,
where she created different projects of corporate identity,
branding and art books for Barilla, Moleskine and Swatch.
The third jury member is native of Palermo, Tony Gentile3,
author of the famous and multi-awarded picture of judges
Falcone and Borsellino, icon of fight against the Mafia. Gentile has been cooperating with the international press agency
Reuters since 1992. Photographer of news and political
events, he also immortalized Pope John Paul’s trips as well
as the elections of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Instead,
from caput mundi emerges photographer Massimo Siragusa4, already part of the panel in the first edition of Fuori
1
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Song suggested to read this article: Library pictures - Arctic Monkeys
Fuoco; teacher at the renowned IED Academy and creator
of many ad campaigns for worldwide known companies,
such as Alfa Romeo, Versace and Kartell, he also won four
“World Press Photo” awards. As for the “communication”
field, the panel is represented by Marco Lentini5, graphic
designer and responsible for communication at Caffè Moak.
Besides the technical considerations, the Fuori fuoco jury
members will direct their glance on those works that are able
to communicate an “impulse”, which goes right to one’s
heart and offers emotions both to those who take pictures
and those who have the honour to admire the result.
Appointment for the price-giving evening will be October
10th in Modica. Even for the 2015 edition, Paola Maugeri
will proclaim the winners.
Info:
www.fuori-fuoco.com
FB [fuori fuoco moak]
TW [@fuorifuocomoak]
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@simone_trita | Ap
ril 2015
@lavienro
se29 | M
ay
2015
@mamiter | June 2015
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Moak at the Microcosmi Festival
by Francesca Puglisi
M
oak partner of Microcosmi. Seventy-two hours
of music, taste, art and culture as protagonist
of the third edition of the festival held last
June in Comerio, small gem in the area of Varese. The
event organized by Vittorio Cosmo – musician and music-industry executive – managed to attract about seven
thousand people like a magnet coming from all over the
world. Common purpose, where Moak identified itself,
always is to ratify the strong connection between music, food and different art forms. A magical atmosphere
and good intentions have livened up the three evenings,
which turned unique thanks to the participation of different names of the music panorama, such as Pacifico,
Enrico Ruggeri and Renato Pozzetto. In the wonderful
natural landscape of the park belonging to Villa Tatti
Talacchini, Moak could not but be present with the new
“mymusic coffee” project, the serving line promoting
young bands. Six ways of interpreting coffee and music through blend tasting, which allowed more than
1500 visitors of the Moak corner to “listen to” a good
coffee. And while true that culture is within everyone’s
means, the three-day schedule gave the chance even to
the youngest ones to express their creativeness. Moak
arranged a Latte Art Junior lab, the art of cappuccino
decoration, for them. The many children welcomed
the course with enthusiasm and brought out their creativity by means of brushes and colours, giving vent
to imagination on numerous milk clouds. “Attending
Microcosmi” – explains Annalisa Spadola, Caffè Moak
Marketing Director – has been a further pleasant opportunity to spread art and culture through coffee, and
we could not but take the chance to introduce the new
mymusic coffee bands selected by Paola Maugeri in an
event where coffee is protagonist”.
Song suggested to read this article: Cosmos Rockin’ - Queen, Paul Rodgers
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Historical places, Grand Hotel Timeo
by Francesca Puglisi
I
n Taormina, in an oasis of natural beauty surrounded
by the crystal-clear and blue Ionian Sea, a building of
hundred-year old importance rises, the Grand Hotel
Timeo. In the post-war period, this amazing destination
of the Sicilian Island was reduced to a simple and empty
seaside resort unable to welcome visitors properly, who
used to stay there even in the wintertime. It was thanks
to Francesco la Floresta – belonging to the namesake
noble family from Taormina – that the town managed to
be part again of the most visited tourist destinations. In
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1850, La Floresta – already manager of the “Fondaco”
along the main road – decided to invest his energies and
passion for this paradisiac corner in the construction of
the first Hotel in Taormina. It was baptized with the name
of Grand Hotel Timeo to pay homage to two eminent
personalities that contributed to the history of the “Pearl
of the Ionian Sea”, i.e. Timaeus, famous historian born
in Taormina in 356 B.C. and his father Andromachus,
founder of the town in 358 B.C. Nowadays, the Timeo
is a cultural and artistic heritage that allows those who
visit this place to enjoy enchanting feelings. To make this
location even more appealing is the landscape offered by
the large panoramic terrace boasting views over the majestic Greek Theatre, besides the Ionian coast. Hence not
simply a hotel, but a modus vivendi. In fact, Hotel Timeo
represents an excellent sensory path. The large space
dedicated to psychophysical wellness is an essential moment of guests’ stays; nothing is comparable to that locus
amoenus of the antique garden for those who love allowing themselves moments of silence. This place inspired
very many writers and well-known people who stepped
on this small remnant of the world. Among all of them, it
is dutiful to remember the English writer Lawrence, who
got the inspiration to compose his novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” along these windows overlooking the sea.
Even the filmmaking world becomes part of such spectacle made of lights and colours, including Sophia Loren,
Elizabeth Taylor and Burt Lancaster, who used to sleep
on the pillows of the Timeo more than once, managing to
steal glimpses of incomparable sunsets over the sea.
Song suggested to read this article: La lunga estate di Taormina - Johnny Dorelli
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Coffee between sweet and salty
Lillo Freni and Tony Lo Cocco
by Sara Di Pietro
Whether espresso, in powder or in beans – between sweet and salty notes – it will be Lillo Freni of pastry shop Freni of Messina and Tony Lo Coco of Restaurant I Pupi in Bageria (Palermo) to turn it into a protagonist.
I
n the northeast point of Sicily, precisely in Messina, an
old gem of traditional Sicilian confectionery rises up,
which has been livening up the greediest palates for more
than 60 years. Founder of this workshop was Giuseppe
Freni, who decided to give life to a project that would taste
of excellence and professionalism, creating the namesake
pastry shop in 1968. The father leaves an inheritance in
the hands of Lillo, his son, which is symbol for passion for
one’s own region and the scents that distinguish it. Thanks
to his father’s experience, grand master of arts and life, Lillo
manages to learn the techniques, which turn a simple pastry
into a mix of goodness and passion. In 2011, he graduates
in “Science of Mediterranean Enogastronomy and Health”.
Famous face of Alice TV, Lillo Freni also is member of the
Ducezio Association that gathers the best Master pastry
chefs of Sicily. He could not but offer a summery, fresh and
delicious dessert from the land kissed from the sun.
Lillo Freni
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Delicious cup with figs
Ingredients (x 6):
1 kg of whole figs, 100 g orange liqueur, 500 g cream to be
whipped, 100 g granulated sugar (for the cream), 10 g coffee
powder, 30 g cocoa powder, 10 g Sicilian pistachio flour.
Preparation:
peel the figs and cut them in bigger pieces, put them into
a bowl and blend them with liqueur; cover with wrap
and put in the fridge to macerate for about half an hour.
Whip the cold cream by adding granulated sugar from
the beginning until a smooth and solid cream is obtained.
Pour into the cup (Martini type), a spoonful of figs, coffee powder, a spoonful of whipped cream, repeating the
three ingredients for a second layer. Finish the cup with
whipped cream, sprinkle with cocoa and decorate with
Sicilian pistachio flour.
Tony Lo Coco
W
e are still in the northern part of the island,
but moving some kilometre further west, to
Bagheria. In this town full of history and
traditions, chosen by Tornatore as set for his film
Baaria, Tony Pupi opens his I Pupi in 2009, cosy design restaurant, where he fulfils his dream together
with his wife Laura: cooking in a pleasant context,
with the same love one cooks at home for friends
and guests. Tony shows his passion for culinary art
since he’s little, when his mother and grandmother
had a hard time in keeping him away from the cooker.
The continuous research of new combinations of raw
materials from Sicily’s soil and sea that are always
treated with simplicity and respect, award him with
a Michelin star, 1 hat of the Espresso guide and two
Gambero Rosso forks.
Arancino roulade with black swine of the Nebrodi
area and coffee powder
Ingredients (for 4 people):
500 g carnaroli rice, 1 Giarratana onion, 40 g butter, 2 g
turmeric, pepper and salt to taste; for the ragout: 500 g
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Nebrodi black swine, 100 ml espresso, star anise, black
pepper and fennel in grains to taste, 100 g tomato concentrate, 300 g tomato datterino type, 100 g celery, 100
g onion, 100 g carrot, nutmeg to taste, 200 g caramelized
bread crumbs.
Procedure:
marinate the swine for 24 hours with 1 l of water,
espresso and spices. Put celery, carrot and onion in a
pan, add water and bring to the boil. Pan-roast the rice
with chopped onions in a copper saucepan, spume and
cook by adding vegetable broth. Leave to cold. Once
marinated, cook the swine in a wood oven at a temperature of 64 degrees for 5 hours. Once cooked, cut a
piece by hand, put in a pan together with celery, carrots,
onion and tomato concentrate, and finish cooking. Take
the rice and form some nighiri with ragout filling with
the help of a sushi cap, then put it in caramelized breadcrumbs; cut the rest of the leg in small strips. Melt the
dammuso in warm water until creamy. Lay down out
roulade decorating it with swine strips, mixed herbs and
coffee powder.
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Flower bombs, vegetable gardens in the house and
pencils sprouting plants, for a grin future
by Sara Di Pietro
“M
ake love, not war”. They don’t wear shirts
and flower necklaces, but promote guerrilla
warfare of plants and flowers. The idea comes
from two Sicilian start uppers who made their dream come
true, producing and distributing pencils sprouting calendula
and pomegranate, which give (new) life to plants and aromatic herbs when bombed on a plot of land. Salvatore Martorina
and Claudio Pitrolo, both in their thirties, love to research and
experiment. Their project is called Grin (italianized word of
green), because their mission is to show how to make nature
arise anytime and anywhere by turning urban and non-urban
spaces more and more green and eco-friendly. We like their
idea, the way of thinking and communicating it, the fact of
being revolutionary and innovative. We invited them to bomb
our small courtyard with an explosive mix made of recycled
paper and a selection of flower seeds and aromatic herbs.
Rain, light and soil will do their work and we can’t wait to
see our lawn/vegetable garden exploding and blooming.
Salvatore Martorina and Claudio Pitrolo
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Why Grin and where does the idea come from?
The business idea comes from the need to experiment
a new green concept, which is easy and within everyone’s means, trying to implement the knowledge gained
through our university studies. The English term “Grin”
literally means “big smile”, reason why we made capital
of this wordplay to express our green concept and our relationship with nature in general at best.
What is your mission?
The mission of Grin is to try and spread the culture of
green urban spaces, as well as the pleasure of self-production. In fact, our initiatives and our products,
supported by careful research, selection and testing
activity, intend to renew the connection between nature and urban world, continuing the idea of salvaged
materials, sustainability and fight against environmental degradation.
Planting pencils or throwing bombs of seeds and flowers is a strong marketing action plan. Simplicity awards
even if the market of ideas is overstocked?
The market of ecological gadgets is in continuous evolution; both small producers and big brands are constantly
searching for more and more innovative and eco-friendly
products. In this perspective, our products represent the
best thing the market has to offer at present, and this feature has been also confirmed by the numerous prizes and
acknowledgements received over the years. For example
the pencil-plant Sprout – a normal pencil that you plant in
the soil once used up, which sprouts giving life to aromatic herbs or vegetables – has been nominated “Best green
product 2013” and “Best promotional gadget 2014”.
You also take on this challenge for those young people
that leave their hometowns discouraged. You think you
will succeed even from southern Sicily?
Grin represents our challenge, a bet we believe we
can win day after day. We achieved unexpected results
in the last year or so, creating a commercial net that
launched our products from north to south. Our project
can be an example for young graduates who intend to
rise up against a critical working situation forcing them
to move.
Besides green articles, whom you are sole distributors of
in Italy, did you create also items you produce yourself?
Between the different project and works in progress, the
one with major success has been “PUF”, vegetable garden a handy box, a pocket-sized kit ideal for those who
have limited space and time, but would like to take a stab
at gardening comfortably in the city, on one’s own balcony or terrace.
Your scope also is the green design for public places.
Which project aroused your enthusiasm most?
Green design is growing intensely, and even if it doesn’t
specifically fall within our area of expertise, it already
happened several times that we acted as “consultants” in
order to bring a touch of nature into buildings or public
places. We like recreating green scenarios by means of
led lamps specifically used for indoor cultivations or
covering entire walls with moss, a natural lichen that can
be personalised as for colour and composition, which
allows creating simple, low-maintenance vertical indoor
gardens.
Your philosophy is local products and self-production.
Is it really that easy to recreate a small organic garden
in the office or at home, even for those not having a
green thumb?
We believe in the importance of local agriculture, direct
sale and self-production since ever. There are definitely
many good reasons for cultivating, but you also have to
consider the difficulties to be faced. Taking care of plants
takes indeed time to manure, re-pot, irrigate, shelter from
cold or extreme heat. Therefore, it is better to foresee
these difficulties before taking on a vegetable garden on
the balcony.
What kind of green ideas do you have in the pipeline?
A new series of completely “plantable” products is on its
way, from memo books to greeting cards, from sugared
almonds to fortune cookies, up to a fish tank where you
can cultivate flowers and plants, besides having fish. Another interesting project is the eco-graffiti, mural paintings in cohabitation with the existing green or completely
ecological, where the use of spray or paint has been
entirely replaced by a natural and living element, such
as musk. A creative art form against urban degradation,
in order to redevelop facades or neighbourhoods where
green has no space.
Song suggested to read this article: Proposta - I giganti
[ the sign moak ]
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Sicily in pink. Paola Maugeri, between centrifuges
and vinyl, supporter of zero impact life
by Francesca Puglisi
A
couple of vegetables instead of earphones to
maybe listen to nature more closely and learn to
respecting it. It’s the picture present on the web
and on social networks, the icon of a woman that turned
music and healthy diet into her raison d’étre. Paola
Maugeri, multifaceted Sicilian VJ, is the reference point
for music journalism insomuch that she’s been nicknamed Wikipaola, having interviewed more than 1200 of
the greatest rock stars worldwide. She hosts Longplaying
Stories on radio Virgin, but is also very into environment
and healthy diet. Being vegetarian for the last 32 years,
and vegan for 16 – as you can read in her facebook profile – she’s the author of successful books written for
Mondadori: “La mia vita a impatto zero” (My zero impact
life), “Las Vegans” and the last one, just published, “Alla
Salute” (To one’s health), in which she acts as spokeswoman and promoter of green topics.
I loved to listen to jazz music together with my father as a
child, and knowing how a melody could be created in the
head of great musicians just intrigued me. This curiosity, as
well as the wish to getting to know the big bands closely,
made me choose my job. The passion for the rock genre
arose somehow immediately after, as I was growing up
and used to listen to Velvet Underground. In those years,
Catania was an extremely rock city, musically compared to
Seattle. I knew right away that rock would be my path.
Let’s start with music, your great passion. When did it
start, and why the rock genre more than others?
The interview that is still in your heart?
Definitely the one with U2, one of the most clicked on
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Music is also a means of protest, a tool some artists use to
arouse consciousness. Some rock bands did it and it seems
like rap is taking this over now. What do you think? And
how much of a “fashionable” trend is included?
Rap music is appropriate for these days; it’s quick and
immediate. I don’t think it’s a fashionable choice, but an
absolutely pertinent cultural trend.
Chris Martin and Paola Maugeri
Paola Maugeri and Moby
the internet. A beautiful experience and an interview that
even they still remember with affection.
I reply that it’s exactly the other way. Vegan diet is the
best one for children, in order for them to grow in a
healthy, sensitive and conscious way. One obviously has
to be informed about a healthy diet, so that it is balanced.
Above all children need essential nutrients for their development. Therefore, it is parents’ duty avoiding to be
superficial – whether vegan or not – and pay particular
attention to their children’s diet.
In the 90ies, you left Sicily to live in Milan. What did
you take with you from the volcanic region, and what
would you have preferred not to leave behind?
Actually, the desire to change city and life was so strong
that I didn’t think about what I would have left, but rather
what I would have found in a city like Milan, capital of
music. You don’t look back when you are 25. I definitely
brought the blue Mediterranean with me, insomuch that
I dyed my hair blue, colour of the sea of the Etna area,
shortly after I moved.
Today you are ambassadress not only of good music, but
also of good values, such as those connected to sustainability. How is “zero impact” life?
“La mia vita a impatto zero” (My zero impact life) is a
beautiful title I even dedicated to my first book; however,
it is impossible in everyday life. “My life towards zero
impact” would have been more accurate, a life based on
awareness rather than wastefulness.
You are mother of a child, Timo, who is also vegan. After the recent incident of the child in Florence, what do
you say to those who believe vegan diet is not appropriate to children’s’ needs?
Song suggested to read this article: Gratitude feat. Will Oldham - Bjork
How is music compared to a dish or a drink?
It’s nice listening to it while preparing. It’s amazing how
music can inspire the choice of ingredients and the success of a dish.
Tell us about your last book and why is it worth reading it?
“Alla Salute” (To one’s health) is a book worth reading,
because it faces every aspect of our lives, starting from
food. Samuel Johnson, English poet of the 18th century,
said “who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind
anything else”. Such reflection is three centuries old,
but very topical. We eat three times a day and that’s
all human beings do, besides breathing and sleeping.
Food can change our lives, our relations, our work, the
relationships with our children completely. What we introduce in our body feeds our blood, our cells and therefore our thoughts.
[ the sign moak ]
19
Farm Cultural Park, from impoverished village to
sixth wonder in the world of contemporary art
by Francesca Puglisi
U
ntil recently, it was only a small village living
nearly in total anonymity. Even authorities had
abandoned it to its fate: just a geographical
point situated in our wonderful island. However, Favara, few steps from the Valle dei Templi, forgotten
and excluded from tourist itineraries, has redeemed
itself, or better, Andrea Bartoli and his wife Florinda
Saieva redeemed it as “deus ex machina”. He’s a notary and she’s a lawyer, connected by a great passion
for contemporary art and above all for their region. In
2010, they decide to bravely and determined do something not only for themselves, but also for the community by shaking (positively) the boring days of the
inhabitants. They decide to convert the impoverished
centre of Favara into a touristic cultural park. Today
“Farm Cultural Park” is the payback of the small
village included in the six international tourist destinations to visit. Admiring and infected by those who
still believe in being able to create a better world and
Andrea Bartoli and Florinda Saieva
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inventing new ways of thinking and doing culture, we
interviewed Andrea Bartoli, the creator of such beautiful project.
Where does the idea of creating a project named farm
cultural park come from?
My wife Flò and I had a sound wish: living in Sicily
and being able to be fine. Together with this wish,
there was the need to create a fertile and stimulating
environment for out two girls, but also the awareness
to taking a responsibility towards the small piece of
world we live in.
What does the Arab Kasba has in common with the seven Bentivegna courtyards of Favara?
Place Jamaa el Fna, the main square of Marrakech,
around which Medina is developed, is the main place of
inspiration of the Farm Cultural Park project. The Seven
Courtyards are a Sicilian Kasba where small white archi-
tectures are spaced out by seven small courts hiding two
wonderful gardens. Last June we inaugurated Riad Farm
in one of these, a place intended to be used as relax and
hospitality area.
The London blog Purple Travel placed you in sixth position to be visited among the international destinations
for contemporary art lovers. Did you expect such acknowledgement?
They have been very generous to compare us with the
most important capitals of the contemporary art world.
However, what in my opinion really makes our experience unique is the power of transformation this project
affected the whole town with, as well as the effects
it is causing all over Sicily. I would like to highlight
that the experience of Farm gave life to Boom-Urban
Lungs; a project that will award three Sicilian cities by
means of a contest over the next few months, in order
to make Urban Lungs that have the power to change
identity of the hosting towns, just like Farm with
Favara, and that can give a future dimension to such
towns.
Song suggested to read this article: You’re an artist - Morphine
What are the artistic-cultural events you promote, and
whom are they directed to?
We mainly promote appointments connected to contemporary culture, but are very interested in topics as
low-definition architecture, public design, urban agriculture. Culture is a noble tool here, which gave life to
a small community of dreamers who didn’t give up the
idea of living in a nicer, more ethical and cosmopolite
Sicily yet.
What changed in the tourist sector of your town since
2010 and how did the inhabitants of Favara react?
Until five years ago, Favara was a place excluded from
any tourist itinerary. Today, it’s a small capital of culture, Lonely Planet gave us such an important review
that we are actually embarrassed, just about every
newspaper around the world talked about Farm and we
welcome tourists every day. In a town that had nothing
to offer now B&B’s and restaurants increase a hundredfold, and there is no property in the historical centre
that is not in restoration stage with touristic-cultural
purpose.
[ the sign moak ]
21
Coffee and health
Coffee is good for hair
by Francesca Puglisi
T
he old false belief stating that coffee has negative
effects on our body has now waned. A research
carried out by the University of Jena (Germany),
published in the renowned magazine “International journal of dermatology” shows it once again, and explains
how coffee facilitates hair growth. A further and efficient
confirmation ratifying the positive connection between
coffee and hair comes from Charitè University of Berlin
as well as from the study by Peter and Seeber from Hamburg. According to this study, which was carried out on
a sample of thirty-nine volunteers with severe hair loss,
caffeine would penetrate into the air follicle in a quick
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and efficient way, and would reduce baldness in 79% of
the cases. Doctor Paolo Gigli, surgeon specialising in
dermatology and President of Sitri (Italian Trichology Association) gives us answers that are more detailed.
How does coffee reduce the risk of hair loss?
There are different studies on caffeine features seen as
stimulant for hair growth in vitro. This presupposes that it
can be used in the treatment against baldness. Moreover,
it was proven that the scalp absorbs caffeine through hair
follicles significantly, and this allows considering it an
excellent alley against hair loss.
In general, what kind of effects has coffee on the
scalp?
According to researches by some scientists, caffeine turn
out to be a potential molecule to be used in the treatment
of baldness. Indeed, coffee not only improves the aesthetic aspect of the scalp, if employed by means of lotions or
compresses, but also helps the scalp effectively by making it stronger from the inside.
How much coffee would a person with propensity for
baldness need to drink per day in order to reduce hair
loss?
Currently, we cannot determine how much coffee, seen
as a drink, a person with baldness problems may assume
Song suggested to read this article: Long Haired Child - Devendra Banhart
to obtain results against hair loss. You obviously need to
consider also different factor affecting a patient’s health,
such as for example possible cardiovascular or hypertension issues.
Are there supplements or cosmetic products made with
caffeine that can improve the look of our hair?
On the market, there are different products in the form of
lotions and shampoo made with caffeine, which can be
used on a regular basis on hair. Such products not only try
to solve baldness problems, but also have healthy effects
on hair that tends to exhaust or mat. Coffee can also be
used together with other natural ingredients as compress
to strengthen and freshen the scalp.
[ the sign moak ]
23
Foodss, businesses and students between food and design
section by di ADI Sicilia
D
esign as quality guarantee for everyone’s daily life.
This is the leitmotiv of the Golden Compass, the
most important design award worldwide, which ADI
(Association of Industrial Design) has been assigning for
more than fifty years to projects and products standing out
for their level of innovation and functionality. However,
quality of life also means food, respect and valorisation for
the area we live in. Out of this premise, the Foodss project
is set up; a didactic laboratory with the aim of analysing and
revealing the complex relations regarding production and
food. End purpose is to give life to a material or intangible
product – considering variables of the course conception/re-
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alization/sale/consumption – able to enhance the resources
of an area and improve everyone’s living conditions. Authors of this ambitious spin-off – created and developed by
Vincenzo Castellana, professor of Design System in the degree course Design and Visual Communication at Abadir –
are universities, students and Sicilian businesses of the food
sector, among which Moak. The thread bases on the Expo
Milan 2015 topic: Feed the Planet, Energy for Life. The
project has been divided into four stages and already started
last December, when the ADI Food Design commission for
Expo introduced the Manifest of food design in the presence of chosen Sicilian companies. The third stage, which
just finished, included students and partner companies in a
workshop at Palazzo Cafisi (Favara) during the event “It’s a
wonderful time, Summer Design Fest” of ADI Sicilia. The
last stage will be finalised in September in Milan with the
presentation and exhibition of the final Foodss projects at
the Design House for Expo that ADI Nazionale set up in the
period of the universal exposition. A dialogue between students and businesses that generated expendable and feasible
proposals for the real market, at a time where there is need
to recognize the innate attitude for taste and creativeness,
which turned our region into model of style not only made
of food but also design, more than ever.
Song suggested to read this article: I’m designer - Queens of the Stone Age
[ the sign moak ]
25
Caffè to read
in cooperation with
Thousands of titles between shelves, books of all kinds. You can also see titles of films, music and much more. Areas, sitting
rooms and corridors where to exhibit paintings and art works. We are taking about the laFeltrinelli bookstores, where a new
way of understanding and experiencing reading comes alive, where those who come in with the sole scope to take a book discover new inspiration and interest. Their directors will tell us these fascinating places, from north to south, from Milan to Catania. Indeed who better than them to suggest, between some sip of coffee, which book to read and which music to listen to.
Enrica Cavallari, director of laFeltrinelli Duomo Milano
F
ew weeks ago, two important cultural stores in
Milan became as one once for all: laFeltrinelli
Duomo. It used to be two until beginning of the
year: the glorious bookstore Feltrinelli Duomo and
the RicordiMediaStores of Vittorio Emanuele Gallery.
Two entrances connected by a direct way, with different signs but one director, Enrica Cavallari. A woman
that is proudly looking at this wonderful place today,
which has literally revived, where the vastness of 2,500
sq m full of 70,000 book titles, 18,000 music titles,
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8,000 DVD’s and 6,500 music scores stands out even
more. Since it’s inauguration, many have already taken possession of the armchairs in the reading areas, of
the study table, of the comfortable couch in the laEffe
sitting room or of the ottoman occupying the centre of
the exhibition area. Once the bewildered jubilation with
the crowd at the inauguration, the hustle and cheerful
astonishment of habitués is over, Enrica attempts to get
used to such new space she knows very well and keeps
on discovering.
I suggest a book and a film
It’s not time for heavy readings: the rehash of a bookstore, such as Milano Duomo, doesn’t leave time or mental energies for hardly anything. This is how I got myself
into reading La promessa (The pledge) (Feltrinelli) by
Friedrich Dürrenmatt. I thought I would relax by reading
a crime novel. I had a masterpiece in front of me: the
event of police commissioner Matthäi, aloof and infallible, who gives his word to a mother he would find the
killer of her child and thus changes the rest of his life, is
one of those readings you cannot get away from once you
finish the book. It stays inside, and works.
And if it has to be a crime thriller, one of the films that
convinced end moved me most in the last few years is Il
segreto dei suoi occhi (The secret in their eyes) by Juan
José Campanella from Argentina, Academy Award as best
foreign film in 2010. The story of a murder investigation
lasting twenty-five years, a love story lasting even longer,
and the tragic history of Argentina that invades all aspects
of this private and criminal event. The best meeting point
between Raymond Chandler’s painful human nature and
Jorge Luis Borges’ geometric metaphysics.
by Enrica Cavallari
Book series: Universale economica
Edition: La Feltrinelli
Autor: Friedrich Durrenmatt
Year: 1991
Number of pages: 160
Price: € 7,50 euro
ISBN: 9788807811425
Year: 2009
Genre: Drammatico
Direction: Juan José Campanella
Actors: Ricardo Darín,
Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago,
Javier Godino, Guillermo
Francella
Distribution: Lucky Red
Country: Spain, Argentina
Duration: 129 Min
[ the sign moak ]
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©ska_cii | Krahulčí - Czech Republic
Italy
odica razia | M
ig
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o
©lec
x | Huuto
©hannefo
land
tario - Canada
meki - Fin
©cigarnstuff | On
#moakpeople contest
Share a coffee per day with us.
The best pictures and funniest faces chosen among the sent ones.
rnishing.
The style of fu
laxing setting
Recreating a re ntext
within an urban co
torial staff
Section edited by the edi
You can create a relaxing setting with Mediterranean taste even in an
urban context. An example is the Bronda Restaurant in Helsinki, Finland. The bright and welcoming interior spaces are divided into three
main areas: the cocktail bar, the spacious dining room boasting ceilings
that are 7 metres high, and the more intimate and reserved area. The
Italian touch and design is granted by the two hundred Malmö chair
seats by Pedrali. A wooden collection with strong Nordic sense, deriving from an imaginary excursion along the shores of a Scandinavian
lake, which perfectly harmonises within the restaurant’s atmosphere
and creates an elegant but at the same time homey environment.
photo © baraBild Sverige AB
[ the sign moak ]
29
Coffee and healthy surroundings
edited by the editorial staff
Approaching sustainable cuisine means preferring ingredients coming from natural agriculture that has not been forced
with the aim to produce aesthetically captivating food, but low in sustenance for body and soul. Roberta Tribastone created the Singola project in Modica, a restaurant within a structure including wood and straw, where she is in assiduous
search of ingredients, methods and processing procedures that respect people, the planet and our surrounding environment. And she does it by focusing on sharing certification, creating a trustworthy relationship with the producer and following him step by step. Such choice is not only connected to health, but also ethics. With her recipes and suggestions,
Roberta will help us find out how – despite those who affirm the contrary – vegan cooking is pleasantly delicious, easy to
prepare and within everyone’s means.
Roberta Tribastone
Strawberry ice cream with coffee beans
Ingredients for 5 people:
- 200 g strawberries
- 100 g bananas
- 180 g rice malt
- 1 g lemon juice
- 20 g cane sugar
- 8 g squeezed corn oil
- 1 grain of salt
- 20 coffee beans
- 20 g dark chocolate
mixed, pour the mixture into the ice-cream freezer and
wait until it becomes thick and creamy; as an alternative, if you don’t have an ice-cream freezer, pour the
mixture into a wide and low terrine and put it in the
freezer. Take the terrine out after about an hour, blend
the mixture again and put again in the freezer; repeat
it at least three times until thick. Meanwhile, melt the
chocolate separately in bain-marie and dunk each coffee
bean with the help of kitchen pliers. Leave them to cool
on a tray with baking paper. Once finished, put the tray
in the fridge. The beans will be ready once the chocolate
used as glaze is hard.
Serve the ice cream decorated with coffee beans.
Procedure: Blend fruit, malt, lemon juice, sugar and
oil, and the grain of salt. Once all ingredients are well
You may add fresh fruit, flowers or aromatic leaves of
your choosing.
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Song suggested to read this article: Green Onions - Booker T & the MG’s
Download pdf versions on:: www.caffemoak.com/the-sign-moak - www.caffemoak.com/en/the-sign-moak
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