Easter Bread from Italy

Today's post brings us to an article about the bread Crescia. Crescia is bread that is usually made around Easter and can be served many different ways. The bread originates from the town Pesaro in the Province of Le Marche, Italy. As the author of the article's ancestors moved to Canada, the tradition of making the bread gradually disappeared [distance decay- AP HG]. The author found the recipe (which he mentioned was probably not the exact same as his ancestors) and made the bread for himself. Although some of the original ways of his ancestors had faded, the Crescia bread family recipe had survived for four generations. Crescia bread made me think about the book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" where they mentioned the bread "nsima" that was made with every meal and on special occasions [English].

The bread reflects traditions (food wise) which is something that will start to show with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner. Each family makes something different from the rest, or it maybe the same thing with their own twist on it. One example that I think of are holiday pies. There's the basics like pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan, but there's also other pies that some families make around the holidays. Or there could be a family that makes their pies a completely different way than someone else. My family personally makes sweet potato pies that I look forward to every year. The recipe is always the same, and it's the one that I've seen my grandma make so many times. I'm pretty sure that this recipe stems back into her mom, her mom's mom, and so on. My mom just auto-matically picked up the recipe, and hopefully me and my sister follow these same footsteps. Until the next post!

Link to article used.

  Crescia bread.

International Coffee

A well known Japanese coffee company has plans to spread to the U.S.

The Ogawa coffee company of Japan plans to create franchises, starting in Boston. The company spreading across the world is an example of globalization [AP Human Geography reference]. The company's chain has experienced geometric growth [math reference] recently, and thinks that spreading the chain internationally will help the business. The owners plan to keep the same menus they're using in Japan and bring over part of their culture [also AP HG]. If the plan is successful, the franchise will be the first of its kind to hit the United States.

What makes this company so special, is that they represent Japanese culture in their coffee. They serve out of beautiful cups with intricate designs that represent things like the changing of the seasons, and create designs in their lattes that are more detailed than the average latte at Starbucks. I feel that bringing this company over will allow diversity, and give people the chance to experience the unique culture, without traveling thousands of miles to get to it.

Link to article used.

Picture of a latte made by Ogawa coffee company in Japan.