Everything it seems, is made in China. As consumers in the USA we’ve brought this upon ourselves. The rub however, is if you’re in need of something, anything, and you’d like to buy one made somewhere other than China, you will find there simply is no such thing. So what do you do?
Most recently I’ve been
on the hunt for a corkscrew. Went to the local wine shop and to my surprise,
unlike their wines, what they had was cheap; didn’t even get to the country of
manufacture. Went to the grocery store, cheap and from China. Went to the
trendy grocery store. What they had was cheap, from China, in jazzy packaging
and overpriced. Did not go to the kitchen boutique. From past experience, what
they have is generally of high quality, but buyer be ware - top shelf brands do
not necessarily mean made in Germany any more. Whatever the country or origin, what
the kitchen boutique has is way over the top. Does anyone need a $118.95 plus tax
corkscrew? This is not the realm of need; it is want.
So I went to the source
of everything: Amazon. There, I found what appeared to be exactly what I was
looking for. The Ghidini levatappi 3 usi, a simple, inexpensive
and quality made waiter’s style corkscrew. Customers reviewing it raved about this
little gem. And it’s red, so naturally I ordered one.
Allow me to digress. I once
owned a Ducati 900SS Special Production motorcycle. Without question it was
Italian, it was equal parts genius and madness, and it was red. “Arrest me”
red. I speak from experience, no… make that experiences.
A few days ago my corkscrew
arrived all in good order, just as advertised. And much, MUCH, to my delight,
it’s made in Italy. How about that! It pleases me to no end there’s a
manufacturer in Italy producing corkscrews. That is so right. Probably directly
across the street from the Ducati factory, which would explain a few things.
Meanwhile, my sister
sent me an email to the effect she would be in town and let’s get together for
dinner. I responded in the affirmative. The last time we conjured up a plan
like this, rather than go out I volunteered let’s have a pizza at my place.
That is, I would make pizza. All from scratch, with all the right stuff; and many
were the murmurings of gastronomic delight from the gathered diners. So it
tickled me when this time, as her plans came into focus I got another email
from her: “I'm
kind of thinking make a pizza at your place and hang out?”
My reply: “Great minds think in the same way.” I did not harass her for
failing to mention who was going to do the cooking. She came over and I made
pizza. To wash it down, and fittingly
it was the first bottle I opened with the new corkscrew, we had a Chianti. I am
pleased to report the corkscrew works like a charm, and the pizza and the wine
both got rave reviews.
Grazie
Ghidini, for making products and
employing people in your own country, maybe even your own town. I hope you keep
it this way. And, grazie per una bella
cavaturaccioli!
