Le Coliche talks about themselves: “United by pummarola, it has always been vegan…”

Lucia Stay

June 26, 2021

The colics they go crazy on all social networks with theirs Pummarolathe parody of the catchphrase of this summer 2021, One thousand by Fedez, Orietta Berti and Achille Lauro. The brilliant video of the two brothers Claudio and Fabrizio Colica and of James Spaconi is, among the trends of YouTubemuch higher than the original and has also driven crazy Internet users who still did not know the Le Coliche project, which already has numerous participations in TV programs to its credit.

Currently, in fact, Le Coliche are in the cast of CCN – Comedy Central Newsconducted by Michela Giraud (Sky and streaming on NOW), and in recent years we have also seen them on Rai as competitors Beijing Express 7 on Raidue and with their sketches The right place on Raitre, on Mediaset a Never Say Talkon DMAX as leads of Unbelievable but true! And Jurassic Weekend. But their specialty is the parodies on the web and the one they launched a few days ago has a culinary theme.

We let ourselves be told by Giacomo Spaconi, Claudio and Fabrizio Colica how did the idea for this video come about and did we take a cue from Pummarolawhich in the parody replaces the well-known fizzy drink that sparked yet another Codacons vs Fedez controversy, to speak more generally of food, given that the two Colica brothers follow a plant-based diet.

The parody of One thousand it arrived very soon. Shortly after the release of the original video with Fedez, Achille Lauro and Orietta Berti, you arrived with your wonderful one Pummarola. How was the creative process? When did you get the idea and how much did you work on it between writing the text, conceiving and recording the video?
Giacomo: “Two years ago we did a project with Volagratis in collaboration with J-Ax. The project was to create a parody of Ostia Lido, the summer hit of the Milanese rapper, shot in the same location as the original video. The piece went very well and among the reasons for this success there were certainly the timeliness with which the parody was released and the extreme resemblance to the video from which it was taken. When the news came out that Fedez would do a piece with Orietta Berti and Achille Lauro (a character we’ve wanted to target for a while) we said to ourselves that it would have been a real waste not to film it to make a parody copy. The same day the video came out we wrote the lyrics and the script of the video, the day after and the day after that we recorded the voices and we shot the scenes and the next two days there was the big post-production work and vfx that I made”.

Grandma Angela is your grandmother? Or have you done a casting since she looks a lot like Orietta Berti?
Claudio: “There too there was a race against time. Nonna Angela is not our real grandmother but for two days she made us feel like two of her real grandchildren. She was warmly recommended to us by a friend of ours who runs theater in schools and hospices, she immediately told us that she wasn’t an actress but that she would be perfect… and so it was!”

Many have commented that your parody text has more meaning than the original. Have you had the opportunity to hear from Fedez or Achille Lauro? Have they commented in any way on your work?
Giacomo: “Sure! Fedez himself kindly sent us the basis of his piece, he is a very intelligent person and he is well aware that when something is targeted to make a parody of it, it means that it is working great! He also reposted us the video, he loved it.”

Let’s talk about Pummarola, because for you it’s not just a word that rhymes with Coca-Cola, it has a certain importance in your life and Claudio, in particular, is really crazy about pasta with sauce, right?
Claudio: “If there is one dish that we both impressed on the taste buds, it is pasta with our paternal grandmother’s sauce. All grandmothers’ dishes have something special but pasta with ‘pummarola’, made by grandmother, with liters of oil and the sauce that stays overnight is something that not even starred restaurants will ever be able to emulate!”

In your book Like stomach ache tell how Fabrizio, despite being the younger brother, had to put up with Claudio’s whims and eat what he liked. How were lunches together as children? And has anything changed today?
Fabrizio: “It’s true, I’ve always been a victim of Claudio’s difficult tastes. I grew up with a food imposition based on pasta with tomato sauce and escalopes with cheese. Growing up, Claudio became vegan and had to adapt to the most varied tastes, also learning to eat vegetables, legumes, mushrooms and various vegetables. Now fortunately we live in different houses and each if great what he wants!”

In 1999 your father became vegetarian, years later you too followed him for a purely animal rights choice, then Claudio became vegan, but you also tell how, in reality, you like meat even if you almost forget the taste and Claudio you still dream about mozzarella. How do you “endure” these renunciations?
Claudio: “Fortunately, the empathy we have for animals is stronger than the nostalgia we have for meat and fish. Becoming vegetarian or vegan in 2021 is easier than you think, there are more and more 100% vegetable products on the shelves supermarkets and restaurant menus and, this will surprise you, there are substitutes for meat, fish and cheeses that would deceive even the most convinced of omnivores! They still have to work on buffalo mozzarella and, in the meantime, I will suffer in silence” .

What advice would you give to someone who would like to become a vegetarian, but is dying to give up meat and fish?
Claudio: “We would tell him, among others, to try foods such as Beyond Meat for burgers, ground beef and sausages, Food Evolution products for chicken and bacon, Gondino for parmesan and Vuna for tuna You will be amazed!”

And how did your grandmothers take this choice?
Fabrizio: “When they were still among us, they were happy to adapt their lunches to our needs and then… pummarola has always been vegan!”

And your respective companions, Neva and Giacomo, are they vegetarians like you? How do you find an agreement at the table?
Fabrizio: “Neva (future wife of Claudius, ed) she became a vegetarian when Claudio, very treacherously, placed a newborn lamb in her arms and asked her to feed it with a small bottle, since that day she has no longer been able to eat meat, after a few months she has also removed the fish. James (Fabrizio’s companion, ed) he is omnivorous but at the table there is always mutual respect”.

Do you usually pay attention to your figure or do you eat what you like compatibly with the diet you have chosen?
Claudio: “We already deprive ourselves of a lot of pleasures, if we even have to go on a diet it’s hell! We are two great pasta makers but Fabrizio is a little more attentive to the figure because he doesn’t like to train, I don’t like to pay attention to the figure so I compensate with a little training!”

Are you paying attention to your health? Check i blood values?
Claudio: “We didn’t abandon meat for health, we did it for animalism so we’re not really health-conscious but we can assure you that our analyzes are perfect! Just vary between legumes, fruit, vegetables and carbohydrates and you’re never wrong!”

What relationship do you have with sport? Do you practice it? Are you a fan of some football team or some champion of other sports?
Fabrizio: “We are both ANTI-sportsmen. We have never supported a team or followed any sport. Claudio trains three or four times a week on the terrace, for me it depends on the time of year but, in general, as already mentioned, I prefer to be careful with the fork!”