Our Italian Adventure: Mangia!
And I'll have to admit that it's possible that my experience with Italian foods was most likely colored by the excitement of where I was, who I was with, and the expectation of something great. I wasn't disappointed. My first impression was the level of flavors in the food. The fresh tomatoes, for example, lying on top of the bruschetta, layered among the soft, white mozarella cheese, reminded me of those tomatoes grown in the home gardens of our childhood, and not like the mass produced varieties I've become accustomed to. We tasted simple sandwiches with rich flavors, made with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato--not unlike an American variety--but some had fried eggplant as an ingredient, with spices that brought the sandwich up a notch. And the bread--oh, my! It was chewy and delicious.
On our first night, our porter, Aldo, sent us down a hill and around a corner to Sor'Eva, a small eatery on a busy street, staffed by bustling but friendly waiters. At our waiter's suggestion, I tried the vegetarian lasagna with artichoke hearts and asparagus. Wonderful. We forget what Maria ordered that night for her meal, but we don't forget what the dessert was--creme broulé (or just "crema" in Italian). It had a rich custardy taste, enhanced by a sugary crunch on top. Delightful.
Restaurant menus in Italy usually start with antipasto, the appetizer, move on to primo piatto or first plate, which is pasta or soup, and then secondo piatto or second plate, which may be a fish or meat dish. A contorno side dish of vegetables might be ordered, too. The dolce is at the end--dessert. Maria and I didn't follow any set order, and just asked for whatever looked good at the time, accompanied by a glass of red wine, a beer, or bottled water--naturale or frizzante.
My next blog entry will be about the tours we took and the amazing places we saw.
Like I said, my gastronomic report was not a professional coverage that a gastronome might expect, but hopefully I painted a picture of what it was like. This slide show will add to that: