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| Celebration of Italian Cuisine |
Arriving in Italy with a mind to taste the sauce, the pasta and those meatballs, you are shocked that spaghetti and meatballs is not offered in almost any menus except a few tourist catered restaurants. From then on you will either choose to eat a lot of pizza or venture into a new tasting adventure that will make good memories when you are back home. What to try? Here are a few suggestions.
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| Marinated Sardines |
The menus feature what Italians call "antipasti". These will be choices of appetizers. There will be cold cuts of choice meats, some cheeses, specially prepared vegetables or fish delicacies. I promise you that these sardines won't taste like the sardines that come from a can or jar.
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| Bruschetta |
You might find bruschetta on the menu, be assured that they will use those tasty ripe tomatoes we hardly find anymore in big grocery stores. They will have added extra virgin olive oil and some spices on toasted bread. You cannot beat the flavor!
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| Ultimate Taste! |
Another specialty to try would be these shellfish that are called St. Johns. They are cooked in an oven with butter and just a touch of spices. This dish is more expensive but really worth it.
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| Cannelloni |
A primi that is offered more in the south is cannelloni. Pasta filled with mozzarella swimming in a rich tomato sauce, this is one of my favorite looked for items when we are south of Firenze.
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| My Spaghetti With More Sauce |
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| Bigoli With White Sauce |
In the north, particularly in the
Veneto area (Venice), you will see featured on a menu a pasta called bigoli. This is a larger type of spaghetti. If you like pasta I recommend you try this as restaurants that have bigoli usually make their own. Nothing beats fresh pasta and the Italians present it with less sauce than foreigners are used to. Don't worry it is not impolite to ask the waiter to add more sauce before bringing it to the table.
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| Musso With Gnocchi |
In some restaurants in the Veneto you will find musso, donkey, with a red sauce. Cooked long for a better flavor, it is known as a comfort food. On a cold and rainy evening, it works for me. In the volcanic hills outside Padova you can find this dish with gnocchi, potato dumplings made by hand. Paired with a red wine from this area famous for the volcanic soil wine production... PERFETTO!
Lastly, you may not find any vegetables on the menu, and if you wish, you can ask for contorni (side dishes). The restaurant may have cooked seasonal vegetables, such as asparagus, spinach, zucchini or roasted potatoes. The locals know to ask, don't be ashamed to inquire when ordering.
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| Ciao! |
I hope that you can visit Italy and enjoy some of these tastes. Wishing you a sunny day. Buona Giornata!
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