Let’s face it; we’re in Italy to eat. Staying in hotels or traveling the country on a tour bus doesn’t allow you to buy local fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. to prepare in your own kitchen. That’s why it’s so great having an apartment. Every time we go to the markets I see things that I want to buy (and eat). “I wonder what that salami tastes like?” “Look, 7 varieties of prosciutto!” “There are 4 types of fresh ricotta: cow’s milk, buffalo’s milk, sheep’s milk, and goat’s milk.” “That yellow pepper is the size of my head!” “Which saddle of veal looks best today?” “What on earth are all these varieties of bread used for?” “I wonder how many pastries I can eat this evening?” And then there’s gelato, but we’ll save that for another blog.
Comments we’ve received range from “All of your pictures are of you guys eating” to “Show us more food pictures”. This blog will satisfy the latter.
First, let me begin with restaurant food. After learning my Italian numbers, ranks, and suites in order to play cards, I then focused on my food vocabulary. In actuality, that, and maybe words for right/left, more/less, yesterday/tomorrow, and thanks/please are all of the Italian anyone really needs to know…the rest can be filled in with hand signals. Yesterday we were in Cittadella – a nicely preserved walled city about 45 minutes north of Padova. We chose to eat at Enoteca I Bei which served tipica cucina (typical cuisine). Cinzia ordered the strozzapreti con zucca, funghi e speck. Strozzapreti, translated as priest stranglers, is a type of pasta we’ve had before. This was prepared with mushrooms and bacon in a pumpkin sauce. I ordered the bigoli con ragù d'anatra e melograno. This is a popular local pasta with a sauce of duck and pomegranate. Anatra (duck) and melograno (pomegranate) are not your common menu ingredients. Bigoli looks like the fat spaghetti you made as a kid with your Play-doh Pumper. It’s very popular in Padova. In fact, there’s a shop that makes homemade bigoli and offers it with about 10 different sauces. Now, I’m not a fan of fat spaghetti. I don’t even like spaghetti. It’s too thick. I go with vermicelli. Anyway, back to the meal. The bigoli weren’t gummy, but rather nice, and the duck and pomegranate went perfectly together. Of the two dishes, Cinzia agreed that I won the award for the person who ordered the best dish.
First, let me begin with restaurant food. After learning my Italian numbers, ranks, and suites in order to play cards, I then focused on my food vocabulary. In actuality, that, and maybe words for right/left, more/less, yesterday/tomorrow, and thanks/please are all of the Italian anyone really needs to know…the rest can be filled in with hand signals. Yesterday we were in Cittadella – a nicely preserved walled city about 45 minutes north of Padova. We chose to eat at Enoteca I Bei which served tipica cucina (typical cuisine). Cinzia ordered the strozzapreti con zucca, funghi e speck. Strozzapreti, translated as priest stranglers, is a type of pasta we’ve had before. This was prepared with mushrooms and bacon in a pumpkin sauce. I ordered the bigoli con ragù d'anatra e melograno. This is a popular local pasta with a sauce of duck and pomegranate. Anatra (duck) and melograno (pomegranate) are not your common menu ingredients. Bigoli looks like the fat spaghetti you made as a kid with your Play-doh Pumper. It’s very popular in Padova. In fact, there’s a shop that makes homemade bigoli and offers it with about 10 different sauces. Now, I’m not a fan of fat spaghetti. I don’t even like spaghetti. It’s too thick. I go with vermicelli. Anyway, back to the meal. The bigoli weren’t gummy, but rather nice, and the duck and pomegranate went perfectly together. Of the two dishes, Cinzia agreed that I won the award for the person who ordered the best dish.
A few days ago, in Venezia, we made it a point to go to Osteria Campana. This is a tiny locals eatery hidden somewhere in the maze of alleyways and bridges crisscrossing the canals. We’ve eaten here several years ago and have returned each time we find ourselves in Venezia. The dish I always order is the seppie in nero con polenta. Seppie are cuttlefish – seafood cousins of octopus and squid. Their black ink is used to make the sauce. The seppie are cooked long and slow until they are tender and served alongside some firm polenta (the more sophisticated European cousin of southern grits). This is one of my favorite dishes and I expect I’ll be ordering it one or two more times before we leave Italy this year.
Yes, there’s pizza too. We’ve had a few – some very good and others just fair. My go-to pizza this trip is from Osteria al Peronio and is their Siciliana. In addition to the usual tomato sauce and mozzarella, it’s sparsely topped with black olives, anchovies, and capers. Pour on a little spicy oil and it’s just right for any time of the day.
Ok, so what are we cooking back in our apartment? Well, today Cinzia has designated as “a day of rest”, so with most of the stores and markets closed on Sunday anyway, I’ll make carbonara using spaghettini (yes, this is thinner than spaghetti) and guanciale (cured pig cheek). Of course we’ll use fresh eggs as this seems to be all that’s available in Italy. Fresh? Yes. This means that the eggs are not refrigerated. The yolks (or “reds” as the Italians call them) are dark orange and huge…and the whites are liquidy without any thick gloppy blobs. I just bought a 1.35 kilo wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano (3 pounds) two days ago at the market, so I think I’ll have plenty to grate.
Earlier this week Cinzia made tagliatelle ai funghi porcini and I made tagliatelle ai carciofi. Barilla is a cheap (and popular) brand of pasta in Italy – something I’d never consider buying back in Florida – but here you can find their better Emiliane line of pasta. The 250g package of tagliatelle is packaged in six nests. At the market, Cinzia picked up 3 fresh porcini mushrooms with the dirt still on the base of their think stems. I got these 3 mushrooms and a €0,20 coin for my €20 bill. She sautéed them in butter and olive oil and tossed them with her pasta. I did the same, but with my carciofi (artichokes). In the outdoor market you can find bins of acidulated water with cleaned artichoke hearts for sale – their long, thick stems always attached. These were cut in half and sold 10 pieces for €6. I bought 5. Sprinkle on some grated Parmigiano and you’re ready to dig in. You’d be hard pressed to make either of these dished in the States as fresh porcini aren’t available and you’re likely to never see fresh, peeled and cleaned, artichoke hearts and stems for sale.
Also earlier this week, I made a small batch of spicy tomato ragu with veal. I boiled and drained a package of fresh gnocchi that I picked up at the Pam grocery store (they have a huge selection of fresh pastas), added it to the ragu, divided it between two baking dishes, studded them with pieces of fresh mozzarella before sprinkling the top with a thick layer of grated Parmigiano and putting them under the broiler until the top is brown and bubbly. Yes, this is the dish Carmela taught us in 2015. I already have two big containers of the dried Calabrian hot peppers to bring home with me. The day prior Cinzia was feeling under the weather, so I made her some soup – tortellini in brodo. This is a simple soup made by cooking some fresh tortellini in chicken broth and sprinkling with grated Parmigiano. It seems almost everything goes with grated Parmigiano (except seafood and dishes that should have grated pecorino instead – and you’d better know which is which).
What else? There was a honey show in the piazza one afternoon. Cinzia picked up a couple tiny jars along with the cutest little basket of ricotta di bufala for dessert. This is the same ricotta she used to make a spinach and ricotta lasagna last week. I made a small batch of béchamel sauce after finding a single nutmeg in a specialty shop and paying €1 for it. Cinzia used fresh sheets of pasta (the Rana brand is very popular here and has come to the States in the last year or so) to layer the ricotta and spinach mixture, béchamel, and Parmigiano before baking. Very tasty!
What else? There was a honey show in the piazza one afternoon. Cinzia picked up a couple tiny jars along with the cutest little basket of ricotta di bufala for dessert. This is the same ricotta she used to make a spinach and ricotta lasagna last week. I made a small batch of béchamel sauce after finding a single nutmeg in a specialty shop and paying €1 for it. Cinzia used fresh sheets of pasta (the Rana brand is very popular here and has come to the States in the last year or so) to layer the ricotta and spinach mixture, béchamel, and Parmigiano before baking. Very tasty!
We also have made bruschetta as well as sausage and peppers. I’d like to make more sausage and peppers, especially since they have wonderful peppers here, but, without a grill, I can make a greasy mess cooking them on the stovetop. Cinzia has also made a simple panzanella, a fennel and orange salad, and artichoke risotto. The larger Pam grocery store has a nice selection. They’re celebrating their 60th anniversary. In fact, while we were at the antique market they had several displays of rooms from various decades. Cinzia went to check it out and snapped a couple photos of the displays from the 1960’s and 1970’s. One of the workers asked her if she’s like to pose in one of the displays to receive a coupon good for €5 off your next purchase of €30 or more. Sure! You’ll have to look on Pam’s Facebook page to see if her photo appears.
How fat am I getting? Who knows? There is a bathroom scale in our apartment, but it doesn’t work. As with previous trips, I weighed myself the morning we left Florida and wrote it on our whiteboard. I’ll do the same when we return and see how much I’ve added to my pancetta. Any guesses? Here’s a clue: During our last trip to Italy I gained 0.0 pounds. Maybe I need more gelato!