Meals Made of ItalyMy worst international dining experience can be summarized in a frozen moment: I’m sitting in an Andean restaurant jaw dropped as a waiter walks to the next table over with a guinea pig on a plate, spindly rodent feet and all. Probably not the most appetizing way for me to begin a posting on food, but I bring this anecdote up only to contrast against the total glory that is being a cheese-loving vegetarian in Italy.
I could almost sleep on a pillow of pecorino, and wake up in the night to take little nibbles of deliciousness between Italian-flavored dreams. Well, almost. The cheese wheels at some of the markets in Venice are certainly big enough to support a human head, but jet-lag or no, the intoxicating stink might stave off slumber. The vegetable carts provide a wake-up call with day-glo carrots, the most darling--but spikey--artichokes, and enough garlic to keep out all the night-feeding vampires of Europe. And, if I ate seafood, I could have partaken of live eels, lovely scallops, and fish so fresh they fluttered atop the ice on which they were displayed.
During my recent stay in Venice, I rented a small flat with a kitchen just so I could frequent these markets, purchasing handmade pastas that always turn out terrific, raviolis tasting like little spinach-ricotta kisses, pesto from Liguria so green and earthy it’s like a mouthful of spring. I found shriveled sun-dried tomatoes that plumped up and blossomed with just the right amount of coaxed soaking. For dessert, the tartest, crispest green apples along with fist-sized pistachio cookies the colors of limes.
As for elixirs, I started each day with espresso, dabbled in the grappa, thought about absinthe, and instead toasted the bitter campari spritz. When I walked into a store that sold wine by the liter, I about fell over with amazement at this land of plenty. And when they threw in a free plastic bottle as a kicker, my head spun. Or maybe that was all the spirits.
Vegetarian or no, what are some of your favorite international dining experiences?
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Comments
Some of Italy's most wonderful food can be found in every corner of the country. One of my absolute favorite dining experiences was in the town of Corniglia (in Cinque Terre). You have to climb about 300 steps to reach the town, but every restaurant delivered the freshest, most delicious food - worth a climb of 1000 steps!
Guinea pig is delicious, have you ever tried it? the meat is very healthy, no cholesterol...