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| Wednesday, May 13, 2009 |
| An Italian Symphony In My Mouth |
I really love Italy! Actually, I tend to say this of all countries. That’s why I like to travel so much. I love to discover different cultures, the way people live their day to day lives and of course, what they eat. I actually remember my first trip without my parents. I was about 20 years old, going to Martinique and Guadeloupe with some friends. Before hand, I researched what to eat there. I had to know what made the cuisine of this country special. I left for my trip with a list of dishes to eat while I was there, and I did exactly that. After all these years, the highlight of my trips is still the food.
When my friend asked me if I would go to Milan with her on one weeks notice, the first thing that came to mind (besides the smiling face of a particular Italian man), was if I would be able to go back to the Blue Moon restaurant to eat the wonderful porcini parpadelle we ate seven years ago. I had come across that little restaurant near my hotel which was located outside Milan’s center. It was always packed. The first time I tried those wide homemade noodles with porcini mushrooms, they were so good that I went back three more times for the same thing. Every time I see them on a menu I try them, but they’re never as good as the ones I had at Blue Moon. My friend also became addicted to their amazing food and every time she is back in that part of town she eats there.
The food was also wonderful this time around, even though we did not go to Blue Moon. What I love about the food is the freshness of the ingredients and the small, but just enough, portion sizes. Even stopping in the morning for a coffee with a pastry or a sandwich, everything was small but delicious. Each bite was a symphony in my mouth. The little sandwich made of brioche type bread, small as the palm of my hand, filled with a single thin slice of prosciutto and provolone. That was it; simple, but each ingredient distinctive and perfect together. When tastes buds are that happy, they can’t take too much. It would ruin the pleasure. So imagine, if a small sandwich at 10:00 am is that delightful, what is lunch going to be like? Oh dear, I will surely faint come dinner time!
By one o’clock, I’m hungry and I want pasta! Actually, while in Italy I eat pasta everyday, if not twice a day. Where else can I do this? It doesn’t matter what I eat over there because it’s all small portions and I walk ten hours each day visiting the International Furnishing and Design exhibition, which is spread out throughout the center of Milan.
For lunch I ordered seafood pasta. Doesn’t it look good? As you can see from the picture there is hardly any sauce or even oil for that matter. Simple, fresh ingredients in their own juice, topped with a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Again, perfect! Nothing was overpowering. Each ingredient tasted like nature intended. This was the furthest you could imagine from the usual seafood pasta loaded with sauce that we are used to.
I also had great meals in the Barolo region of Piedmont. Fresh market finds were offered on the menu or as daily specials. One place even sent us fresh escargots (snails), freshly collected that afternoon. Just steamed, no garlic butter or cream sauce, served in their shells with salt to dip them in. Then there was this tiny piece of Baccala (cod) served with a fresh green pea sauce, no oil or cream there either. We also had this wonderful stuffed pasta, but the pasta was so thin and again hardly any sauce except for the broth it was cooked in. It was so delicate and sumptuous at the same time.
Another night they started us with a very small, thin slice of foie gras terrine over a micro salad served with a drizzle of olive oil. Then they sent us regional mushrooms that were freshly picked that morning. The mushrooms were simply sliced and cooked with a little oil and sprinkled with fresh parsley. I had never eaten those mushrooms before. They had a similar texture to morelles. They were so good, and again I tasted this mushroom and not the garlic or butter that mushrooms are usually drenched in. Finally I had some wonderful home made tagliatelle. Like the pasta I had the night before, they were thin and delicate with some other wild mushrooms and no sauce except for the juice rendered by the mushrooms.
I know that different regions of Italy prepare food differently and other regions in the south use a lot of hot peppers, tomatoes and olive oil. But, what remains constant is that they use fresh regional ingredients that are readily available. When you eat something you want to taste that specific food and not mask it with too much seasoning, otherwise the food’s individuality is lost. It always amazes me when I see people eating crab or fresh oysters and loading them with cocktail sauce and extra horseradish! You can’t taste the food that way. Why not take a spoonful of horseradish instead?
So, who cares that it was cold and rained non-stop for three days while I was in Italy. I ate well and spent time with my girlfriend who I only see maybe once a year. I also discovered the Barolo region, drank some wonderful wines, saw all the new design “stuff” in Milan, visited all the top Italian designer clothing boutiques, and did not gain a pound! I hope to visit again soon and as long as I walk I will be able to manage it.
Arrivederci!
- Josephina (AKA Josée)
Labels: food for thought, Josee, Mindful Eating, Physical Activity, Travel
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posted by My Sensei @ Wednesday, May 13, 2009   |
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