This was the first time I had spent any time in Italy since I was in college and I was in no position financially to be doing gastronomic experiences in those days. There is a lot written about Italian cuisine – about it’s simplicity and how it is all about the ingredients. It’s one thing to read this or hear it on the television and another thing entirely to experience it. The basic food that you ate, the fish, the meat, the pasta, all had very distinct flavors. It’s difficult for me to describe. The best adjective that comes up is everything tasted clean. Like there was a clarity of the product that was not muddled up in anyway. I’m not talking about by adding sauces or anything like that. It’s that if you take a piece of grilled meat here and one in Italy, the one in Italy would have a more precise and cleaner taste. Maybe it’s the whole question of the hormones and additives put into raising animals in the US. I don’t know. All I know is that we were impressed and enjoyed it a lot.
The second big impression was the pasta – it was great. I couldn’t get enough. And the simplest preparations were the best. I kept saying to myself, “how can they do this?” It is so different (and in my opinion better). There may be some Italian restaurants somewhere in the US that make pasta like this but I’ve never found them.
The wine was great and never that expensive. It was rare for me to be spending more than 30 dollars (restaurant price) for a really nice bottle of distinctive wine. Here it is rare for me to find something really enjoyable for under 30 dollars. That being said, Italy (and France) are expensive so you make it up with the rest of the meal.
Last overall impression before going into specifics - vegetables or the lack thereof. We were kind of shocked that it was very difficult to even find veggies on the menus where we ate. You are supposed to get these as side dishes but usually what was listed were potato or bean dishes. We were somewhat vegetable starved by the end of our week.
So now my city-by-city highlights tour.
Turin:
We ate lunch at a place recommended by #3’s friends A & A one of home comes from Turin. The stars were Agnolloti del plin – a ravioli filled with a very savory meat filling and just brown butter for the sauce, and a long pasta with clams.
Pisa:
We ate dinner at a place recommended by our B&B host as the most local Tuscan and liked it so much we went back the next night. The stars
Soups
An onion soup and a tomato soup both thickened with bread. The vegetables really came out. Less meat stock flavor than the French onion soup version
Antipasti
Fried eggs with truffles – eggs and truffles, what more can I say?
Grilled octopus – so tender and tasty even 2 and Wife loved it
Pasta
A risotto with pears and black pepper – I don’t even know how to begin to describe this. First the risotto itself was so smooth and silky, not like anything I’ve had stateside. The black pepper was really pronounced. Not sure what the pear was doing because it was not fruit tasting at all. Not sure I’ll ever try to make risotto myself after this.
Main Courses
Stew of Wild Boar with polenta – So tender yet so much rich flavor.
Grilled Pork – Incredibly simple, thin strips of pork, grilled with that wonderful clean flavor I’ve spoken of
Steak Florentine – Just great grilled steak
Alba:
Alba is the home of the slow food movement, the white truffle trade and central to the Barolo and Barbaresco wine regions. We ate dinner at a place again recommended by the next B&B host. #2 and I both did the tasting menu. There were two preparations that were so simple, yet so good as to make one wonder how the heck they do it.
Antipasti:
Steak Tartare – Literally some rough chopped steak, olive oil, salt and pepper. How could it be as good as it was?
Pasta
Thin Spaghetti with butter, oil and sage leaves – The simplest and without a doubt the best pasta we had the whole trip. Again I have no idea how such a simple thing ends up being so good.
Main Course
Braised Rabbit – Yum
Barbaresco:
After wine tasting we went to a place in a small town nearby for lunch. This was our least favorite of the trip. Only one dish really stood out and that was an antipasto of rabbit livers on a bed of salad greens.
Genoa:
One of my favorites because Wife and I found this whole in the wall place with fish in the window during our walk and figured it would have good fish. We were not disappointed. (#2 and 2B had gone off on their own and found another great little place but I don’t have what they ate). When we went in they had an English menu but there was no other English speaker to be found.
Pasta
Pasta with lobster - Wife loves lobster. So you’re thinking you get some pasta and a little lobster meat in it right? No, there’s a half a lobster on the plate (Atlantic lobster with a big ass claw) covered with pasta and a great sauce.
Pasta with clams and mussels – same sauce, different shellfish. Best clams of the trip and great pasta too.
Main Course
Red Mullet two ways – Red Mullet or Rouget is a small fish very popular from the Mediterranean. I had mine Livornese style with was lightly stewed in a fish broth/tomato sauce while Wife had hers fried.
One last eating note in Italy – we got back from Genoa on the train around 8 PM to a town around 30 minutes from Alba. We needed to back and leave early the next morning. So we decided to see if there was anything close by the train station. We found a local pizza place. Pizza was ok but I ordered spaghetti carbonara. It was not like I think of it classically because it had a ricotta type cheese it. But it was so hot and fresh and good that #2 and I devoured every last strand.
