Food of the Gods

So I'm pretty sure everyone has seen enough fountains and monuments for the time being, so let's talk about something that needs no translation, something that can transcend all national borders and continents. After all, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a study abroad student in possession of a good appetite must be in want of a goddamn delicious carbohydrate-laden Italian meal.

How do I even begin to talk about the food. What strikes me most about the cuisine is how unbelievably fresh everything tastes. The sauces in particular are heavenly - the tomato sauces taste as if the tomatoes were plucked right from the vine ten minutes ago. We are so used to the boatloads of sodium and preservatives loaded into our American freezer-packed meals, that we don't realize how much these additives dull the taste of food. Which is such a shame because food... well, food is good. Just thinking back on it makes my mouth water, especially since I know that my next two meals today are coming from the five-star establishment known as the Diner.

Roman pizza is entirely different from what we're used to in the states. The crust is thin and crispy, almost like a cracker. One can easily finish an entire pizza because it's so light, and not to mention the most delicious pie specimen you will ever encounter. This is pizza verdure, or vegetable pizza, loaded with lots of fresh mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, lettuce and spinach. From our table, we could see the cooks efficiently chopping large crates of vegetables and putting them right onto the pizza dough. What's that - you don't have frozen toppings that are kept in the back freezer for months on end? What kind of restaurant is this?!

Seafood linguine and vino rosso at Piccola Roma. This was delicious - it had tons of clams, shrimp, squid, fish.... and it was such a steal for only 11 euro. Typically you can't find seafood dishes for less than 14 at least.

The best places to eat by far are the small trattorias, or small family owned establishments (in lieu of ristorantes, which are your typical waiter/hostess/mood music and wine places). A lot of trattorias have hand-written menus that change every day, which means they use whatever fresh ingredients are available that morning at the market. I love love love how authentic and traditional that is. Although these trattorias are usually humble, no-frills establishments that can't fit more than 20 people at a time, the food they serve is spectacular, and you feel like you're eating a home-cooked meal that's been made with fresh ingredients and lots of Italian love. At a trattoria in Florence, several people ordered the same chicken dish, and I commented that their meals probably came from the same bird that was just slaughtered in the back room that morning. (How's that for some food for thought?). This particular trattoria had a changing menu for lunch and dinner, and were only open for two hours or so for each meal time. They would make large quantities of the dishes they decided on, so service was quick and efficient.

Meals are structured differently than in the US: Breakfast is speedy, usually a shot of espresso and a pastry. Italians like eating sweets for breakfasts - I discovered some delicious cookies at the grocery store that I realize now were meant to be eaten for breakfast (no wonder the back of the package recommended pairing it with yogurt and coffee...). Italians don't do any of that savory American bacon nonsense - in fact, we saw a lot of restaurants offering "American breakfasts", complete with patriotic eggs, ham, and cheese (God Bless America). This was advertised alongside with the "Italian breakfast", which looked significantly less appetizing. Another difference: while you see most Americans cradling their Starbucks cups on the streets, Italians just usually down their colazione at cafes and then zoom off. We went to a well known Italian coffee shop, Tazzo D'Oro, on a weekday, and experienced the Italian way of breakfasting firsthand. There are no tables and only a few chairs, with a long counter spanning almost the entire area. You pay at the register in the back, and then hand your receipt to the barista as you claim a (standing) spot along the counter. The barista brings you your cappuccino and sfogliatelle, and you quickly fuel yourself with your daily caffeine and sugar quota. It's a very efficient way of serving - when you're done, you just wipe your mouth and leave, throwing a "ciao" over your shoulder as you head off to work.

Lunch in Italy is usually the heaviest meal of the day, and dinner is light. However, going out to dinner is an event. It's served late, around 7:30-9, and can last several hours. I don't think we ever got used to the late eating time, but this was how we characterized the touristy restaurants from the more authentic Roman restaurants. No place that serves real Italian food is open at 6:30PM, which is kind of unfortunate when your feeble American-trained stomach is grumbling. Therefore, we had many pre-dinner gelato appetizers to tide us over.

At restaurants, Italians usually have three main courses: antipasto (appetizer such as sliced meats and cheese or bruschetta), primo (first course, usually a pasta or rice dish), secondo (second course, usually a meat dish). This may also come with contorno, or a side dish such as vegetables, and dolce (sweets/dessert). As much as I like to eat, that's a whole lot of food for one digestive system, not to mention costly for my wallet to handle. Typically, we only ordered pasta when we ate out, but I think we all tried at least one secondo.

Now prepare yourself for an onslaught of food pictures.

Gnocchi with tomato sauce at the cutest trattoria ever.

One night, we went to a small trattoria (Trattoria da Ugo e Maria) owned by the most adorable family (I think father + daughter? It was an old man and a younger woman in her 50s or so). We came in in a horde of twelve and completely swarmed the place, which we all felt terrible about. This was still near the beginning of the trip, when we felt obligated to include everyone instead of splitting off into small groups, which we should have done to respect the poor trattoria owners. Luckily, they were very welcoming and accommodated us. The whole night taught us a great deal about Italian etiquette - shortly after we ordered, we heard the old man arguing with his daughter. We then realized that our enormous party of twelve was not only hogging all the oxygen in the establishment, but that we had ordered only pasta (the cheapest items on the menu) with not a single meat dish. At this point, we just feel like the stupidest, most ignorant carbon-based life forms that were ever issued an American passport. We quickly asked the lady if our orders were alright, because we would gladly add on a secondo piatto. She smiled and assured us that it was fine, and was so extremely gracious and patient, bless her heart. It all turned out okay, luckily - the meal was phenomenal (possibly my favorite dish I've had) and the atmosphere was friendly and perfect. The old man even warmed up towards the end of the night. My roommate commented that he reminded her of the grouchy old man from "Up", which is pretty spot on. We left them a substantial tip for their service and kindness, and a chorus of "grazies mille"s!

Another note on Italian culture: In the US, it's customary to bring leftovers home in doggie bags, or even to leave half your meal on your plate to be cleared away. In Italy, especially at small establishments, this is considered almost offensive, and an insult to their cooking. When not everybody completely finished their pastas, the old man at the trattoria frowned, motioning for them to "eat eat eat!" and refusing to take their plates away. I just thought this aspect of Italian customs was interesting, and something I could relate to, since I was raised never to waste food and to always finish what I was served (because "there is starving children in Africa and you should appreciate what you have, ai-yah!").

Spinach ravioli from our Miscellanea, a fun international bar/restaurant that caters towards students. It became known among our group  as the "sexy wine place" because we got free strawberry "sexy" wine. (when they first served it, Jill joked that it sounded more like roofie wine to her)

Artichoke risotto. Cacio e pepe in the background.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara, with eggs, cheese, bacon, and pepper.

Asparagus pasta with a "surprise", which turned out to be pomegranate. Not a huge fan of this one, I'm afraid.

Bruschetta with tomato and arugula (a common antipasto)

Gnocchi, take two

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of spending three weeks in Rome is that with our student budgets, we can't possibly afford to eat gourmet pasta and pizza every day. In fact, many of our meals were procured from the Carrefour, aka the finest supermarket in Rome, because they condoned the patronage of twelve silly American girls for a month. I ate a fair number of boxed salads and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches on this trip, but I am glad that we could stock up on fruit and other snacks when we weren't in the mood to go out. We made sure to strike a balance - on days when we had to live our impoverished student diets, we treated ourselves with gelato. (Actually, that's such a lie because gelato was pretty much a staple in our diets. I think I've lost count how many times I've eaten it).

One night, we got Italian Chinese food at the recommendation of Dr. C. It was interesting to taste the different cultural influences on a certain type of cuisine. In the US, duck sauce is extremely sweet and syrupy, and the breading/sauce for orange chicken is thick and sometimes overwhelming. In Italy, on the other hand, the duck sauce for egg rolls tasted like balsamic vinegar (tangy with a sour edge) and the orange chicken was light and crispy. And of course, in China, actual Chinese food is entirely different.

Although I'm shamelessly lauding the quality of the food in Italy, to be honest I don't think I could adapt 100% to the Italian lifestyle. They eat a lot of refined carbs, white bread, whole milk, and meat, which is difficult to adjust to when most of my meals at home consist of lightly sauted Chinese vegetables with rice. I definitely started craving cooked vegetables very soon into the trip, since I barely ever eat heavy pasta and meat. It's a wonder how Italians stay so slim (and devastatingly beautiful) when all their food is so starch-loaded. Dr. C stated that lifestyle-wise, it's probably a combination of 1) drinking a lot of coffee, which is a diuretic, 2) drinking a lot of wine, which is a diuretic, and 3) smoking a lot of cigarettes, which curbs your appetite. Of course, none of these are exactly healthy habits, but I guess I can't really say much as an American, since we are known for our Big Macs and bigger pants sizes. Dr. C. did say that most of his Italian friends, although strikingly thin and beautiful in their youth, completely shriveled up as they aged. Regardless, I'm kind of glad I'm back to eating my usual pane integrale (wheat bread) and soymilk.

Sorry for the extremely long account, but here's the Sparknotes summary: Even though I couldn't eat it every day of my life, the food in Italy was magnificent. In fact, I've sworn off American pasta and pizza for a couple months now, because it just can't possibly compare.

I like food.