Introduction to Italy, continued: Italy, particularly Rome, is the seat of the Catholic Papacy. To us that means St. Peter's Cathedral,
the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, all of which would be highlights of anyone's visit. In short, almost every
place we visited seemed to be so transparently linked to history that we do not see the need to include here a special section on
historic places. They are everywhere
The food in Italy is certainly worth discussing, whether it is in the supermarkets
or in the restaurants, and cafes. It is acknowledged as excellent. Italians have a feeling for food and its
preparation that is unexcelled. We are not singling out so-called gourmet or high end cooking, but just the run-of-the-mill
stuff you encounter in most places.
The pizzas are thin and crisp with a variety of toppings. The almost thimble
sized coffee cups are filled with a black and delicious liquid that has a wonderful restorative effect on any tired traveler.
Capuccino is made with steamed milk but regular is not served with either milk or cream. You have to ask. Cream for coffee
is not even sold in supermarkets, at least we were not successful in finding it. We had to settle for plain milk. Antipasta
is common everywhere--roasted peppers, and other vegetables, anchovies, sardines, all in olive oil, with hams and cheeses--you find
these even in supermarkets, each item wrapped separately. You select an assortment and take it home. The bread is fresh
and crisp generally. This seems to be true whenever you buy it, whatever time of day. We did not particularly like the bread
in Tuscany, however. It seemed to lack salt. But even Tuscan bread is great when dipped in an olive oil and herb mixture
which is commonly used instead of butter.
Pasta, freshly made and with many different sauces is universal
and universally good. In one campground we met a family from Bologna who advised us to be sure to sample the signature
dish of that city--tagliatelle al ragu, which is the model dish for what Americans call spagetti bolognese. We did try it in
Bologna. It was very good but not like the American version we know. It is much more meaty and less of a tomato
sauce.
When tomatos are in season in the US, they are very good. But even then, they do not compare to some of the
tomatos we had there. We had the good fortune of being in Italy when the tomato crops were in the stores. We bought one
kind of tomato that we have never seen here. They were shaped like grape tomatoes, but were huge, egg-sized, and they were almost
as sweet as sugar. We bought a huge box of them, and were very saddened when we ate the last. All these culinary delights
mentioned here were simple ones, but grown and/or prepared with great care. (Continued........)
