Simply-aholic

While I know that just a few weeks ago I wrote an entire post dedicated to all of the American food I miss, there are brands and foods from Simply, our Italian supermarket, that I have grown to love. Just as it has been hard to make the transition away from Kraft mac&cheese and Campbell's soup, I will now miss the snacks and cereals that have grown on me these last four months. Following are some brief highlights of Italy's less-culinary snacks.

Muesly Crusty: Yes, I know that says crusty. What an appetizing adjective, right? But don't knock it 'til you've tried it! This granola was the absolute death of my size 6 skinny jeans. It was first purchased with good intentions. After all, granola is good for you. This was jam-packed with fruits and oatmeal and healthy fats, right? Right! And then I ate the whole box. Perhaps this process was repeated several times. Oops.

Grancereale: In a delightful display of American-ness, my roommate and I refer to the snack cookies by this name as "Gran Cereal." They come in several flavors, but fruit and cocoa are our personal favorites. Another "healthy" food, gone wrong.

Magnum: It's like a Dove ice cream bar. Only 100x better. Only I can't stop eating them. The pistachio one is particularly divine. I bribe myself to do schoolwork with the promise of a Magnum bar. There is a rumor that the Champaign Target sells them for the price of an arm and a leg. It may be worth that.

Snack Friends: The most delicious mix of salty snackies imaginable. Mini-ritz, pretzels, sesame seed stars, etc. Incredibly addicting little buggers.

Mykonos Greek Yogurt: I had never had greek yogurt at home before because of my love of good ol' Yoplait. I was sure missing out! This brand comes with honey and walnuts to mix in to create a delightful and healthy addition to any meal! It was almost dessert. Almost.

These are just a few of the many things I am sure I will miss from the Roman grocery store. I'm being sure to stock up on them now-- who knows when I will be able to have them again!

Ciao!

Croutons, Calamari, and Cannoli

This weekend was the final time I was traveling within my program. We have three days left in class and finals next week. Time has truly flown by! I spent Saturday and Sunday in Palermo, Sicily. The weekend started out less-than-stellar, as our flight was delayed by four hours :( We did get some free airport food though, for whatever that is worth. After our late arrival though things started to look up. We wandered through the streets and saw many of the city's main sites including Teatro Massimo (where part of the Godfather was filmed), Quatro Canti (Four Corners), and San Giovanni degli Eremiti.

Our first meal was at a little osteria off the main street. I had croutons for the first time in months!

While they didn't come with a salad, and weren't even exactly croutons-- they were amazing! It was more like still warm, deep fried bread in olive oil. Yum. Yum yum yum. They also gave us those apertifs free of charge, in addition to another whole basket of bread! Carbs should have been the fourth "C" of my title haha. For the main course I ordered a shrimp risotto with zucchini. The heads were already cut off and I was so excited! It was beyond delicious!

I also, admittedly, stole many-a-bite from Clare's fresh fried seafood platter. I have a weak spot for breaded calamari and it was too good to stop! The difference between fresh and frozen seafood is truly remarkable. In the last couple weeks I have grown to love seafood more than I thought possible while in the oceanless expanse known as the Midwest.

Finally I was so excited to try some authentic cannoli! It was entirely delicious and delectable! The ricotta mixture was creamy and the dough crispy and flaky. I would honestly have eaten ten!

It was great to end my study abroad travels in an authentic area of Italy! There was a whole new culture to explore and definitely great food to digest. While technically I could end my food blog after this weekend, I think I am going to continue it throughout my boyfriend and family's visits. So don't quit checking it yet!

Ciao!

You Say Focaccia, I Say Yum

This weekend was spent exploring Cinque Terre National Park along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Our first afternoon was gorgeous and sunny-- so of course we headed straight for the beach! Kim and I indulged in strawberry daiquiris and took in the beautiful surroundings.

For dinner our first night I absolutely had to go for seafood. I chose a scampi and truffle gnocchi and it was absolutely delicious! I am still getting used to the whole head-on-shrimp arrangement, but am no longer so grossed out that I can't enjoy every bite of the more edible sections. The gnocchi was obviously homemade and the shrimp were probably caught mere hours before. There is nothing like fresh seafood. Nothing.

We awoke early the next morning to start hiking between the five towns. While this is a food blog, I must go on a brief tangent about the glorious hike. The views were to-die for, the terrain rugged yet manageable, and the weather perfect. My favorite hike was the final one between Vernazza and Montorosso. This was the most physically difficult hike, but I thought the most fun. There were trails where you had so suck in your stomach for fear you would tumble down the seaside hills and rocky stairs that ascended seemingly into the heavens. I got an adrenaline rush, combined with beautiful scenery, mixed with a pretty good workout!

After all that hiking we were ready for some lunch! We turned to The Bible aka Rick Steve's Italy Guide. He recommended a little bar off the beaten path in Vernazza called the Pirata Caffe. I had a very yummy lemon cream cannoli (life's short-- eat dessert first!) and a mozzarella, tomato, and arugula sandwich. Our server was an absolute hoot and we took a picture with him before leaving.

We also caught site of something amazing-- the cafe gets Rick Steve's Christmas cards! Only study abroad students would be so excited about this haha :)

We finished out the hikes and did some shopping around the quaint little towns before showering off a pretty solid layer of hiking grime. Our dinner reservation wasn't until 8:30pm and we were starving! So we decided to snatch a piece of the North's famous focaccia bread. Words cannot be spoken. That good. Get it with cheese. Even better.

I resisted canceling our reservations and just eating piece after piece of focaccia. So it was with still-rumbling bellies that we made our way to a little trattoria in Vernazza. I ordered pesto, another very regional dish, made with homemade pasta. It was definitely better than the Barilla pesto in a jar!

The feeding fare in Cinque Terre was certainly worthy of a return trip... So I have no problem with the fact I will be returning in just over a month to re-explore with my family! The best part? You hike enough that you can't even feel guilty about having an extra slice of focaccia!

Oh give me a home, where the bufala roam...

This last weekend was spent eating my way through the Cilento region of Italy. We went on a school trip to learn and experience the Mediterranean diet, and let me tell you-- it was a success. I think I had two types of cheese at every meal! We also had the opportunity to visit a bufala cow farm where they make authentic mozzarella di bufala cheese. I love bufala!

The bufala had nice little scratch pads in their stables. What pampered cattle! But happy cows make happy cheese (even though Wisconsin is the ONLY cheese state), and the mozzarella that was made from these cows was delightful!

The farm was also famous for pudding and they didn't need to ask me twice! I had one unfortunate chocolate pudding incident at Wendy's as a child, but have luckily recovered over time and was able to scarf down a delicious helping of dark chocolate in the cutest container I have ever seen-- a sweet and a souvenir!

That same night (though I vowed I would never eat again) we toured a pizzeria that specializes in gluten-free crusts and organic ingredients. The gluten-free option tasted remarkably similar to the original and there was another special crust made from veggies, flax seed, and other surprisingly yummy and wholesome ingredients.

We then decided to throw away our whole healthy pizza meal with a Nutella dessert pizza. But really... can you blame us?

The weekend was most definitely a culinary success. Even better? It was FREE! Well... as free as a study abroad program gets ;) Now back to my chicken and salad in an attempt to make up for the extreme weekend damage to the waistline.

Ciao!

The Things I Would Do For Cheddar Cheese

So far this blog has been dedicated to my foreign culinary experiences and delicious meals along the way. However this journey is as much about the food I am not eating as the new things I am trying.

I miss American food.

There. I said it. I miss big breakfasts with pancakes and sausage and hashbrowns. I miss buying skim milk by the gallon. I miss Taco Bell. I miss cheddar cheese. God, do I miss cheddar cheese! I want a big bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. I want to buy taco seasoning for less than $5. I want to order pizza at 2am. I cannot wait to eat Jif with a spoon. An entire package of graham crackers will be consumed in record time. A Chipotle burrito will be dominated. Johnsonville brats will be eaten with an animalistic voracity. I missed Shamrock Shakes this year :(

Trust me, I still have my perspective. I would rather be here and not eating these things. That being said, the week of June 13-20 will be a gluttonous time of catch-up. My mouth is watering with anticipation.

For now... I will settle with carbonara, gelato, risotto, and tiramisu :P

Churros in My Chummy

I spent this last weekend in beautiful Barcelona, Spain. I was going in pretty blind (my limited knowledge of Spain came from high school friends' Spanish classes), but I was so excited to learn about Barcelona's rich history, culture, and food. We spent the weekend bronzing on the beach, marveling at Gaudi (the reason for the word "gaudy") architecture, and absolutely stuffing our faces. Following are a few of the trip's culinary highlights:

SANGRIA: Sorry, Italy. Spain wins this battle. This wine beverage was so delicious and refreshing and drinkable. The apple and lemon chunks added so much to the flavor and we might have even stuck forks in the pitcher to grab some saturated chunks when no one was watching. At least... I hope no one was watching :P

PAELLA: This delicious rice concoction definitely exceeded my expectations. While I have heard so many amazing things about it, I thought it sounded gloopy and a little bit casserole-y for my liking. I was wrong. The rice had contrasting texture to the veggies and the flavors had created some sort of complex mind-blowing meld. Perhaps oddly, the peas were my favorite part. Maybe that's because I haven't had any since arriving in Europe and it was nice to throw in a different green vegetable.

CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE: Words cannot be spoken. Doughy. Fried. Chocolatey. Soft. Warm. Sugary. If you toss in a delicious adjective, it described these churros. Clare's brother who had studied in Barcelona recommended this little joint on Las Ramblas and I have to say it's in my top five culinary Study Abroad pleasures. Amazing. I can't say more. Just go. Cafe de L'Opera. #74 Las Ramblas.

You cannot go to Spain without getting tapas. Marisa's friend took us to a very authentic Catalan bar that had a great menu and we all ordered and passed around a myriad of dishes. Pictured from top are patatas bravas, fried artichoke, and spinach fritters. The spinach was the best. It was kind of like tempura-- definitely fried but not heavy or too greasy. Yum! I also had some tasty bread, a salty white fish of some sort, and some smoked cheese. I was stuffed and was so excited to try so many different traditional dishes.

Barcelona was amazing. I am so lucky that my travels are taking me to new, exciting places and expanding my palette. Down side? Now that I know how good churros are, I may never stop eating them!

Eiffel In Love With Paris

Let me tell you, it's a good thing that I didn't study abroad in Paris. For many reasons:
1) I would not have come home
2) I would have been more broke than I am from Rome
3) I would have gained a gazillion pounds

Seriously. The food was amazing! The first must-share meal was a croque monsieur, or open-faced ham and gruyere sandwich. It was a favorite of mine the first time I went to France, so I knew I had to have another one. We went to a small bistro near Centre Pompidou for lunch and their croque did not disappoint!

 Even after that delicious lunch, I had one more craving that needed to be satisfied. A nutella-banana crepe was in my near future. I made myself wait through our catacombs visit but then gave in. It is truly a combination made in heaven! Though I am pretty sure it is only Americans who order this (the French are actually more into savory crepes), I didn't mind being a typique tourist. In fact, I was so ok with it that I had one of these crepes each subsequent day left in Paris!

 Pure delicious-ness right there!

My favorite dinner was in the Latin Quarter near the Sorbonne. We gorged ourselves on a pot of fondue with potatoes, bread, and assorted meats. The fondue was amazing. Long after I was full I kept putting fork to mouth because I literally could not let such a delicious feast be wasted. I also tried escargot this night and it was actually pretty good! Of course, put enough butter and pesto sauce on it and I will eat just about anything :P

I look so excited in this picture haha. That's how good it was. I was rejoicing for my mouth!

My last night in Paris I decided to have a very authentic dish. Coq au vin is a traditional meal of rooster in a red wine sauce. Rooster, funny enough, tastes a lot like chicken. The sauce was very good too-- you could definitely taste the wine! They gave me a lot of dark meat, which isn't my favorite, but it was still delicious! It was also fun to try something I had been reading about since I took French beginning in 8th grade.

Paris is truly my favorite city in the world. It changes you. If you have ever been there, I am sure you understand. It also changes what hole your belt fits in. But it's worth it-- promise!

Eating Like a Peasant is Fine With Me!

This weekend's adventure was to Lecce. It is in the very tip of the heel of Italy in the Puglia region-- about six hours by train from my Roman home base! I was only in this charming stone town for about 28 hours, but the food will always be remembered! Lecce and Puglia as a whole are known for rustic-y, peasant-y, and all together home-y food. Carla, my onsite facilitator, promised we would eat well. She was 100% right.

My first Leccese food experience was a delicious, creamy pumpkin risotto. It is weird because I am not a pumpkin person generally. I normally even require an alternative pie at Thanksgiving. In Italy, however, I cannot get enough of it! I think it is the savory flavor as opposed to the sweetness that has changed my mind. It was especially great paired with shaved parmesan and a big glass of the house red wine! Yum!

Clare tried (and shared!) a dish more typical to the region. It was flat, pan-fried noodles with garbanzo beans. It was very different that Roman cuisine but definitely tasty. If you're interested, here's a link on how they make it!

My second Leccese food experience was heavenly. Divine. Ambrosial. Perhaps supernatural. It was, drumroll please, a pastry the size of my head. After all the rain, Clare and I were in need of a little cheering up. A buttery, creamy, powdered sugar-covered treat was just the ticket! While I am not proud of this fact, it took me about three minutes to polish off the massive pastry puff and lick my fingers clean!

Though after finishing said pastry I swore I would never eat again, the next day around noon thirty I had forgotten this vow. I was ready to enjoy more Southern cooking! We ventured into a cute trattoria where we were greeted by oven-fresh bread. That in itself was a meal! It was crunchy on the outside, had a hint of sourdough taste, and was still warm! Because we would be missing dinner on the train ride home, we had no problem devouring the bread, ordering an appetizer, and I still scraped the plate of my main dish. Our appetizer consisted of fried potatoes (which ended up being french fries ha!), fried eggplant with black beans, fried rice with cheese, and something I was unsure of, but tasted like fried ravioli with orange zest. Everything was great!

For my main meal I was tempted to get the chickpea dish, but was won over by the gnocchi con formaggi e pesto. I was not disappointed! The homemade gnocchi pasta was to-die-for!

The best part about all this delicious food was how affordable it was! Without the hoards of tourists that so often swarm through restaurants along the beaten path, the price of food was much less inflated in underrated Lecce. Every meal we had was inexplicably delicious, yet I paid a maximum of 15 euros!

On a more cultural level, another huge difference in Lecce was the number of restaurants available. While in Rome there are thousands of osterias, trattorias, fornos, pizzerias, etc., in Lecce Clare and I walked around for about an hour before we even found a nice, sit-down restaurant. Perhaps the lack of tourists combined with the South's overall less-affluent population make dining out a rarity. I didn't mind the search though: Every morsel in my mouth this weekend was more than worth the rain, walk, and hassle it took to find it!

Ciao!

If You Can't Pronounce It, Eat It

This weekend marked my first trip out of Italy. Along with two friends, I spent my weekend scurrying to see every inch of Prague, Czech Republic. While I wasn't expecting too much out of the food (I mean I'm LIVING in Italy!), I am very pleased to report that Prague's culinary fortes were quite to my taste! We arrived pretty late on Friday night-- just enough time to do a little exploring and find some grub! Clare's "Let's Go: Europe" book has been a total lifesaver this whole trip and once again directed us to a winner! The brewery/eatery was called "Pivovarsky Dum" and was famed for its eight-beer sampler and Brewmaster's Pocket-- a deep-friend pork chop stuffed with bleu cheese and ham! Who would I be to defy the "Let's Go" gods? I paired their suggestions with delicious potato pancakes and enjoyed a hearty, amazing, and authentic 5,000 calorie meal :)

This Czech food was a very welcome break from the endless stream of pizza and pasta that has become my life. While those things are definitely delicious, it was nice to have a little *gasp* protein thrown into my diet. It was also huge portions for basically nothing! I spent a total of about 700 koruna (30 euro) on food for the whole weekend. That's including two dinners, one lunch, two breakfasts, and dessert!

The next day started out with breakfast on the go and some warm cider (warm beverages kept me going on this trip). For lunch we decided to try some authentic street food. Not being big on sausage of questionable origin, I decided to have... fried cheese... on a bun. How had Wisconsin not previously introduced me to this?

It was of course delicious and greasy and artery-clogging. I mean that in the best way. It also cost about one euro for a whole meal! The convenience also made it great, as we had to trek through most of Prague on Saturday alone! After touring Prague Castle and hiking the great Petrin Hill, we were definitely ready for a substantive meal. We ventured off the beaten path a little and arrived at Tlusta Mys, or The Fat Mouse. I had a pork chop marinated in bacon and more potato pancakes! I just couldn't stay away from them!

Even though I was basically waddling out the door upon finishing this huge plate of food, we decided to get dessert. And by dessert, I mean two.

Does hot chocolate count as dessert? Well.... this one probably did. Oops. It was worth it though. I enjoyed every bite of my raspberry mousse cake and every drop of the cherry almond hot chocolate. Yum! So while I am still stuffed and it is debatable whether my heart will ever forgive me, Prague was definitely a great culinary travel experience. It was a welcome change from the Mediterranean Diet at an incredibly low price. Food in Prague? Czech! :P Couldn't resist!

Ciao!

Porchetta Makes Me Happy

I spent a big chunk of this weekend munching on food at my Roman home base. However, Clare and I did take a little adventure to the town of Ariccia-- a small historic village with a famous passion for pork, or porchetta. Now before we get too far into this adventure, it should be known that Clare and I are planners. We write itineraries and do research and double check our directions. Some days are just not meant for planners though, and this was one of them. After attempting to translate the bus website into English for the umpteenth time, we surrendered and decided to take the train to Ariccia's neighbor town-- Albano Laziale. We couldn't exactly find directions from the station to Ariccia though. And so it was with no return ticket and some googled streets written on a notecard that we set out on the 50-minute train ride.

There was a huge moment of panic when we got off the train and realized there wasn't even a kiosk to purchase our return tickets. However we fought the urge to turn right back around, took a deep breath, and started walking (to where? we had no clue!). After about five minutes we found a little bar where we were able to purchase train tickets. With that checked off the list, we felt a lot better about the day. Lucky (or so we thought) for us, there were blue signs pointing us to Ariccia. After a few twisted turns though, we had noooo clue where they were leading us.

After some deep breaths, we resumed our quest for porchetta. We found a main street, crossed our fingers, and kept walking. We crossed a bridge and suddenly... we were there! Ariccia was very cute and quaint and the smells of porchetta were luring us into dozens of "osterias." After walking around and getting the lay of the land a little, we grabbed porchetta sandwiches from a tiny vendor that had been endorsed by Gambero Rosso (kind of the Italian food authority) and found a bench with a beautiful view to enjoy our sandwiches. The porchetta was absolutely worth the adventure to get there. In fact, it might have been worth fighting dragons, crossing a moat of lava, and climbing to the tallest tower to rescue the porchetta princess. Yup. That good. It was a pretty simple sandwich-- no BBQ or fancy toppings about it. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a Little League Opening Day pork chop sandwich. It was half the taste, half the experience.

What could possibly make this sandwich better? This view, that's what.

Clare and I learned some important lessons this weekend. First, plans (or lack thereof) can work out ok if you take some deep breaths and go for it! Second, order two sandwiches. Just do it. We can't yet understand people judging us in Italian anyway.

Ciao!

Pesto Potato Pizza: Poeta Perfection

For the entire month I have been here I've been trying to make it to Dar Poeta pizzeria in Trastevere. I had heard so many great things about this inexpensive and authentic pizza joint to delay my visit any longer. While skyping with my mom mere minutes before I was heading out the door, she asked if I had heard of it because her Fodor's guide raves. I was excited to say I would have an official report in a few short hours!

So some friends and I made the short walk to find the restaurant already crowded. In Italy, 7:30 is very early (some places don't even open for dinner until 8pm!) so to already have a wait was another sign of the goodness awaiting us. For an appetizer I decided to venture off the beaten path. I had a gorgonzola bruschetta with honey. I was very pleasantly surprised-- it was delicious!

It was very hard to decide on pizza. Everything looked soooo good! In the end I decided to go with regular crust, pesto sauce, mozzarella, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes. It was a very good decision. Then again, from the looks of the empty plates all around me I don't know if there is such a thing as a bad decision at Dar Poeta.

Even though I was absolutely stuffed, I talked everyone into splitting the Nutella and ricotta calzone mom had read about in the book. It was inexplicably amazing. Of course, if there's Nutella in it there's not too much that could go wrong. Seriously though-- sinfully tasty.

Not only was all the food delicious at Dar Poeta, but it was also the first time I have really followed "do as the Romans do" in regards to dining. I ate three courses (and a glass of wine with each :o) in a period of about 2.5 hours surrounded by friends and good conversation. Even better, I did it for about 15 euro! Scrumptious!