Eat = Italy

How could we go to Italy and not include a small taster of everything we ate while here!

Firstly we spent a week in Tuscany sampling the local delicacies and some of Tara fantastic cooking. Caprese salad, wild boar meet, stuffed zucchini, cherry tart, truffle and porcini mushroom with chocolate pasta, free range chicken stuffed with mascarpone and lemon, juicy steaks and a not so local Black Forest cake!

Inspired by the dishes we had been eating and staying at a great place in Prevo, Cinque Terre, we decided to eat in for a few meals. Despite the basic kitchen I was able to whip up a couple of tiramisu's, stuffed zucchini with salmon and truffle, egg plant ragout pasta, spinach and ricotta cannelloni and a scrumptious (even if I do say so myself) breakfast of crepes with raspberries and mascarpone. I'm not sure Ryan has ever eaten so much!

Ryan also got quite inspired during one of our visits to the supermarket after seeing some particularly meaty ribs, which tasted even better then they looked.

On our way down to Latrium we stay a night in Assisi. After exploring the town in the afternoon we wandered into a popular little cafe and were quick to decided on the truffle local pasta (small version of gnocchi) with beans and the wild boar stew. Both meals were incredible rich but tasted amazing! We needed another walk before Ryan dragged me into a dessert place he had seen with panforte where I also discovered a fig and ricotta ice cream - a perfect sweet before heading back to our campsite.

A week in Rome would never be enough to taste everything that this great city has to offer, however we did attempt to taste as much as we could. One great meal we had was not too far from our hotel (recommended by our host) was the Machiavelli's Club, where we had an excellent ricotta, fig and salmon capriccio as appetizers followed by seafood alla puttanescaand an excellent gnocchi. Another place again recommended by our host was a seafood place where we had exceptional grilled squid and mussel pasta.

We also ventured to the Jewish quarter in the search for stuffed zucchini flowers, a dish I remember from my first trip to Rome. While we had no luck in regards to the zucchini flowers we did enjoy an artichoke a la romana, bruschetta with olive and tomato, lamb in rosmary and beef tripe (although we were not sure if it actually was tripe). Fortunately later in the week we were eating in the bohemian area near our apartment where I discovered they had the stuffed zucchini flowers - yum! - fried olives, peasant pasta (mozzarella, tomato and brazil penne) and roman style pizza. On our final day in Italy we traveled via Naples to visit Pompeii on our way to the ferry in Bari. Of course we were quick to seek out a pizza, and also had a beautiful octopus capriccio which was one of my favourite meals yet, combining two of my favourite - octupus and capriccio.

Rome wouldn't have been complete without sampling a gelato place our two during our stay. Taking this quite seriously I enforced a 1 or 2 a day sampling regime to ensure We tasted some of the best gelato in Italy. Firstly, my task required research consisting of reviews from our friends Tara and Caz, trip advisor and our host in Italy, Guiseppe. Perhaps my favorite was the place recommended by Tara and Caz - La Romana - the very friendly staff were quick to translate and give us numerous tastings, I settle on mascarpone with coffee and chocolate and crema de 1947 with chocolate whipped cream. The ice cream was so good I went back for a second helping of pesto and dark chocolate. . . Maybe not the best for the waist line but when in Rome. Another easy favorite was one Ryan found on trip advisor called La Rivareno where I sampled the creme a la balsamic, I've always been a fan of vinegar so I took a leap and ordered this strange flavor, surprisingly it was exceptional using more of a balsamic glaze, so it was more sweet then vinegary. Finally, another place we visited a number of times was near our apartment in Rome called house of ice, recommended again to us by our host, full of locals and tourists. While the ice cream itself was not as interesting, just a large selection of the 'regular' Italian flavors, it was experience to jostle with the locals and tourist to enjoy possibly the best value ice cream in Rome.

Another interesting drink we had seen numerous people drinking in cafe's was an Aperol Spritz, a bitter aperitivo mixed with orange, Prosecco and soda. After our first one it quickly became a new favorite and quickly added to our bar on wheels - to get 'on the spritz' as we travelled through Italy.

- Louise -

Prevo

Right smack bang in the middle of the Cinque Terre is the small community of Prevo. Made up of mostly holiday houses, this half way point was our home for 3 nights whilst we relaxed with the breathtaking view of the Mediteranian coast beneath us. Our host Pierre, greeted us warmly at the gate and showed us into his lovely villa, which he rents out to passes by like us. With its sizable outdoor area over looking the water below and vege patch terrace out the back, we quickly realized that we made the right choice.

Waking up bright and early on the first morning we set off east, towards the rising sun, to the little town of Corniglia. With Prevo in the middle of all the towns, it was also on one of the highest points of the trail, so the walk was fairly steady with a nice down hill gradient most of the way. About an hour of walking we reach Corniglia, the small ancient fishing village was bustling with locals preparing themselves for the daily onslaught of tourist trade that would soon be apon them. After a morning tea of gelato we got back to the trail to go check out the next village. Unfortunately for us though, due to last years storm and subsequent landslides, Manarola was out of reach via the trail. Feeling a little discouraged, but happy for the extra exercise, we decided to double back and check out the town on the western side of Prevo. With the sun already high in the sky we started our 2.5 hour trek full of enthusiasm, however that soon faded as most of the walk back was all up hill and in direct sun light. With our backs heavily drenched in sweat we finally reached Vernazza, possibly the 'truest' fishing village left in the Italian Rivera. As we entered the small town from the track above we were treated to an impressive view of the whole village, with its terricotta roofed buildings and winding cobblestone streets. Entering the town was a little different though, just like most places in Italy in the heart of summer it was packed to the brim with zombie like tourists, straight off the train snapping their memories with their iPads. So to escape the hassle and busses of the crowds, and because we had only had ice-cream so far that day, we headed to a small cafe to order the speciality of the region toasted panini's made from chickpea flour. Of course we followed our panini up with some more gelato, we are in Italy after all. With our bellies full and legs well rested we headed back to our accommodation for an afternoon martini, we still have some Portabello Road Gin left from the Ginstitute, and to watch the sun set out over the Mediteranian.

As we spent the pervious day trekking through the Cinque Terre in the 38+ degree heat, we thought that we would treat ourselves on our last day and just stay in, this is meant to be a holiday you know! So with our deck chairs stragically placed so we wouldn't get too sunburnt, we both set ourselves up for a relaxing day filled with reading, eating some home cooked food and getting our lobster on. Of course I got a little carried away on the last one and ended up a bit more fried than I would of liked, but hey what's a holiday without a little sun burn? So having recharged our batteries in one of the most beautiful places in the world we were then ready to head off to our next adventure.

- Ryan -

Under the Tuscan sun

Before arriving in Europe we had only booked in two things, La Tomatina, and a week in Tuscany with our good friends Tara and Aaron to go a see Il Palio in Siena. Needless to say we were looking forward to seeing friends and staying in one place for more then one night or so. After arriving in the evening, we caught up over a wine or two and swapped stories, as they had spent the last 6 months in North and Central America and Europe.

The next morning after a slow start, possibly due to the small amount of wine consumed the night before, we made our way to a town called Panzano to go to the local market for supplies. Fortunately, Tara's grasp on Italian was near to fluent in comparison to ours, so she navigated our purchases of fresh produce, cheeses and meats, while the boys enjoyed taking some photos and looking into the wines.

After getting home the boys fired up the BBQ, whilst Tara and I organised the salads and marinated the steaks. Loving having the full kitchen and BBQ over the week we enjoyed truffle, porcini mushroom and chocolate pasta, Capese salad, cheese boards, wild boar, free range chicken stuffed with lemon and mascarpone, mixed berry pie, Black Forest cake with a Chanti or two.

On the Tuesday of our stay the day had finally arrived to head into Siena for the famous horse race. Il Palio is a pageant of the 17 contrade (districts) which ends with a bare back horse ride between 10 of the selected contrade to win the silk banner or Palio. The horses are random assigned to each contrade with a single rule of the race - the jockey cannot pull the reins of the horse. Siena's main piazza is transformed to a race track with sand, seats and mattresses (bound to corners to cushion impact).

Surprised by snagging a great park right on the city walls we walked though the old city, chatting with friendly locals, picking up souvenirs, deciding which contrade we would each barrack for and having a relaxing lunch. As we had heard that you need to get a spot early we then went to the main piazza to claim our spot track side.

A few hours wait in the sun the pageant part of the day began, where each contrade paraded around the track in medieval garb complete with flags, trumpeds, wigs and of course their horse (if they were lucky enough to be racing). They stopped at certain points (with one conviently located right in front of us) for a flag throwing display before the next contrade moved them on. While it was interesting the first few times we were quickly itching for the race to begin. Once the parade was over we excitedly thought that it was about to beginning, however, the jockeys had other ideas, as cheating is an old pastime. One tactic is that if your starting position is not desirable they continue jostle the other horses while lining up and to false start to put the other horses off. After at least ten lining up attempts and 2 or so false starts the race was under way, living up to the excitement!

The whole race only lasted about 2 minutes but you could feel the excitement and anticipation of all the locals as they cheered on their contrade. As the first horse crossed the finish line the excitement then began, as the winning contrade and the contrade that felt the victory had been stolen from them spilled onto the track - despite the oncoming horse still completing the races! Then . . . the biff began, think hundreds of worked up Italian men and women swinging punches (mostly air punches)' yelling and screaming at the opposing contrade and moving as a wall along a long track. It was one of those moment you can describe but left the four of us all agreeing - the 5 hour wait in the sun was more then worth it, even though we weren't really sure what was going on!

Sadly, none of our contrade won the race, which also put us in the dilemma of who got the 3L bottle of Chanti? After rigorous discussions and numerous Youtube video replays it was determined that Ryan's horse was second, so he had the honor of opening and serving his very own 3L 86 point Chanti. Which was actually very good considering.

Also during the week we made a day to head into Florence to go to the Uffizi gallery, enjoy the sights and fit in a spot of shopping. After a coffee at the same place were we did our class we brave the large wait at the door and went into the Uffizi. We spent a few hours enjoying in the Medici family collection, in particular one of my old favourites - La nascita di Venus, The birth of Venus. We then wandered over the Ponte Vecchio to have lunch at a small osteria, deciding on the stuffed zuchini and wild boar pasta. The girls then had a quick shop before walking over the Piazza de Duomo, to admire the marble work and excellent painted ceiling of the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore.

After a long day of galleries, shopping and sight seeing we the found a little seafood restaurant and settled on a beautiful seafood linguini and an octopus gnocchi.

Another day during the week we set out early to a small town called San Gimignano dubbed by the Lonely Planet as the medieval Manhattan, due to the 11th century towers that make up the historical centre. After a counter breakfast of pastries and coffee we wandered the little streets, browsed the shops and indulge in a gelato before the day trippers from Rome descended. Next we drove to another town with a beautiful historical center - Volterra - which I confess interested me as a Twilight movie was set here. Despite the towns lack of vampires, Volterra was possibly my favorite town we visited in the area, with its small street, piazza's, gorgeous views, hilltop gardens and ancient castle. Although we were a little surprised after hiking up to the castle that it is now a state prison. Again we did a little shopping, ate a slice of pizza, a cannoli and a gelato before heading back to our villa.

- Louise -

Getting a coffee education

Whilst Italy may not be home to the worlds best coffee it was the birthplace of the first espresso machine, so naturally whilst here we thought we would test our skills out at one of the barrister schools in Florance. Having our own machine at home proved to be no help at all, in fact we quickly learnt that we were definitely doing it wrong!!!

The coarse started out naturally with an espresso straight up, followed by a brief yet descriptive looking into the world of coffee. From growing to grinding, location, climate, good bean spotting and even some insight into the worlds best baristas, with Australian being up there in the top 3, we were pretty well educated in the short time we had. With everyone's heads in a bit of a spin from the knowledge overload we all then took a short coffee break (sorry bad pun but it really was a coffee break). Once our legs stopped shaking from all the caffeine we went over to the bar where Gabriel took us through the ins and outs of a proper world class espresso machine. After a few demonstations we each took a couple of turns at producing the 'perfect' Italian cappuccino along with our own version of the latte tulip. Now whilst I must admit initially I thought I would have a natural talent for latte art and drawing a flower with some milk would be a piece of cake, this was most certainly not the case. Louise on the other hand proved to be quite the artist with a milk jug, where on her second attempt she produced a very Melbourne hipster-esk worthy cafe shark. Whilst neither of us will be searching the wanted adds for cafe jobs upon our return we still managed to have a heap of fun and learn a great deal about the world of coffee. So when we get back feel free to drop by and let us show you our barista skills...

- Ryan -