I Made a Pig of Myself - Eating Pig!

My first meal in Italy DID NOT disappoint.

So after I woke up from that nap and cleaned up a bit, I hit the cafe downstairs at the hotel. The young staff was charming and once again, I was complimented on the pronunciation of my broken Italian - but heck, I was trying & I think they appreciated that!!!

Any way . . I open the menu and see all this crappy American food and am very disappointed. Caesar salad that you can add chicken or salmon to, a hamburger & fries, a club sandwich - and I'm thinking WHAT THE HECK???  Then I realize . . you can turn the page to reach nirvana!

Italian specialties, each one more enticing than the last, and all calling my name.  Glorious salads with fresh & interesting ingredients, starters of tuna, duck, prosciutto & seafood - all with homemade breads & interesting vegetable components.  The secondo choices (main courses) were equally scrumptious sounding - but it was almost 9pm and I needed to go to sleep without an overly full belly.  So I opt for a salad and the prosciutto plate.

This salad, YES, this salad - was quintessential Italy.  All those promised fresh ingredients and the most beautiful presentation piled high and served with a bottle of balsamic vinegar & olive oil for dressing it at the table.  It had arugula (called rocket over here), and baby red chard, and mache, and some really interesting spiraled veggie that I didn't recognize.  They had shaved fresh raw turnips & two kinds of radishes over it AND it had this amazing puree of cannellini beans that was underneath it all.  I scooped it up with the salad greens and frankly had to try really hard not to moan out loud with the pleasure of it all.  I ate every last bite!  **Now, I have to talk about the olive oil.  There were putting a bottle of it on EVERY table in the place, as they served bread.  It was SOOOOOOO good, I of course had to find out where it was from (guessed Sicily - but I was wrong).  It was from Perugia (close enough) and every bottle was hand-signed with lot info & production date - pretty impressive!!!  I could swim in that stuff - don't remember anything this good in the States!

Now, remember - I didn't want to be TOO full.  But then - the prosciutto plate arrived and I think I did gasp out loud!  They had piled it HIGH with meaty slices of the most melt in your mouth, richly-hued ham I have ever had.  **Sorry Scott, Mom & Dad - I don't think the stuff we got in Parma right from the source could even compare.

Thankfully the thrill of the pork jolted me back to picture taking reality and I snapped the shot before I dug in.  I was determined to not let a single piece go to waste - but believe it or not (and most of you know, I am a MAJOR carnivore) I couldn't finish it (there REALLY was a ton of it).  Besides, it came with AMAZING accompaniments.  Pickled cauliflower, roasted romesco, these amazing herb-glazed carrots and sweet roasted balsamic onions.  Oh, and that thing in the middle was a fabulous little focaccia bite with a little green olive (never have I tasted focaccia this good, not oily at all, just flavorful).

So I tell the waiter that I sadly cannot finish the prosciutto and I"m even more sad that it will go to waste.  Of course, he asks if I'd like dessert and as much as I really want to have my first gelato - I pass. So instead of the check, what does he bring me?  A little plate of goodies . . . he says it's a welcome to Italy!  Now, Dad can tell you, I can't pass up a pistachio and there on that plate was a pistachio tartlette!  So, as stuffed as I am - I have to be polite - right?  So I hold off on the tart and hit the almond biscotti (gotta find out how to replicate these little guys) and the little cream puff filled with pastry cream so smooth the French chefs would be jealous.  But then - it's pistachio tart time - and it does NOT disappoint.   Buttery tart shell, amazing pistachio pastry cream, all sprinkled with chopped pistachios.  I devour it!! 

I finally ask for the check - tip my standard American 20% (about double what they would expect here), say a big thank you to the staff & chef, and go up to my room to digest my food.

I said I wanted to eat light - well, sometimes good intentions get overshadowed by really good food!  In the end , it didn't turn out so bad.  I stayed up to digest and got the travel post done for you . . and waited for Sherine . . and finally went to sleep dreaming of little pigs!  See - I can both love them & eat them!!!

Surprisingly - I woke up with no jet lag & ready to face the day.  I give all the credit to the pigs!