2010 in Food Part I

Italy. Home of some of the world's most incredible food. My travels have taken me to some really amazing places where I've had the opportunity to try many delicious and strange (ox tail, eel, horse, pig leg, and I'm pretty sure I've just about every part of the cow by now, tongue and all) things. Some individual meals stand out in my mind just as major events of the past year do...because here in Italy, a good meal is an event in itself. Many of the meals I remember not just because of the spectacular food, but of the amazing company, or beautiful country in which I ate it. So below is a list of some of the best meals I've eaten in Italy, and the equally remember-able memories that go with them.

1) If you've read my Thanksgiving post, you'll know that my Thanksgiving day meal composed of an incredible spinach, ricotta, and salmon lasagna. I had been feeling pretty down about missing out on all the great turkey and dressing that my family was eating without me thousands of miles away, and nothing could have cheered up me up better than this amazing lasagna. It made me think about that even though I was missing out on a lot back home, I got to experience some other, equally tasty things in Italy, and that I should enjoy the time I have here. It helped me realize that I was extremely lucky to be here, and that I should live in the moment rather than dwelling on home.

And yes, you can learn all that from a lasagna.

2) Luini's Panzerotti. Luini's is located in a shady back alleyway that branches of the piazza Duomo in Milan. It is a tiny little bakery comprised of a counter and two cash registers, and doesn't look very extraordinary compared to many other Italian bakeries. That is of course, excluding the ever-present  long line that snakes down the length of the street daily. No trip to Milan is complete without a mid-afternoon stop at Luini's for a panzerotti. A panzerotti is basically a fried calzone, the perfect off spring of Doughnut and Pizza. People will wait for an hour to get a panzerotti from Luini's, and after one bite its not hard to see why. Its soft, buttery fried shell is the perfect complement to the warm, melty mozzarella and tomato (though I prefer spinach and ricotta) center. Heaven on earth.

3)Seafood tastes sooooooo much better when eaten right on the beach. One of my favorite dishes, Pasta con Frutti Del Mare (pasta with sea fruits! I even love the name!) is a dish comprised of spaghetti, clams, oysters, muscles, shrimp, and a little bit of lobster meat all drizzled in a light red zesty, peppery sauce. It was my first week in Italy when I found myself trying my first plate of Pasta con Frutti Del Mare beneath a cabana at the beach in Loano. I ate it within about 25 feet from the sea, and I'll never forget the sensation of both eating, hearing, and seeing the sea all at the same time.