BocelliOnline

[jo]

I've been back from Italy since Friday evening and I'm still trying to figure out what time it is, but at least I know where I am today. :roll:

Once I got over worrying about what my surgically altered digestive system would do with new and unfamiliar food, I started to try the seafood dishes.

My daughter and I ate at 3 or 4 different places in Viareggio on the passegiata, and one had a zuppa di pesche that I figured was a main dish because of the price. I expected it to be something like bouillabaisse and it was -- with calamari added to what I've tasted before. It had mussels, tiny clams, prawns, a little salmon, a little of some sort of white fish, tiny things with tentacles (baby squid?), and bigger tentacles -- all in a spicy broth with slices of crusty (slightly stale or toasted?) bread sticking up in the broth around the side of the bowl. Much to my surprise the calamari was tender, not like what I have tasted here in the US which was like eating rubber bands. It was de-e-e-e-licious! but I was still being cautious and left a lot of calamari in the bowl. The waiter beamed and said it was a good choice when I ordered it, but he looked a little upset when he removed the bowl and it wasn't empty.

Then there was the "rocket and shrimp" salad. "Rocket" (rugula or something like that) looked like baby spinach. Anybody know? Anyway it was served with half a lemon which I squeezed over it before tasting the shrimp. FANTASTIC! The shrimp was still hot -- just cooked -- and had a great flavor! My son thinks it's a different species from the shrimp in our coastal waters, but I imagine some of the difference comes from the sea they live in.

And when we returned to Rome we stopped at our favorite "convenient" restaurant for dinner -- convenient because it was not far from the hotel on the street we walked for some sightseeing. At street level it's a little fast food kind of place where you can get a sandwich or a slice of pizza or a glorious dessert or a gelato. Upstairs there's a full restaurant with an outdoor balcony for eating alfresco. As I was trying to decide what to order, a waiter walked by with two plates of pasta with shellfish. I said "I'll have some of that!" It was linguine with something like aglio e olio but flavored with the juices of the shellfish. Tiny clams and mussels were arranged around the edges of the plate, the linguine in the center, and prawns on top of the linguine. Another dish that will make me want to go back again! I only wish I had started to be more adventurous earlier in the trip!

Are you hungry yet? 8)

[Lorna]

Wow Jo you are giving me a taste for sea food!!
Great descriptions there and as for 'Rocket' I love it....especially topped with balsamic vinegar :P
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Andrea is Life, the rest is mere detail

[Signora Innamorata]

Jo, did you happen to have a dish called spaghetti con le vongole? Vongole is a shell fish, but Angelo doesn't know the actual translation for the word for you - but this is a dish he is very fond us. He said it's out of this world. Another one of his favorite seafood dishes is baccala al forno con patate (cod with potatoes, onions, breadcrumbs, etc). He grew up with a mother who was as good of a cook as Andrea is a singer. The mere mention of Italian food makes his eyes light right up. There's not an Italian dish (in Italy) that man won't devour with zest!

I am quite the "basic" eater though, so some dishes in Italy were a little scary for me - and one was down right terrifying! The latter happened on a night that a friend and client of Angelo's made a loving dinner for us (his homemade wine was fantastic) but I instantly went into silent-gulp-panic-mode when he served the main dish. It was pasta with little octopus! Jo, I was frozen with sheer panic. I tried my very very best to :D but Angelo assured me later that my face was nothing other then :shock: during the duration of that meal time. To make matters worse, Angelo kept giving me secret funny looks every chance he could without being noticed & that would make me laugh (out of no where, mind you) which only made my panic worse....eheheh OH what a night that was... lol. During that meal, a can of Spaghetti O's NEVER sounded soooo good!

p.s..... YES! You made Angelo veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hungry! We were going to go to San Francisco today and maybe even indulge in a meal at our favorite Italian place there, but we woke late and felt a wee lazy and relaxed. So, no good-as-you-can-get-here-Italian food for him today. Now we are making an afternoon meal of pork chops and frozen raviolli, but you sure have him drooling, Jo - for "real food" as he likes to tease. :mrgreen:
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Don't marry the man you can live with... marry the man you can't live without ~

[jo]

[Signora Innamorata]

[jo]

S.I. - is the seafood as good on the Pacific coast as it is in Italy? Ask Angelo, please. I've never been to San Francisco. Maybe that'll be my next long trip to somewhere.

[Signora Innamorata]

Jo, what a darling new photo of Gregory! Several awesome new photos are gracing our eyes in here the last few days :wink:

I just asked him for you and he said he has to admit that he does prefer the seafood in Italy. As he says though, so much has to do with the actual cooking style too, though. He's had some seafood plates in S.F. that he's certainly enjoyed, but in all honesty he much prefers the seafood in Italy. This pretty much applies to all dishes though...... and don't even get him started on breads & pastries.....lol... he misses those alotttt :P

He's a real good sport though and adapted very quickly, but yes oh yes, in all truth he certainly does miss the food from Italy, seafood included.
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Don't marry the man you can live with... marry the man you can't live without ~

[jo]

hmmm--pastries! I learned a new bad habit in Italy! Eating delicious little pastries for breakfast! Now I eat my eggs and toast and wonder where the pastry tray is. Little slices of cheesecake...filled croissants...dessert carts after dinner filled with tempation...