Eat, and you will learn about the Italian’s life.
Within 10 minutes, I have finished my risotto all’funghi with a glass of white wine. It was freshly cooked and delicious to the last scoop. I decided to splurge myself with a nice dinner at a local restaurant near the Trevi Fountain, and it was the right decision. I felt content and ready to explore Rome in the night.
When I resigned from my last job in 2016, I decided to go for my dream holiday, a one-month holiday in Italy, the country that I have seen from pictures, movies, and dreamed all of my adult life.
When I arrived in Italy, I realized that it would take me a lifetime just to know everything about the country. There are so many things to see and learn, the rich cultures, the great histories, the language, and the food. But in order to know and understand the Italians life, I went deep to the most delicious part of it, the Italian food.
I promised myself that I will try as much as local food and learned about the ingredients, regardless of my food preference. For example, I don’t like pizza. So if pizza is the typical local food in a region, I will eat it, no matter what. Of course, I will eat it if there are no other choices of local food.
First thing first, I have to experience the real Italian breakfast. So when I was at a train station, early in the morning, I headed out to a bar and order my breakfast just like the Italians. It was a unique experience. First, you need to decide what you want to eat, whether it’s a croissant or a sandwich. It’s important so that you won’t take a lot of time when you queue at the cashier to order your coffee and food.
So I ordered a cup of cappuccino and a cream filled croissant. The unique experience was I had to stand in front of the serving stall and wait for my paid ordered. And you had your breakfast standing in front of the stall within 15 to 30 minutes. The Italian way is to eat your croissant fast and drink your cappuccino faster.
Of course, I finished my breakfast a little bit longer than the Italians. I’m not a big fan of coffee and the croissant was the biggest croissant I have ever seen in my entire life (okay, maybe that’s a bit too dramatic).
I came from a country where breakfast means big and heavy portion. So I wasn’t sure if my Italian breakfast would give me energy for the first half of the day. But I was wrong, I felt energized after my breakfast and didn’t feel hungry until the mid of day came when it’s time for lunch.
My first encounter with the real Italian food happened when I stayed for a week at my colleague house in Bergamo of Lombardia region, Northern Italy. They cooked some typical dishes of Bergamo during my stay there.
Casoncelli, a type of filled typical half-moon shaped pasta stuffed with meat, grana padano cheese and herbs, all seasoned with plenty of grated parmesan cheese, butter, bacon and sage. The pasta cooked with pancetta and oil, poured some Parmesan cheese and you got yourself a delicious dinner. I love it because it’s so simple and fresh.
Whenever you visit Bergamo, try to eat Casoncelli dish at one of the restaurant around Citta Alta, the high city of Bergamo. Life is perfect when you eat delicious food accompanied with bird eye view scenery of the Alps and Bergamo Citta Bassa, the lower city view.
The next dinner day, they cooked Polenta, a typical Bergamo dish made from corn flour, with roasted rabbit meat. I found Polenta has an interesting taste, but definitely not my thing. The rabbit meat was delicious and tender; it tasted almost similar like chicken, but with stronger taste.
In the following week, I moved to another region, Florence of Tuscany, with its romantic Renaissance architecture all over the city. When I asked the waiter for a typical food, he offered me to try Trippa alla Fiorentina, if I’m a brave girl. Why he said that? Because trippa means the cows’ intestines and it’s just too bizarre for most people. So yes, you need to be a brave person if you are willing to try that dish.
Well I was in Italy to connect with the places I visited. So I decided to be braved and ordered a plate of Trippa alla Fiorentina. When the food was served, it looked like a tomatoes soup with some white meat, which was the tripe. The tripe was a chewy kind of meat and the whole dish turned out to be very light and delicious. And I was okay the next following days, so I assumed that the dish was harmless for my stomach.
If you consider yourself as a brave person, check out the small restaurant at Via Della Condotta in Florence and order yourself a plate of delicious Trippa alla Fiorentina for your Tuscany experience.
I took some days further went down to Tuscany region, to the city of Siena, the second largest city in Tuscany region. I went to a local watch store and the owner told me to try pasta with wild boar sauce, a typical Siena dish.
So I brought myself to a small local restaurant near the Loggia del Papa in Siena and ordered pappardelle with wild boar sauce. The wild boar meat has strong taste, but the sauce was fresh and cooked in a simple way. There I found myself again eating a light and fresh dish. I finished eating very fast because it’s too delicious.
If you remember what I said at the earlier paragraph, I don’t like pizza. But I know that at some point I have to try it because I found myself arriving at Napoli, the capital city of Campania region, Southern Italy.
Napoli is the home of pizza Napoletana. Pizza Napoletana is a simple pizza with topping made only with San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains on the south of Mount Vesuvius, and mozzarella cheese from Campania.
I ordered the half portion and it was big already. Again, the tomatoes and cheese were delicious. My pizza Napoletana was perfect to the last crumb. I would like to finish the cheese and tomatoes only and leave the pizza dough, but I shared my pizza with my friend, so I must not be too greedy.
I continued my holiday journey in Italy and somehow the beach called me. I found myself at Amalfi coast of Salerno region, Southern Italy. I found Cetara beach, a nice and lovely beach to spend a day with the sun and the sea.
The Cetara beach is like a postcard picture. Right at the edge of town, it is anchored by an ancient watchtower and decorated with colourful fishing boats. The beach is easily reached and the water is crystalline. It is sunny from morning through afternoon and is fantastic because you can enjoy all the services of the village while enjoying the sand and swim.
As a beach lover, Cetara beach was perfect for my sunny day. After a quick dip into the beach, read a book under the sun, I felt hungry afterwards. So I went out to look for food.
The famous ingredient from the region was the anchovy. Anchovy are small fishes consume daily by Italian in the Southern region. I never like anchovy, neither the smell, nor the taste. But I ordered a portion of spaghetti with anchovies sauce anyway.
I didn’t regret it at all. It was a plate of freshness of spaghetti with anchovies sauce. It didn’t have a bad smell and the taste was amazing, I finished my food until the last scoop. I never thought I could finish an anchovies dish and felt good about it.
Another village by the beach that I have explored was Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a beautiful five villages with a challenging hiking path with a stunning view. I stayed in a hostel at Manarola village, one of the villages in Cinque Terre, and had my lunch at a small local restaurant right on the side of the Church of San Lorenzo.
I had a piece of roasted white meat fish with fennel and lemon sauce. The lemon of Cinque Terre is famous for its fresh and tasty sourness. So I was having a feast with the moist and fresh fish and its delicious sauce. I even asked the chef how she cooked it. As I guessed it already, the preparation was simple. The only problem I will have in the future, if I want to replicate the dish, is to have the Cinque Terre lemon, which will not be easy to find outside Italy.
After watching the sunset, I went out for dinner with two girls from my hostel room. We went to try the famous pasta with pesto sauce of Cinque Terre. Pesto sauce is a typical basil leaves based sauce from Italy, and Cinque Terre is one of the famous regions with its delicious basil leaves product.
Honestly, I don’t like pesto. I ate it once and decided that I will never eat anything with pesto sauce again. But at the end, Italy has succeeded in persuading me to eat the spaghetti with pesto sauce. The key is fresh pesto with delicious smell when it served. I love it!
I returned again to the northern part of Italy, to the city of Bologna, the largest city and also the capital of Emilia — Romagna region. The seventh most populous city in Italy hosts thousands of students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city.
I spent my last night in Italy with my best friends who live in Padova. They took me to Ferrara of Emilia — Romagna region, Northern Italy. My friend’s husband decided that my last dinner in Italy should be the typical dish of Ferrara, Cappellacci di Zucca, a type of pumpkin filled ravioli.
Me, and the people at my home country, don’t eat pumpkin as our main dish. We use pumpkins as addition to the fruit drinks. Although I tried some of pumpkin soups or pumpkin salads at some international restaurants, I’m not a fan of pumpkin as dish.
But I follow them and we went to a small local restaurant that serves Cappellacci di Zucca. It was 4 big sizes of pumpkin ravioli I have ever seen. I ate them all as my last act of bravery to complete my Italian food adventure. And Italian food never disappointed me. I’m a new fan of the delicious Cappellacci di Zucca.
On this occasion, I would like to give credits to several snack fingers and famous drinks in Italy. Northern Italy is famous with its aperitif time, usually started from five pm in the afternoon until later at night. Aperitif time is where most bars offer cocktails and wine with some snack on certain price.
I ordered myself a glass of Aperol spritz, a prosecco-based cocktail with Aperol bitter liquor, a light starter before starting my dinner. Try to find some bars near the universities, they offer aperitif package of certain price with a dinner buffet. You only need to pay for the drinks and you can eat everything serve on the buffet, and it’s only in Italy.
Another credits went for cichetti, a typical Venetian local snacks or side dishes which include tiny sandwiches, and combinations of seafood, meat, or vegetable on top of slices of bread. I enjoyed eating cichetti because there are many choices in small portions. The famous cichetti is bacala mantecato, slices of bread top with creamy codfish. It’s not my favorite though, but there are other selections of cichetti that meets your preferences.
Earlier in Bergamo, when I asked my colleague about the ingredients and the preparation for the food they made, they said that the preparation was simple and the ingredients were fresh.
My home country typical local food has different preparation and ingredients with Italian food. It’s a complex preparation with various herbs and spices. The Italian food is surely a simpler way of cooking with a delicious result. So it’s very easy for a beginner, like me, to learn how to cook by learning the Italian food.
But I think you have to be born as Italians if you want to get the same result like they made. The original Italian food was being taught for years from their grandmothers, to their mothers, and now to them. And they will teach their kids to do the same too.
If you want to know the life of the local Italians, eat and enjoy their food. The secret is fresh and simple ingredients, and lots of love for food. You will eat until your belly say, “Sono pieno come un uovo.”
